Tavares, FL, (Sept. 28, 2010), Alex Job Racing (AJR) is headed to Road Atlanta for the final round of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron to be run on Saturday, October 2.\u00a0 The Petit Le Mans presented by Mazda holds three championship possibilities for the team from Florida.\u00a0\u00a0 Bill Sweedler, Romeo Kapudija and Jan-Dirk Lueders will be up to the challenge in their No. 23 Battery Tender\/Tequila Patron\/Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.<\/p>\n
–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 AJR driver Bill Sweedler remains in the GTC championship picture.\u00a0 He needs to have Pappas\/Bleekemolen (54 car) not be classified and Lewis (88 car) to finish fourth or worse.<\/p>\n
–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sweedler and Romeo Kapudija are battling for the GTC Founders Cup trophy, awarded to the top driver that does not derive his primary income from racing.<\/p>\n
–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 AJR is still in contention for the team championship.\u00a0 The team would have to win, have Black Swan score zero points and a fourth place or worse for Velox and second or worse for TRG.<\/p>\n
Before the team can write banquet acceptance speeches there is the matter of nearly 1,000-mile\/10-hours of running around the very challenging 2.54-mile, 12- turn Road Atlanta circuit.\u00a0 The biggest challenge will come with the 45-car field, with many of those in the much faster prototype classes.\u00a0 The biggest field the series has witnessed prior to this weekend was at the season opener at Sebring with 33 cars entered.\u00a0 Large fields have proved treacherous for the GTC competitors, with the faster competitors showing little respect for the Porsche 911 drivers.\u00a0 This will factor into the finishing order come Saturday evening.<\/p>\n
Sweedler likes his chances at the track where he cut some of his early racing teeth.<\/p>\n
“I consider Road Atlanta my second home track to Lime Rock,” Sweedler said.\u00a0 “I love the track.\u00a0 It is one of the first tracks that I started racing on when I began driving.\u00a0 We will focus the set-up of the car for complex of turns from one through Turn Six.\u00a0 If you can get the car to handle through that section you will be good everywhere else on the circuit.\u00a0 You can make a lot of time through there with a good handling car.\u00a0 The downhill at 12 and the exchange to the back straight-away is important, but good lap times come from being good from Turn One to Turn Six.\u00a0 There is a large field.\u00a0 The race will be like a larger scale version of Lime Rock.\u00a0 We won’t have the Bull Ring of Lime Rock, but it will clearly have a similar traffic feel like it does at Lime Rock.\u00a0 In the GTC class we will have cars around us all of the time looking to overtake.\u00a0 It will be a challenge.\u00a0 We will constantly have to be aware behind the wheel.\u00a0 Anything can and will happen this weekend.\u00a0 Our focus is to get the team championship for Alex Job Racing.”<\/p>\n
Romeo Kapudija is excited to be going into the final event with a shot at the championship.<\/p>\n
“With the potential championship insight, I believe that we have to be very methodical in our approach to this race as it’s a very long,” Kapudija said.\u00a0 “We will have to stay out of the pits and maintain a swift pace without getting tangled with any other cars. Bill and Jan have been very quick and consistent during the long races and I hope to keep that positive momentum in this race.\u00a0 With 45 cars on the track, it’s going to be important to be aware of the traffic around us. The prototypes and the GT2 cars have proven to be somewhat anxious and hostile towards us and have pushed us off the track in a couple of races.\u00a0 We will need to be extra careful during this race in order to get a good finish.\u00a0 Our car set-up will be primarily focused on Turn One and through the esses as there is a lot to gain in terms of time through this series of corners.\u00a0 I have raced a Porsche RSR at Petit in 2005 and it was an awesome experience. The fans and the atmosphere make it very cool and coming to this race with the potential of a championship is very exciting. It would be a dream come true if we won the last race of the year!”<\/p>\n
Jan-Dirk Lueders will be making his first laps at the track located an hour north of Atlanta.<\/p>\n
“I have not been to Road Atlanta before and unfortunately have not had a chance to learn the track,” Lueders said.\u00a0 “I am doing my homework though, studying data, track maps, and on-board cameras.\u00a0 In the past traffic has always been my friend. It’s what makes racing – racing!\u00a0 For the first couple of sessions I will focus on getting the rhythm of the track. I am sure Alex Job and his crew will give us a great baseline to start practice from on Wednesday.\u00a0 It should not take us long to fine tune a good set-up for a long race.”<\/p>\n
Alex Job, team owner, takes his team into the second longest event of the schedule with season ending hardware on the line.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We have something to play for on Saturday,” Job said.\u00a0 “We have the possibility to grab three different titles.\u00a0 There will be 19 cars in the prototype divisions and 17 in GT2.\u00a0 That is a lot of fast cars to deal with.\u00a0 Not to mention that four of the P-cars are Audi and Peugeots.\u00a0 Bill and Romeo are in line for the Founders Cup and we have a good chance at the team title as well.\u00a0 If the 54 guys have a disastrous race we may luck into the GTC championship.\u00a0 We have four wins at Petit Le Mans (1999, 2002, 2003, and 2004) and we will put all of that experience to work on Saturday.”<\/p>\n
The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron Petit Le Mans will be televised live on the SPEED Channel starting at 11:00 a.m. ET, Saturday, October 2.\u00a0 The racing network will provide flag-to-flag coverage for the entire event from 11:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
AJR 2010 GTC Season<\/strong><\/p>\n No. 81<\/td>\n Leitzinger<\/p>\n Keen<\/td>\n Kapudija<\/p>\n Lueders<\/td>\n R. Gonzalez<\/p>\n Kelly<\/td>\n No. 81<\/td>\n Leitzinger<\/td>\n Kapudija<\/td>\n R. Gonzalez<\/td>\n No. 81<\/td>\n Leitzinger<\/p>\n Junco<\/td>\n Kapudija<\/p>\n Lueders<\/td>\n R. Gonzales<\/td>\n No. 81<\/td>\n Leitzinger<\/td>\n Kapudija<\/td>\n R. Gonzales<\/td>\n No. 23<\/td>\n Kapudija<\/td>\n No. 23<\/td>\n Kapudija<\/td>\n No. 23<\/td>\n Kapudija<\/td>\n No. 23<\/td>\n Pagerey<\/td>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Alex Job Racing is one of the most successful teams in ALMS history with 39 wins.\u00a0 This record is supported by 46 pole positions and 80 podium finishes.\u00a0\u00a0 The team has won three championships (GT in 2002, 2003 and 2004) complimented by their two GT class wins at Le Mans.\u00a0 The team also boasts seven Sebring 12 hour wins.\u00a0<\/p>\n The ALMS GTC category is specific to one of the most popular factory produced racing cars in the world, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.\u00a0 Developed for Porsche’s one-make series around the world, the new version of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is based on the road-going 911 GT3 RS. The power unit featured in the new 911 GT3 Cup is largely identical to the production engine of the 911 GT3 RS with the same output of 450 bhp and the same maximum engine speed of 8,500 rpm.<\/p>\n Battery Tender<\/p>\n In 1999, Deltran introduced the Battery Tender Plus into the marketplace. The main reason was that many more AGM style lead acid batteries were being used in a variety of power sports engine start applications. Each and every Deltran Battery Tender Battery Charger\u00ae regardless of its size is programmed with a microprocessor that will correctly charge a battery then automatically switch to a maintenance\/float mode. Refer to www.batterytender.com for more information.<\/p>\n Patr\u00f3n<\/p>\n Simply Perfect in every way, Patr\u00f3n tequila is an ultra-premium luxury white spirit that’s delicious on the rocks, and mixes flawlessly into most any cocktail. From the highest-quality Weber Blue agave plants grown in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico, to the centuries-old distillation process, to the signed, handcrafted glass bottles, Patr\u00f3n is produced with unparalleled attention to detail. Imported and marketed by The Patr\u00f3n Spirits Company, brands in the portfolio consist of Gran Patr\u00f3n Burdeos, Gran Patr\u00f3n Platinum, Patr\u00f3n Silver, Patr\u00f3n Reposado, Patr\u00f3n A\u00f1ejo, Patr\u00f3n XO Cafe (tequila and coffee liqueur), and Patr\u00f3n Citr\u00f3nge (extra-fine orange liqueur), as well as Pyrat Caribbean rums, and Ultimat ultra-premium vodka. For more information, please visit www.patronspirits.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a9 RIF | AJR<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tavares, FL, (Sept. 28, 2010), Alex Job Racing (AJR) is headed to Road Atlanta for the final round of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron to be run on Saturday, October 2.\u00a0 The Petit Le Mans presented by Mazda holds three championship possibilities for the team from Florida.\u00a0\u00a0 Bill Sweedler, Romeo Kapudija …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[9,2120],"tags":[1080,5302,5264,5334,5365,1116,109,5361,1114],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8664"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8664"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8667,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8664\/revisions\/8667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n\n
\n Track<\/td>\n Drivers<\/td>\n Finish<\/td>\n Qualify<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Sebring<\/p>\n J. Gonzales<\/p>\n 1<\/td>\n 1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n No. 23<\/td>\n Sweedler<\/p>\n 2<\/td>\n 3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n No. 80<\/td>\n Diaz<\/p>\n 3<\/td>\n 2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Long Beach<\/p>\n J. Gonzales<\/p>\n 1<\/td>\n 3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n No. 23<\/td>\n Sweedler<\/p>\n 3<\/td>\n 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n No. 80<\/td>\n Diaz<\/p>\n 7<\/td>\n 9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Laguna Seca<\/p>\n J. Gonzales<\/p>\n 3<\/td>\n 2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n No. 23<\/td>\n Sweedler<\/p>\n 7<\/td>\n 8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n No. 80<\/td>\n Diaz<\/p>\n 4<\/td>\n 9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Miller<\/p>\n J. Gonzales<\/p>\n 2<\/td>\n 9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n No. 23<\/td>\n Sweedler<\/p>\n 9<\/td>\n 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n No. 80<\/td>\n Diaz<\/p>\n 10<\/td>\n 3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Lime Rock<\/p>\n Sweedler<\/p>\n 6<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Mid-Ohio<\/p>\n Sweedler<\/p>\n 3<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Road Amer.<\/p>\n Sweedler<\/p>\n 4<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Road Amer.<\/p>\n Sweedler<\/p>\n 3<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n