B-K Motorsports Rebounds to Take the Checkers at Mazda Raceway Laguna
Seca
Monterey, Calif. - What could have been a race-ending gremlin for B-K
Motorsports turned into a valuable learning experience Saturday in the
American Le Mans Series season-ending Monterey Sports Car
Championships at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
The Wisconsin-based team's brand-new Lola B08/86 Mazda MZR-R coupe ran
strong all weekend long, including the first half of the four-hour
race, but a small crack in the exhaust header put drivers Ben Devlin
and Gerardo Bonilla on the sidelines while the crew made repairs. The
extensive job to replace the part took close to an hour to complete,
and Bonilla was on his way to take the BP Lola Mazda to the checkered
flag.
"We lost a lot of ground because of the header problem, but getting
back in there was really motivating," Bonilla said. "All the Mazda
fans up in the suite were clapping and cheering for us when we got
back out. That was a great feeling. The guys worked their butts off to
get us back out there. We
got to basically do a test on our tires and experience more nighttime
running, which was great. Driving this coupe has been a dream come
true."
Devlin started the Dunlop-shod LMP2 machine from 12th on the grid and
quickly made progress up the leader board. The experienced Englishman
overcame a series of full-course cautions periods and unfavorable
track conditions to also gain valuable experience with the new car.
"It was going very well," Devlin said. "The car felt really good for
the start. We've done a lot and have improved in every session, so
it's going in the right direction. Unfortunately, we got so many
yellows, which didn't play well for us. We were struggling on cold
tires all weekend but I think everyone else was too. We learned a lot
this weekend that we can take to testing this winter and it was a
perfect time today to try some new things for next year."
While the final race results might not show it, Devlin, Bonilla and
the entire B-K Motorsports team walked away satisfied with the
obstacle they overcame and look forward to starting an extensive
winter test program.
"On a whole, the team worked 100 percent," said Devlin, reflecting on
the 2008 season. "I'm so happy what they've been able to do all year
long. Every one of the team members has come off the disappointments
at the beginning of the season when they were thrown in the deep end.
We pulled through it and worked hard as a team and also got stronger
and stronger as the year went on. That's what it's all about. Now we
have a great level to start from for 2009."
There are certainly a lot of positives heading into next year's
American Le Mans Series season for the team. With constant progress
made all year long with its open-top Lola B07/46 Mazda MZR-R and the
encouraging race debut of the brand-new Lola B08/86 Mazda MZR-R coupe
this weekend, the Bob Bach-owned organization is hoping to keep that
momentum high during the winter months.
"The hard work started back at the shop after we had the incident at
Petit Le Mans," said John Doonan, manager, motorsports team
development for Mazda North America. "We rebounded and pulled out a
huge effort to get here first of all. The broken header set us back a
bit, but we fought and made it to the checkered. Now it's time to get
to the off-season and continue our development on the project. The
landscape of the class is going to change next year, but we'll be
there to fight it."
-credit: bkm
