(August 7, 2010) — ORBIT / Paul Miller Racing posted a strong performance in the American Le Mans Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, on Saturday, but just missed a GTC podium finish.
Luke Hines (Essex, England) started the No. 48 Marquis Jet / GPR Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car from second on the GTC grid. He took the lead on the first lap and held the point through his 52-minute stint. Miller drove the final double stint of the two-hour 45-minute race, holding the class lead until his right-rear tire appeared to delaminate and he slid off track in the tight Keyhole turn. He pitted for fresh tires and fuel, then set consistently fast laps en route to a fourth-place finish.
Luke Hines: “We had another positive race. I took the lead on the first lap and pulled about an 18-second gap. The guys have worked really hard on pit-stop practice and it’s paid off – we really got a good pit stop and we came out of the pits first. Bryce drove really well, but we had a problem with his tires. We haven’t had problems with the Yokohamas at all this year and they’ve been great, but I definitely felt that set of tires had a problem. The team worked really hard, the crew were great and the pit stops have been brilliant – I believe everyone stepped up a notch and it’s all starting to come together really nicely.”
Bryce Miller: “The team did really well this weekend. Luke led from lap one and the crew did a great job at the pit stop to maintain us the lead position. The driver cooling aids the team worked so hard to install by race time really helped, as well. I am more optimistic now for our next races than I have been all season and am really hoping we can deliver a result – the team deserves it.”
race report
time driver action
start Hines GTC leader
52m change pit – Miller in, four tires, fuel
1h32 Miller off track
1h33 Miller pit – four tires, fuel
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.paulmillerracing.com, www.brycemiller.net, www.lukehinesracing.com –
