BOWMANVILLE, Ontario, Canada (July 21, 2013) – Paul Miller Racing, Bryce Miller and Marco Holzer persevered through a tough three-day weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park to finish ninth Sunday in the No. 48 Chopard/TOTAL Porsche 911 GT3 RSR at the Mobil 1 Sports Car Grand Prix American Le Mans Series (ALMS) race.
The No. 48 Chopard/TOTAL Porsche team came to Mosport – now known as Canadian Tire Motorsports Park – with the momentum of a fifth-place finish in the 2012 race. This year, the team and drivers joined their fellow Porsche 911 GT3 RSR teams in just trying to make it to the end of a challenging event on the fast 2.459 mile road course that seemed to favor some of the other competing manufacturers this weekend.
“The car rolled off of the trailer not really spot on and we just had a lot of issues with the car maintaining stability over the bumps,” Bryce Miller said. “We were just constantly upsetting the platform, from both a mechanical standpoint and an aero standpoint, but I give the team credit for giving us the best car we had all weekend for the race. We were as fast as the other Porsches, and maybe even a little quicker, but we could never narrow the gap the way we really needed to the others. We will just have to treat this one as a learning experience.”
The No. 48 Chopard/TOTAL Porsche had not finished a race lower than seventh this year but had a challenging time getting close to that position this weekend. Miller briefly raced in seventh before pitting and handing off to Holzer just over one hour into the timed 2-3/4 hour race.
“Actually, for the race we had a really good car compared to the sessions before,” Holzer said. “We changed something for the race and were catching some cars but something happened in the pit stop – I don’t know what or where – and we lost a lap. That put me in a position where I really couldn’t overtake until the end.”
Holzer attempted to make a move through the field in the closing stages of the race. Instead, and for the second race in a row, he ran afoul of another competitor’s mistake. The No. 48 was also sideswiped in the late running by a GT competitor one race ago at Lime Rock Park earlier this month.
“It was a really tough race today,” Holzer said. “I spun near the end because two guys in front of me didn’t know where to go or what to do and came together. I got caught up in their issue and instead of being able to get one more position to P6 or P7 we finished where we were. Now I am just looking forward to the next race.”
Next up for the American Le Mans Series and Paul Miller Racing is the Orion Energy Systems 245 at Road America, August 9 – 11. The weekend’s featured 2-3/4 hour race can be seen live on ABC, Sunday, August 11, at 3 p.m. EDT/12 p.m. PDT.
Paul Miler Racing: Paul Miller Racing is among the top GT teams competing in North American sports car road racing. In 2013, the team will contest the full American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón with lead driver Bryce Miller and season-long teammate Marco Holzer. The team enjoys a long-standing relationship with Porsche and competes with the support of Chopard, TOTAL Lubricants, Search Marketing Group and Motegi Racing and competes exclusively on Michelin tires. The team is affiliated with Paul Miller Porsche, a 2013 Porsche Premier Dealer Award recipient.
Follow the team on Twitter @paulmilleracing @bryceracer @marcoholzer and become a Facebook fan at Facebook.com/paulmillerracing and Facebook.com/brycemiller.net. Learn more about the team at www.paulmillerracing.com.
Paul Miller Racing Partners: Chopard is a world-renowned Swiss luxury watchmaker and jewelry manufacturer with a long history in international motorsport. Michelin is a leading international manufacturer of high and ultra-high performance tires with an impressive record of race wins and championships around the globe. TOTAL Lubricants is the world’s fourth-largest publicly traded integrated international oil and gas company.
