By: M1 GT Racing
August 15 2016
Fourth place result Saturday backed up by second place finish Sunday
Brooksville, Florida – Competing in the second event weekend of the Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) SprintX Championship, M1 GT Racing and Audi Sport customer racing scored a pair of top five finishes including a second place podium result in round four. With Walt Bowlin, David Ostella and Dion von Moltke sharing driving duties throughout the weekend, M1 GT Racing was consistently near the front of the field, pacing all the SprintX drivers in Thursday’s first official practice session.
“What a great weekend!” exclaimed Technical Director Remi Lanteigne. “Our entire crew and drivers did a fantastic job and the hard work is paying off. David and Walt started the weekend strong result and then Sunday, David and Dion proved that we are a team that should not be taken lightly.”
After showing the speed to top the charts on Thursday’s final practice session, M1 GT Racing would start Saturday’s Pirelli World Challenge SprintX round three event from the fifth position. With Bowlin and Ostella behind the wheel of the potent Audi R8 LMS Ultra, the pair would score a fourth place result after the hour long, two driver race a great start to the weekend. For round four the following day, Dion von Moltke would join Ostella behind the wheel of the M1 GT Racing prepared machine as the duo proved to be a fast and consistent pair. Slowly moving their way forward into the second position, von Moltke would close the gap to the leader during the final few laps but would fall just short as time ran out and would settle for a second place podium result.
“It was really nice to join M1 GT Racing once again for a race in the Pirelli World Challenge SprintX Championship. I know how hard they have all been working over the past month, and I was really excited to see how much as a team we improved. This was very evident in organization, preparation, and the team culture, which all directly impacted our performance throughout the whole weekend positively. It was quite a difficult weekend trying to share the car between Walt, David and I, but Walt and David did a fantastic job in car setup as well as in race one,” explained Dion von Moltke. “In race two David had to start last, due to me joining him. He got a very good start, drove all the way up to third all while taking care of his tires. I got in for the second half of the race, and our Audi R8 LMS was very strong. We closed the gap to first place by sixteen seconds, but just ran out of time. It was nice to stand on the podium again, and gain valuable points against our competitors. It’s going to come down to the wire at the last round of the championship at Laguna Seca, but for the next two months we will be fully focused on ourselves, and what we can do to improve so we can be as strong as possible during the whole race weekend!”
“This weekend was a great success for the team,” expressed David Ostella. “Walt and I were able to bring home a fourth place finish on Saturday and work on key setup choices for Sunday’s race. The car felt great throughout the circuit today and I was able to bring it into the pits in third for Dion to drive it to a second place finish. The team did an awesome job getting the car ready for the weekend and was pretty close to perfect for the pit stops. I have to thank M1 GT Racing for this amazing opportunity and all my sponsors for getting me out here this weekend.”
“It was a great weekend for the team,” added Walt Bowlin, who was behind the wheel of the M1 GT Racing Audi R8 LMS on Saturday. “We started the weekend with very little practice for myself and Dion. I had a little trouble getting up to speed because a lack of track time but once I was comfortable in the race, my times dropped significantly giving us enough pace to let David take over in the second part of the first race to bring home with a fourth place finish. In the second race on Sunday David had a great first half of the race and put the car in a position for a podium finish. Dion drove the wheels off the car at the end and just came up short of the victory. We were all very happy and excited it was a great finishing to a great weekend. This put us in a position for the final race of the year in Monterey California to have a shot at the team championship.”
Lanteigne continued, “I can’t thank all of the M1 GT Racing crew enough for their continued hard work. Also, an extra special thank you to Audi Sport customer racing and all of our marketing partners for believing in us and our abilities.”
M1 GT Racing would like to thank all of their 2016 partners and supporters. A special thank you to Audi Sport customer racing, Tampa Bay Jaw Surgery, Surgery Centers of America, JND Erectors, Global Precast, Connolly Marbles and Granite, Skyrider Equipment, Brite Con, Canadian Crane, Nutrend, Spyder Active Sports Wear and SkndSkins.
For more information on M1 GT Racing, please visit them online at their new website, www.M1GTRacing.com and be sure to follow M1GTRacing on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/M1GTRacing), Twitter, Instagram and You Tube all at @M1GTRacing.
Canadians In BOLD