PSCR: Road Atlanta Notes & Quotes
12 May 1999
Chris Bingham Ross Bentley No.15 Hybrid R&D Riley & Scott Ford World Sports Car Race Notes/Quotes Grand Prix at Atlanta Presented by Lease Plan Round Two of Eight in the American Le Mans Series At Road Atlanta, Georgia
Hybrid R&D Racing, with drivers Chris Bingham of Seattle, WA and Ross Bentley of British Columbia, survived the traffic and an accident not of their making, to finish eleventh at Sunday's Grand Prix at Atlanta. Starting from 10th place on the grid, Bentley mounted an early charge, moving up through the large field to run in sixth place on the lead lap. However, a slower car hit Bentley forcing a long pit stop for repairs of the broken tire screen cover, at which time a driver change was also made. Bingham moved back through the 43-car field to bring the car home in eleventh place, in front of a crowd of 30,000. The race was filmed live on CNBC, a first for the news network, which is branching into motorsports coverage, starting with the ALMS series.
The team worked with handicaps all weekend, including an underpowered engine, an engine management problem which caused the team to miss a practice session, and the loss of the team's fueler before the race, when he was sent home for the birth of his daughter.
The drivers have moved up into eighth position in the Driver's standings, where they are tied with 27 points. Hybrid R&D Racing is now fourth in the Prototypes Teams standings, and has the maximum number of available Privateer points.
The next stop on the eight-race American Le Mans Series is Round Three at Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada on 27 June 1999. The track is familiar to veteran Bentley, who has raced there many times in a variety of racing venues; however, it will be new to Bingham, one of the youngest drivers in the series.
CHRIS BINGHAM - I took over after our forced pit stop to repair the damage done by a slower car who moved over on us, causing complicated body repairs. There was a lot of traffic which didn't make it easy to make up lost laps, but I just kept picking them off Maybe we would have finished higher had there been more time. Although Mosport will be a new track for me, I look forward to the challenge.
ROSS BENTLEY - We had the car running well, after working on it all weekend and I felt that we had in us for a top five finish, but the traffic picked on us. I look forward to racing at Mosport, a track I've raced on for the past twenty years.
ROD EVERETT, Team Owner - I'm pleased we finished as well as we did, all things considered. I'm looking forward to getting our upgraded engine and taking on Mosport.
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