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Petit Le Mans Will Be The Anniversary Of Scott Tucker’s Professional Debut

By Kaitlyn Tillman

The pinnacle of the 2011 American Le Mans series takes place on Oct. 1 with the 14th annual Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. For Scott Tucker, driver and owner for Level 5 Motorsports, the race marks the beginning of his sixth year of professional racing. In 2006, he made his professional debut at Petit Le Mans, and from there, his career took off.

“There are not many Americans that get to race there, first and foremost, so I feel very privileged to be among that group,” he said. “This year, we’re the only American prototype team there. We feel very fortunate we were selected to race there.”

The Petit Le Mans race is an endurance race modeled after the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is its equivalent for the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup series. Road Atlanta owner Don Panoz founded it, and the first iteration ran on Oct. 10, 1998—and Panoz must have had a thing for tens, because the race covers a maximum of 1,000 miles or a minimum of 10 hours, whichever comes first. Class winners of Petit Le Mans automatically qualify for the following year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Tucker has increasingly focused on the American Le Mans Series as his career has continued. After he founded Level 5 Motorsports in 2008, his main actions have included drafting talented veterans known for incredible precision even at maximum speeds. This year’s Petit Le Mans has unofficially been the holy grail in Tucker’s eyes: Mid-season, he announced the switch from the team’s Nos. 55 and 95 Microsoft Office-sponsored LMP2 cars to a brand new, right-off-the-line HPD ARX-01g chassis, the result of a partnership between Honda Performance Development and Wirth Research. Tucker pushed hard to get the car finished as quickly as possible, of course without sacrificing quality. While making the transition between cars, Tucker even withdrew from ALMS races in Lime Rock Park and a huge one at Silverstone in Great Britain, choosing instead to focus on the all-important Petit ahead.

Now, Tucker has added a fourth elite driver to his already well-stacked team. Marino Franchitti will join the team and its new car—which Tucker marks as best in its class—for the 2011 race at Road Atlanta. Franchitti has extensive experience with the HPD prototype family, having participated in the first year of development of the ARX-01a with Andretti Green Racing before spending some LMP2 time with Dyson Racing. The addition of Franchitti to the lineup is an obvious sign that Tucker is going for the win at Petit Le Mans, though that’s never not the case when Tucker enters a race track. He is a three-time national driving champion. Level 5 Motorsports’ performance in 2010 during its debut year in the American Le Mans Series sent them to the top of the podium and bumped them into the LMP2 category.

Tucker has made giant strides since his Petit Le Mans professional debut in 2006, and this year he’s possibly the most prepared he’s ever been. A victory would mean another addition to Tucker’s unbelievable record in the past five years, and moving to the LMP1 category would mean that Tucker has made it to the top class in the sport he seemingly was born to compete in. Whatever the results end up meaning for Level 5 Motorsports, the work they’ve already put in this year make it clear that the team is one of the most prolific, aggressive racing organizations in the world.

Kaitlyn Tillman has been keeping a close eye on Scott Tucker, owner and driver, of Level 5 Motorsports throughout the past year to keep you posted about the success of the dream team. To get more information about Tucker, check out http://www.planetlemans.com/?s=scott+tucker

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Posted on October 17, 2011 by , Reply

Scott Tucker, A Year In Review: The 12 Hours Of Sebring

By Kaitlyn Tillman

Scott Tucker and his Level 5 Motorsports teammates recently began the final quarter of a racing year that has included numerous podium appearances, multiple car changes, incredible accomplishments and yet still room for improvement. Tucker, owner and driver for Level 5, has been a leader for the team despite the rookie status he maintained merely months ago. His tight, balanced driving has earned him top honors in the American Le Mans Series as Rookie of the Year and Champion Driver in 2010. His races often end with stints on the podium, and his career has only just begun.

As Tucker, his co-drivers Christophe Bouchut and Luis Diaz and team manager David Stone prepare to close the calendar year with the all-important Petit Le Mans and the Ferrari International Finals, the stakes are high—the team has woven itself a reputation of excellence that is best understood by looking back at what has made 2011 a stunning year for Level 5 Motorsports.

In mid-March, following a modest but strong showing at the Rolex 24 at Daytona several weeks earlier, the Level 5 Motorsports team made its LMP2 debut. After winning its LMP class in 2010, the drivers nabbed the LMP2 distinction. As has become somewhat of a tradition in the past year, the team was working feverishly to finish its entry car in time for the starting flag. In a matter of just days, the Lola Honda was finished and shipped to Florida for its race debut and the team’s class debut.

Level 5 drivers Scott Tucker, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Luis Diaz split time commanding the racetrack. Tucker told members of the media that the 12 Hours of Sebring was a “test run” for the Lola Honda, as it had come straight off the assembly floor, but if Sebring was a test, Level 5 Motorsports scored an A+. Even in the face of a handful of mishaps and issues, the drivers drove strong and finished strong, making up for any mistakes with skillful maneuvering around turns and careful, strategic straightaway shots. The Level 5 Motorsports team secured an LMP2 victory, reliving their LMP success from the previous year. Tucker also won the Champion Driver award at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2010.

The Lola Honda wasn’t the fastest car through the straights, but she shined when the track started to bend. Tucker and Diaz made the first rounds of the Sebring International Speedway and made clear their class dominance early on. Strong showings from the drivers on the first two legs of the race still left work to be done by Hunter-Reay, a Florida native. Hunter-Reay drove an excellent leg, recovering plenty of time for the team and ultimately whizzing past the finish line at the front of the pack.

“The team had some issues but made up for lost time,” Tucker said. “Ryan had a grew last few laps.” Although the Lola Honda was barely finished before tackling a notoriously grueling 12-hour race, the car didn’t show any signs of fatigue or wear at race’s end. The team didn’t face any mechanical issues, and nary a scratch was visible on the body at the end of the day. “We’re pleased with the vehicle performance,” Tucker said. “We knew we had a great car, and we’re eager to see what we can do with it.”

The Level 5 team, along with other entries, donned Japan stickers on their cars to honor the country after the earthquake and tsunami that had occurred in the time leading up to the Sebring race.

Reaching podium on the first ALMS appearance of the year was exactly the start Level 5 Motorsports had hoped for coming into Sebring. With plenty of races to come before the championship Petit le Mans in October, they had a lot of work ahead of them, a lot of miles to drive, and a lot of potential for successes to come.

Kaitlyn Tillman has been keeping a close eye on Scott Tucker, owner and driver, of Level 5 Motorsports throughout the past year to keep you posted about the success of the dream team. To get more information about Tucker, check out http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703940904575395452654498336.html

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Posted on October 17, 2011 by , Reply

Level 5 Motorsports’ Impressive HPD ARX-01g Debut, Wirth Research Inks A Long-term Deal With Honda

By Brent Arends

There has been no shortage of publicity regarding the Scott Tucker-owned Level 5 Motorsports racing team’s mid-season decision to switch cars. Despite the risks the change brought of interrupting the explosive momentum the team has maintained since the season’s open, as well as the potential points lost by withdrawing from races while the car was being finished, the change has been nothing but positive. The marriage Level 5’s skillful and talented drivers; the integrity, innovation and reputation of Honda Performance Development; and the precision and technique of Wirth Research has benefited all three groups.

When the wait for Level 5’s new LMP2 Lola Honda Spyder was over, it was obvious the car was well worth it. Not that Level 5 had too much to worry about, with wins at the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Grand Prix of Long Beach, along with podium finishes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Six Hours of Imola, all during the team’s debut LMP2 season. When the team ignited the engine on the raceway for the first time at ModSpace American Le Mans Monterey presented by Patron, they bettered their season in the only way to better an already winning season: They made history. Tucker and co-drivers Christophe Bouchut and Luis Diaz earned their highest overall finish of the season at the Laguna Seca race. The car didn’t require a single unscheduled pit stop or encounter any unexpected issues, which easily secured the team’s fourth LMP2 victory of the season and Tucker and Bouchut’s drivers’ championships.

Bouchut nailed a best time of 1: 16.867 in the new HPD ARX-01g, which is just a second behind the LMP1 winning car’s fastest lap. With this being the first iteration of the HPD ARX-01g, with development still in early stages for cost-capped configurations, the pace was impressive, especially considering the model had less than three hours of run time prior to the endurance test.

The lofty expectations for the new Honda before it was finished were valid enough that Tucker had reserved the first two chassis that were produced, and the team waited patiently for its new and improved car, even withdrawing from competitions in order to have it in time for Petit Le Mans. The hype surrounding the car, both before it was proven and following its tenacious debut, solidified the partnership between Wirth Research and Honda Performance Development (HPD), as Wirth announced Sept. 9 the beginning of a new long-term technical partnership with Honda.

Wirth and HPD have been working together since 2003, but the new relationship extends the companies’ sports prototype programs and includes a new IndyCar project. In an official Wirth press release, the company notes that the unyielding success of its LMP1 and LMP2 cars in the past year have opened the opportunity to build on the achievements and begin to evaluate several new projects for high-profile clients.

“We looked through the numbers, inside and out, and from our perspective, there’s no doubt the Honda package in the new cost-capped configuration will be a front-runner in LMP2,” Tucker said, after making the mid-season decision to switch cars. “We’ve seen gains with the engine all year, and the exciting thing is that there’s still room for improvement.” Members of the Level 5 team even visited the Wirth Research center to check out their new set of wheels in production.

It’s not just any car that can evoke so much anticipation out of an already dominant racing team. It can be expected that as long as there’s improvement in the prototypes, teams like Level 5—which constantly strategizes and evaluates situations to optimize the chance of a victory—will keep HPD and Wirth high on their radars. The new long-term partnership between the companies is the exciting beginning of an era of innovation and ultimate performance ability in motorsports.

Brent Arends has been keeping a close eye on Scott Tucker, owner and driver, of Level 5 Motorsports throughout the past year. To get more information about Tucker, check out http://www.motorsport.com/#/all/search/?q=scott%252520tucker

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Posted on September 24, 2011 by , 1 comment