Teammates Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long are eager to show Canadian race fans just how fast the No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team Porsche Crawford Daytona Prototype can maneuver the famed Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve when the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve heads to Montréal, Quebec, Canada, Aug. 2-3.
Bergmeister and Long are confident they can give the team its second win of the season though neither has ever driven the 2.71-mile road course. In fact, the series’ will make its first appearance at the highly-popular Formula 1 venue.
“I always look forward to going to Canada, ” Long said. “It’s a great place and the fans are very passionate. I think with both the NASCAR Busch Series and Grand-Am Series being there, the crowds should be really good. ”
“It’s a Formula 1 track, ” Long added describing what he knows about the track. “It’s not a permanent course, but it is specifically designed for racing. It should be interesting to go there. Jörg and I have never seen the place and there is very minimal track time between qualifying and the race. So, the key will be to use the track time to get the optimal setup as soon as possible, while learning the track – that will be a challenge like we had in Mexico City. In Mexico City, we came out with a top-five finish, so we hope to do the same in Montréal. ”
“I only know about the track from watching the Formula 1 race on TV, ” Bergmeister said. “It looks like a great track. I don’t know if it [the track] will suit our car. But, we have definitely improved the car compared to some of the other front-running cars. So, we’ll have to see how well we do there. ”
“Our team has never competed in Montréal, so this will be a totally new experience for us, ” team owner Alex Job said. “But, at the same time, this is a great opportunity to showcase what our team can do at one of North America’s most respected tracks. We are really looking forward to putting on a good show for the fans, while picking up our second win of the season. ”
The Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team has one win, two top-five and eight top-10 finishes this season. Both, Bergmeister and Long are tied for eighth-place with 233 points (65 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 233 points.
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