DETROIT (June 6, 2016) Paul Miller Racing found the performance they needed in the No. 48 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 but not the race finish they wanted this weekend in Detroit where Bryan Sellers led the opening laps of Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic from the pole and Madison Snow set the fourth fastest lap of the race.
The Paul Miller Racing team came to Detroit determined to have a breakout 2016 performance in only its fourth race with the new Lamborghini Huracán GT3.
Sellers, qualifying the No. 48 Lamborghini for the first time, won Paul Miller Racing’s second-straight IMSA GT Daytona (GTD) pole on the Raceway at Belle Isle Park on Friday and then led the first 15 laps of the 100-minute sprint race.
The race’s first caution period produced a green flag restart at the 30-minute mark and Sellers brought the GTD field to the line. With the Audi of Robin Liddell right on Seller’s rear bumper as the green flag waved, the No. 48 bobbled slightly and Sellers was forced off line and into the “marbles” on the left side of the track.
“It’s always hard to say in those situations what happened,” Sellers said. “I felt like I had a puncture, which clearly wasn’t the case because we were able to continue, but it just felt like something was wrong with the left rear. Maybe there was a lot of buildup and the ABS grabbed the left rear harder than the right side and in turn snapped the car. We definitely had some sort of an issue. I know there was a lot of talk about getting hit, I don’t think that was the case it, it was just one of those situations. We were lucky to keep it out of the wall.”
Sellers continued in eighth after gathering up the Lamborghini and pitted five minutes later for the No. 48’s only stop of the race. Snow took over for the final hour and set the fourth fastest race lap before the checkered flag flew. Snow’s 1:30.971 lap was the fastest for a Lamborghini and trailed only the top-three finishers in the GTD class.
“We showed that we have pace out of the car which is a good thing,” Snow said. “We helped figure the car out and figure out what we needed to do to find grip. By the time the race came the car was definitely quick. We had the fourth fastest lap time so we showed we got the car figured out and we’re very happy there. It was just a tough race, we had a slower pit stop, I made a mistake taking off out of the pit lane, so that cost us a little bit of time. We had the pace out there but it’s just difficult to pass.”
Snow fell to ninth behind a BMW in the first part of his stint but fought back and retook the position.
“We were able to pass a BMW,” Snow said. “He passed me and I was able to get him back. Then I was right behind the cars in front of me, nose-to-tail, lap after lap after lap, but I was never quite close enough to try and make a pass.”
Snow crossed the finish line on the lead lap in eighth place. The result was just off the No. 48’s finishes of seventh at Laguna Seca and sixth at Sebring in the previous two races, but the team left Detroit feeling like they had improved overall.
“Needless to say, we weren’t happy with our result, but there were major positives on the weekend,” said Team Owner Paul Miller. “Our team worked hard and did an excellent job finding strong pace in our Huracán, and Bryan executed a magnificent lap in putting the No. 48 on pole. Also on the positive side, Madison put in an eye-popping drive down the stretch against stout competition! But as encouraging as our performance was, we have to accept the reality that we can’t truly compete for a win right now, considering the current state of the rules.”
Next up for Paul Miller Racing and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International, July 1 – 3. The race will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) starting at 10 a.m. EDT on Sunday, July 3.
