(June 6, 2010) — Luke Hines of Essex, England, will join Bryce Miller of Summit, N.J., behind the wheel of the No. 48 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car for the remaining six 2010 American Le Mans Series races, starting with this week’s race in Tooele, Utah. Hines stepped in to co-drive the Orbit-prepared car when a back injury sidelined John McMullen of Spring Lake, N.J., who was initially scheduled to drive with Miller.
Hines teamed with McMullen and Miller at the last ALMS race, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif., on May 22. Hines and Miller also drove together in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series earlier this year, so they are happy to be back in the same car again. They will participate in three days of track tests on the 3.048-mile, 15-turn Miller Motorsports Park road course this week, in preparation for the two-hour 45-minute race on July 11.
“I am excited to race with Luke again,” Miller said. “Our feedback is generally the same and our driving styles are pretty similar, which is especially good for chasing a setup at Utah. It is a difficult circuit to set the car up for because it has so many different style corners to it and is so long, but I’m really looking forward to the race.
“Right now the team is performing pit stops really well, Luke and I have good driver changes, and the promoter test days will be a big help to everyone for testing purposes and for Luke to learn the circuit, as well. I’m very excited for the team because I feel a well-deserved result on the horizon. The car is improving all the time as well as our race strategy and the team knows it – it’s very exciting!”
This is Hines’ first season racing in North America, so he appreciates the extra track time.
“It’s a lovely track. It’s nice to get some testing and get a good bit of time in the car,” he said. “It’s going well. Bryce and I are very close on [lap] times. We’re working hard on the setup and getting the car moving, and the team is gelling together really well – the team, the drivers, everyone. I think we’re growing stronger and stronger.”
The No. 48 Porsche carries the colors of sponsors Marquis Jet, Grand Prix Racewear, IPC Systems and TOTAL Petroleum. The car is entered in the ALMS GTC class by Orbit, with support from Miller Racing. The Miller team has elected to focus all efforts on its ALMS program, so it will not participate in further Rolex Series races this season. With the departure of former team manager Eric Barrett, Miller Barrett Racing has been renamed Miller Racing.
details
The two-hour 45-minute American Le Mans Series race is scheduled for Sunday, July 11, from 2:35 pm to 5:20 pm MDT (4:35 pm to 7:20 pm EDT), on the 3.048-mile Miller Motorsports Park road course in Tooele, Utah. The race will be broadcast live on SPEED and radiolemans.com. Live timing/scoring will be available at imsaracing.net.
partners
Bryce Miller and Luke Hines compete with the support of four international sponsors. Marquis Jet is the recognized leader in private jet cards because it’s the only program that offers exclusive access to NetJets – the gold standard in private aviation – 25 hours at a time. Grand Prix Racewear is a respected supplier of motorsport protective clothing and driver accessories, based at Silverstone Circuit in England. The company offers worldwide delivery of 15,000 product lines. IPC Information Systems is a leading provider of mission-critical communications solutions to financial services firms. TOTAL Lubricants is the world’s fourth-largest publicly traded integrated international oil and gas company.
– www.orbitracing.com, www.millerbarrett.com, www.brycemiller.net, www.lukehinesracing.com
