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Intersport Newcomers Feel Right At Home IN ALMS
Candidly, neither Ryan Lewis nor John Faulkner knew what to expect in their first American Le Mans Series start at Mid-Ohio. Surely the four different classes of cars, constant passing and sharing a prototype together would just a bit much for Intersport Racing's pair of rookies. So imagine the emotions when the pairing stood on the LMP1 podium after the Acura Sports Car Challenge.
"It was fantastic to be standing on the podium," Faulkner said. "Who could have imagined it in our debut race? I owe it all to my teammate, Ryan, who did a super job in his first stint. I was just trying to keep it safe and bring it home. We had a few problems at first, but we recovered for a great result."
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The next test for Intersport and its two cellulosic E85-powered Lola-AERs is the Generac 500 at Road America presented by Time Warner Cable. The 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit is one of the best in North America and will afford Intersport and its P1 competitors a chance to stretch their legs.
"I believe that Road America will play to the strengths of our package, more so than the majority of the venues in the first half of the season," said Lewis, who ran with the Atlantic Championship the last two years at Road America with a fifth-place finish in 2006. "The boys at AER give both of the Intersport cars some serious horsepower that's going to really help on those long straights at Elkhart Lake as well as Mosport and Road Atlanta. Even though we are hurting a little in the corners compared to the manufacturer boys, just the nature of the tracks will swing things back a little in our favor.
"Road America is definitely one of my favorite places to race in North America," he added. "When I first came to Road America in 2006 with the Atlantics, the place distinctly reminded me of Spa-Francorchamps back in Europe, my favorite track of all. It has the same historic allure that makes you feel almost privileged every time you leave pit lane. Now that I'm sharing that track with some of the best drivers in the world and competing with likes of Audi, Porsche and Acura, it just makes it that little bit more special."
PaddockTalk Perspective
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