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Bell, Lazzaro, Murry to drive No. 04 entry at Road Atlanta
Robertson Racing will introduce a second Ford GT to the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón at Petit Le Mans in the 2010 season finale as the team’s program continues to expand.
The 1,000-mile/10-hour championship finale at Road Atlanta, which has also been designated North America’s Intercontinental Le Mans Cup round, is the home race for the Braselton, Ga.-based squad, making it the perfect venue for the team’s debut as a two-car operation.
The existing No. 40 chassis will continue in the hands of David and Andrea Robertson who will add former Series GT class winner Craig Stanton. A second GT, designated No. 04 and currently under construction at the team’s race-shop, will be piloted by double Le Mans Series GT2 champion Rob Bell, former NASCAR and IndyCar driver Anthony Lazzaro (also a winner in the Series’ GT class) and current Robertson Racing regular David Murry – the GT2 pole-winner last year at Petit Le Mans.
Both Dunlop-shod Ford GTs will be powered by the V8 unit recently developed by Elan Motorsport Technologies. The second car is expected to be completed by early September ahead of a limited testing program before the event.
“We have been working hard for some time now to turn this into a reality so it’s fantastic to finally announce our expansion into a two-car squad,” said team manager Andrew ‘H’ Smith. “The Series’ GT class is probably the most competitive in world motorsport which makes running an independent team without works-backing very challenging.
“But adding a second car, especially in the hands of such a talented trio that mixes speed with experience, marks a significant step forward in Robertson Racing’s short history. Rob has been very successful in Europe while both David and Anthony are a pair of well-established, fast Americans. In fact, David put the car on pole at Petit last season so we’re certainly hopeful of a similar performance.”
“The Ford’s going to be different to the other GT cars I’ve driven recently but as a professional racing driver you should be able to jump in any car and get to grips with it after a couple of laps,” said Bell. “In another sense it’s also a good challenge to get in a different car and experience something new as it keeps you motivated. It’s a one-off at the moment but the way I always look at it is if you do a good job you never know what might happen in the future.
“I’ll help the team as much as I can because they’re still developing the car, but we are going there to get the best result possible. I’ve not driven round Road Atlanta in a GT car before but have experience from racing the P1 Lola (for Drayson Racing) there last season. Obviously the two will be very different so I’ll try and learn as much as I can from David Murry.”
Robertson Racing and the rest of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón return to action at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge. The two-hour, 45-minute race from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is set for 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 7. Live race and qualifying video will be streamed online at americanlemans.com. Live radio coverage will be available on American Le Mans Radio presented by Porsche – a production of Radio Show Limited – as well as Sirius Channel 127 and XM Channel 242. The race will be broadcast at 12:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 15 on CBS Sports. Visit the Series’ schedule page for ticket and accommodation information. Live Timing and Scoring, track schedule, entry list and much, much more will be available on Racehub at americanlemans.com.
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