TOOELE, Utah, - After two GT2 class victories in the three American Le Mans Series races held thus far in 2008, Tafel Racing is enjoying a surge of momentum entering the Utah Grand Prix at Miller Motorsports Park (MMP). The May 18, two hour and 45-minute feature comes after two straight wins in the Series for the No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC driven by Dominik Farnbacher (Ansbach, Germany) and Dirk Müller (a native of Germany living in Monaco) and precedes a seven week break on the schedule.
A successful run at MMP can help carry early season momentum into the heart of the schedule for the Jim Tafel (Alpharetta, Ga.) owned effort. The Tooele, Utah-area track also marks the fulltime return of the No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GTC to the Series. Open wheel and sports car standout Alex Figge (Denver, Col.) joins owner/driver Jim Tafel behind the wheel of the No. 73 for the remainder of the season.
The Bell Microproducts-backed No. 71 opened the season with a seventh at the 12 Hours of Sebring but rebounded to take victories on the street courses at St. Petersburg, Fla. (April 5) and Long Beach, Calif. (April 19). Müller, the 2000 American Le Mans Series GT2 champion, and Farnbacher currently lead the driver championship chase by six points while heading the privateer championship, the IMSA Cup, by five markers. The program trails in the team championship by two points to the three-car Flying Lizard organization. A “hat trick” would place the second-year American Le Mans Series team securely in the lead of each category with seven races remaining on the schedule. Round Five will come at Lime Rock Park, Conn. on July 12.
A new configuration to the Miller Motorsports Park awaits the Cumming, Ga.-based program. Unlike the proceeding two years of the event, the 2008 race will use the “outer loop” of the pristine facility. At 3.048- miles, the 15-turn design will be shorter than in 2006 and 2007. Regardless of the configuration, MMP’s long, sweeping turns and wide-open runoff is a stark comparison to the tight, cement wall-lined street courses that the team and drivers faced on the way to the two victories. Tafel Racing Technical Director Tony Dowe (Cumming, Ga.) and the crew of both the No. 71 and the No. 73 will face a very different setup on the smooth Utah track versus the bumpy temporary courses. High speed aerodynamics will also be more significant as longer straightaways and faster turns allow for more time the Ferrari V8 is at full throttle.
A recent test at the team’s home track, Road Atlanta, allowed for several key components to be tested for the Salt Lake City event. Perhaps the most critical component tested was newly signed driver Alex Figge. Figge returns to the American Le Mans Series after a two year absence to race in the Champ Car World Series (2007) and Grand-Am Daytona Prototype Series (2006). Figge closed his Champ Car career with that Series’ final race at Long Beach on April 20. He last competed in the American Le Mans Series in 2005 earning a career-best third in the GT1 class at Portland. The Utah Grand Prix also marks Jim Tafel’s return to the cockpit after finishing fourth at Sebring. The driver/owner has worked the sidelines for his team during the two wins but recommits himself to the cockpit at Salt Lake making his 14th career Series start.
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