Mechanical Troubles Disrupt PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports at Mosport
 
Power steering failure prohibits team from converting pole position to race victory.

August 29, 2010, Bowmanville, Ontario

After a four race run of consecutive podium finishes, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports finished today’s Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport in fifth position. After earning back-to-back pole positions during yesterday’s qualifying session, the team arrived at the Canadian track with high hopes of securing the team’s first victory of the season.

Team driver Ricardo González, of Mexico City, MX, took the green flag and showed once again that he is rapidly becoming a force in the LMPC class by setting PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports’ fastest race lap with a 1:14.332 on his 27th lap. González pitted the #52 IDN Business Consulting/ Corsa Car Care/ Cooper Gay Oreca FLM09 on lap 46 and handed the wheel over to co-driver Luis Díaz, of Mexico City, MX, who returned to the track in second place right behind the LMPC class leading #99.

Suddenly, power steering issues were immediately radioed in to the team when the steering wheel became heavier and heavier. This forced the team to bring the #52 in on lap 72 for unscheduled maintenance. While the team refilled the Oreca FLM09 with power steering fluid, González retook control of the #52 and rejoined the race several laps down. Unfortunately, despite the team’s efforts, the power steering issues persisted, forcing González to fight against the ill-handling steering characteristics. By lap 85, González had reached his maximum time allowance in the car, causing the team to once again pit for yet another driver change. Díaz rejoined the race and was prepared for the arduous task of finishing without power steering. Then suddenly on lap 98, the #48 GTC and the #8 LMP cars made contact, forcing Luke Hines in the #48 into a violently terrifying shunt into the Armco barriers. With both the Porsche GT3 and the Armco barriers destroyed, the red flag was displayed while track workers attempted to repair the damage. Eventually the race ended under the yellow flag, regulating PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports to a fifth place finish. González was able to detect the #52’s issue during his opening stint.

“We were looking good for another top finish until the car’s steering went out on us,” González explained. “During my stint, I could feel that something was not quite right, but I wasn’t sure if it was just more rubber on the track causing the wheel to feel so heavy. The car was drivable at first, but it certainly was not as comfortable as it had been all week. Right after our first pit stop it just got worse and worse. After Luis pitted, I got back in and with more power steering fluid added it felt about the same until the end when it got really bad. Luis said he had to use both of his hands to pull on the wheel to get it the car to turn, and at this track, that’s a very dangerous situation. We’re disappointed but our performance was there, the team’s performance has always been there and if not for this issue, I know we could have gotten another podium. We’re always top three and I feel that I have enough experience now where I’m confident that we’ll be ready for the Petit Le Mans in October.”
As the steering issues wore on, Díaz was forced to pit the #52 for additional power steering fluid.

“When I jumped in after our first stop, I could feel the car was off right away,” Díaz said. “Even when I was warming up the tires, I could tell something was not right. As the laps wore on, it got impossible to control the car as the steering was just too heavy. It became too dangerous for us to stay out, so we had to make an additional stop which cost us the race for sure. Both Ricardo and I are focused on the Petit Le Mans now. Petit is very tough, but I’m not worried about our chances. We have to be mistake-free for ten hours, and it’s for sure the toughest race all year, but we can make it happen.”
Bobby Oergel, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Team Principal, was disappointed with the day’s result, but is still optimistic of his team’s chances at the season ending 10-hour classic.
“Obviously this is not what we were hoping for,” Oergel said. “We were running great all weekend with no indication of any issues. The pole on Saturday was very exciting, and it made us confident for the race. Poles are not wins however, and today’s troubles highlight how difficult it is to win one of these races. As always, the team responded very professionally and Luis and Ricardo showed the type of racers they are by muscling our prototype around one of the world’s toughest tracks without power steering. Every issue is a learning opportunity, and while we’d like these sort of problems to happen in testing or not at all, we’ll still use today’s lessons to make us that much better for Petit in October. We’ll be ready.”

LMPC qualifying for the 13th annual Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta begins on Friday, October 1, 2010 at 12:50pm PT. The 1,000-mile/10-hour main event starts on Saturday, October 2, 2010 at 8:15am PT, with live coverage on SPEED.

Potential partners interested in the PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón LMPC program can contact the team directly at pr1motorsports@aol.com or at (559) 277-1300.

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Photo Credit: Dan Boyd