ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (August 10, 2013) – Marco Holzer turned in the best qualifying effort of 2013 for the Paul Miller Racing No. 48 Chopard/TOTAL Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, with a fifth place GT class qualifying effort Saturday at for tomorrow’s Orion Energy Systems 245.
Round six of this year’s 10-race ALMS schedule, the Orion Energy Systems 245 timed two hour and 45 minute race, airs live on ABC tomorrow, Sunday, August 11, at 3 p.m. EDT/12 p.m. PDT.
Holzer, who will co-drive with Bryce Miller, improved each of his laps in the No. 48 Chopard/TOTAL Porsche, eventually turning his fastest lap on his fourth and last lap of the session at 2:04.347 around the 4.048-mile Road America road course. After a penalty issued to the No. 23 Ferrari in post-qualifying technical inspection, the No. 48 was promoted to fourth on the grid.
“We found something yesterday compared to where we were,” Holzer said. “Then this morning we turned in a good run, we were pushing like hell. I love this place! In the last lap if I would have found one more tenth, I could have been second or third. It’s not bad though.”
A year ago at Road America, Holzer took the pole for another Porsche team and the Paul Miller Racing team took a top-five finish in the race with Bryce Miller co-driving with then teammate Sascha Maassen.
“We’re really happy with the pace of the car and quite pleased with this result,” said Bryce Miller, who will likely start depending on the team’s final strategy decision. “Marco did a great job for this car to fit in the top five.”
One of the other year-on-year gains for the No. 48 Chopard/TOTAL Porsche team was a switch to Michelin tires, which have helped aid the team’s progress.
“Those have been a real pleasure to be on,” Bryce Miller said. “It’s been a major competitive gain; it’s provided us a real opportunity to compete at a whole new level. It’s made it a lot more exciting for the team. The team deserves to be able to compete at the front end. We have an opportunity to do that.”
Team principal Paul Miller echoed the sentiments of his son regarding some of the improvements for the team this weekend.
“It’s really great that we’re only a tenth off P2 here, on such a long track here,” Paul Miller said. “Marco did a great job. We were here Monday to test and really got the car dialed in. There have been a lot of other changes within the team, but our team is completely upgraded with the tires. The Michelins are huge; it’s about a second and a half. It’s great to be in the game.”
The Orion Energy Systems 245 at Road America, August 9-11 has a final morning warm-up Sunday, at 9:30 a.m. EDT/8:30 a.m. CDT, and the race rolls off on Sunday, live at 3 p.m. EDT/2 p.m. CDT on ABC.
Paul Miller 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.
