Jörg Bergmeister : “I will be flying back and forth between Mid-Ohio and Barber”
Tavares, Fla.
Jul 19, 2007
Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team drivers Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long are poised to capture their second Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve Daytona Prototype win of the season when the series returns to Barber Motorsports Park July 20-23 for the Porsche 250 presented by Bradley Arant.
Last year at Barber, Bergmeister won the race driving the No. 76 Ford Riley entry, while Long, and his then co-driver Mike Rockenfeller, finished third in the No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team Porsche Crawford Daytona Prototype. If past experience is any indication of future results, Bergmeister and Long should be favored to win the Round 10 250-mile race. In fact, Bergmeister holds the race record of 2:45:16.341 at an average speed of 80.993-mph, which he set in last year’s race.
“I like Barber, it’s a really challenging track, “ Bergmeister said. “But, this race is going to be tough. The Rileys have really stepped up their game from last year. “
“I think we should be good at Barber, “ Long said. “It’s a challenging course because you have to brake and turn a lot, so you need a lot of stability in the rear [of the car]. We keep defying the odds as the lone ranger with the Crawford car. We are up against all of these Rileys, who are sharing resources from one team to the next. We just have to keep fighting and show that Ruby Tuesday and Alex Job Racing never give up. “
Bergmeister will be pulling double-duty this weekend flying between Mid-Ohio (for the ALMS race) and Barber. Despite his dual commitments, he seems pretty confident that Long will do a great job helping the crew setup a race-winning car by the time he returns for Sunday’s race.
“We will have a lot of work to do [to win the race], “ Bergmeister added. “I will also have a lot of work to do, as I will be flying back and forth between Mid-Ohio and Barber. I will be at Barber for the first session on Thursday and then come back for the race. Patrick will be pretty busy doing the car setup and I am convinced he will do a great job.”
“Barber should be a good track for us, ” team owner Alex Job said. “We finished third there last year and, with the improvements we’ve made to the car this year, I feel pretty confident about our chances this weekend. We are anxious to get our second win, but to get it [a win]; it’s going to take a solid team effort.”
The Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team has one win, two top-five and seven top-10 finishes this season. Both, Bergmeister and Long are tied for seventh-place with 210 points (62 points behind the point leader Scott Pruett) in the Grand-Am Rolex Series Daytona Prototype Driver Point standings. The team is in sixth-place in the Grand-Am Rolex Series Team Point standings also with 210 points.
