APR Motorsport brings momentum to The Glen
APR Motorsport will for the first time this season run two cars in the GT class at Watkins Glen.
#51 APR Motorsport Audi R8 GRAND-AM: Dion von Moltke, Jim Norman
Kenneth May
Team brings Two Audi R8's and Last Week's CTSCC Winner to Watkins Glen
June 28, 2012 (Opelika, Ala.) - Spirits are high in the APR Motorsport camp, as after one of it's strongest weekends of the year at Road America, the team heads to a track which has seen some its strongest success in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.
At last Saturday's Rolex 250 driven by VisitFlorida.com, the no. 51 APR Audi R8 recovered from early contact to lead the Rolex Series' GT class in the late stages before a cut tire sent the team back to the pits for an unscheduled pit stop. Despite the setback, the team was buoyed by the pace of the car and is looking forward to a similar performance this weekend on the long straightaway's and fast corners of Watkins Glen International.
APR Motorsport will run two cars in the Rolex Series for the first time at this weekend's Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen, with the no. 52 APR Audi R8 for German drivers Marc Basseng and Frank Stippler joining the team on this weekend. Former Rolex 24 at Daytona winner Ian Baas will also join the lineup of the no. 51 APR Audi R8. Baas finished second in the GT class at the 2006 running of the Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen.
"I am extremely pumped to be back in the Audi R8," said Baas, who last drove the car at its debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. "I've been watching the team slowly make progress with the car with each passing weekend, and I'm excited to see how it fares now after half a season of development in the Rolex Series. At a track like Watkins Glen it should do really well and be a lot of fun to drive. Hopefully I can help Dr. Jim and Dion get the team a strong result this weekend."
David Cheng and Aleks Altberg scored APR Motorsport's first CTSCC win of the 2012 season at Road America, taking the no. 171 APR VW GTI to victory lane after running at the front of the field throughout the race. It was the first victory for rookies Cheng and Altberg, and extended APR Motorsport's winning streak in the ST class back to 2009.
At last year's Continental Tire 150, APR Motorsport's VW's came from the last row to finish first and second - something that hadn't been done before in the CTSCC. APR Motorsport's first win in the CTSCC came at Watkins Glen in 2009, and has scored four of the race's fastest laps over the previous five races at the Glen.
"A week later, we almost can't believe that we won at Road America," said Altberg, who took the checkered flag in the no. 171 APR VW GTI. "The ST field is so stacked with good drivers and cars, we know that getting our first win of the season was really tough, and a second will be just as difficult. But we definitely feel more confident now and we expect the VW's to perform well here, so we'll just stick to our game plan and we know that the APR Motorsport guys will give us another good car."
The wild race at Road America took its toll on the APR Motorsport team, as both its no. 131 and no 191 APR Jetta GLI's will miss Watkins Glen for repairs. The no. 161 APR GTI of Nate Norenberg and Josh Hurley was also damaged in the race but will make the grid this weekend, as will the no. 41 APR Audi S4 of Hector Guerrero and Alex Popow.
Source: APR Motorsport
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