Level 5 Motorsports has had nothing but positive reviews of its pre-Petit Le Mans practice and testing week, and even more positive remarks about its eventual Petit victory. The brand new HPD ARX-01g prototypes it brought to the race have been running flawlessly according to all reports from the track. But "flawlessly" doesn't mean entirely without error. In fact, Level 5's No. 055 HPD ARX-01g was part of a morning full of incidents during the 25-minute warm-up at Road Atlanta last Saturday.
Level 5's No. 055 suffered an oil leak, a minor but important problem to fix for the car, which would start from the pole position following driver Luis Diaz's impressive testing finish the day before. Meanwhile, the No. 16 Dyson Racing Lola B09/86 experienced engine failure. On the morning of the race, the team was left hurriedly trying to install a brand new 2-liter, 4-cylinder Mazda MZR-R engine hoping to finish in time to run the race.
Team Falken Tire's Porsche 911 GT3 RSR failed to make it out of pit to form on the grid. But worst of all was trouble experienced by the No. 062 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 of Jamie Melo, which crashed right after warm-up. The suspension on the car was severely damaged, and it was questionable as to whether it would be able to start.
Level 5's minimal mechanical issues were actually astounding considering the circumstances, and they ultimately speak to the quality and precision of the Honda Performance Development/Wirth Research collaboration on the prototypes. While Tucker drove the No. 055 to the podium at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway last month, the second Level 5 prototype was still in production in London just days before Petit Le Mans. When it still wasn't finished, the car was shipped as-is to be finished on-site at Road Atlanta by the Level 5 Motorsports team. The Level 5 team worked overtime for several consecutive days in order to finish the car. With such a narrow time frame and the activity of Petit Le Mans building, to have so few problems was remarkable.
The biggest issue for the team was quickly acclimating its drivers to the new car, which is built for increased speeds than their former Lola Honda prototypes. "The biggest noticeable difference is that the downforce is bigger," Tucker said. "We've all had sore necks from driving with that, so we just need to make those adjustments for driver comfort."
Still, dealing with adjustments during testing week is much more preferred than dealing with incidents, and Level 5's new cars got right up to speed on the track, ultimately beating out its main LMP2 challenger, the Signatech Nissan.
Level 5 has had its fair share of vehicle incidents throughout the 2011 season, though you wouldn't know it looking at their record this year. With drivers' championships clinched for Tucker and Bouchut and the team aiming for a vice championship in ILMC competition, incidents at the 12 Hours of Sebring and a catastrophic crash at Spa-Francorchamps are truly in the rearview.
Level 5's No. 055 suffered an oil leak, a minor but important problem to fix for the car, which would start from the pole position following driver Luis Diaz's impressive testing finish the day before. Meanwhile, the No. 16 Dyson Racing Lola B09/86 experienced engine failure. On the morning of the race, the team was left hurriedly trying to install a brand new 2-liter, 4-cylinder Mazda MZR-R engine hoping to finish in time to run the race.
Team Falken Tire's Porsche 911 GT3 RSR failed to make it out of pit to form on the grid. But worst of all was trouble experienced by the No. 062 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 of Jamie Melo, which crashed right after warm-up. The suspension on the car was severely damaged, and it was questionable as to whether it would be able to start.
Level 5's minimal mechanical issues were actually astounding considering the circumstances, and they ultimately speak to the quality and precision of the Honda Performance Development/Wirth Research collaboration on the prototypes. While Tucker drove the No. 055 to the podium at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway last month, the second Level 5 prototype was still in production in London just days before Petit Le Mans. When it still wasn't finished, the car was shipped as-is to be finished on-site at Road Atlanta by the Level 5 Motorsports team. The Level 5 team worked overtime for several consecutive days in order to finish the car. With such a narrow time frame and the activity of Petit Le Mans building, to have so few problems was remarkable.
The biggest issue for the team was quickly acclimating its drivers to the new car, which is built for increased speeds than their former Lola Honda prototypes. "The biggest noticeable difference is that the downforce is bigger," Tucker said. "We've all had sore necks from driving with that, so we just need to make those adjustments for driver comfort."
Still, dealing with adjustments during testing week is much more preferred than dealing with incidents, and Level 5's new cars got right up to speed on the track, ultimately beating out its main LMP2 challenger, the Signatech Nissan.
Level 5 has had its fair share of vehicle incidents throughout the 2011 season, though you wouldn't know it looking at their record this year. With drivers' championships clinched for Tucker and Bouchut and the team aiming for a vice championship in ILMC competition, incidents at the 12 Hours of Sebring and a catastrophic crash at Spa-Francorchamps are truly in the rearview.
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