PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Victorious at Petit Le Mans
 
Henri Richard, Ken Dobson, and Ryan Lewis take a dramatic victory at Road Atlanta. October 5, 2011 Fresno, CA-

PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports scored their second American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón LMPC class victory last Saturday at the 14th annual Petit Le Mans powered by MAZDA, the season ending 1000 miles/ 10-hour fall classic at Road Atlanta. Henri Richard, Ken Dobson, and Ryan Lewis drove the #52 Future Electronics/ Quest Software/ MOBOTIX/ Freescale Semiconductor/ Hewlett-Packard Company/ Synnex/ Silicon Tech Racing Oreca FLM09 to victory by a scant 0.172 margin over the the second place finisher after a 9.5 hour chess match on the picturesque 12 turn, 2.54 mile road course.
The race was marked with drama even before the green flag fell. Despite having qualified in the third position, Lewis, of Royston, Hertfordshire, England, was promoted to the first place qualifying position after technical infractions demoted the LMPC class top qualifier and race entry limitations for non-full season entrants excluded the second place qualifier from the event. Leading the LMPC class field to the green, Lewis made a clean start and would go on to fight the #05, #06, and #63 cars for the top position before pitting for fuel after his first stint in the car. Rejoining the race in P3, Lewis’ second stint was mired in full course cautions and an unfortunate uncharacteristic mistake in pit lane.
“Coming in to pit, I just couldn’t get the car stopped, so I slid right through our pit box into the one in front of us,” Lewis explained. “Luckily it was empty, otherwise we would have been done for the day. I just misjudged the tire temperature and grip levels, so they had to push me back.”
Lewis would eventually get back out on track to start his third consecutive stint on the same set of tires that he started the race on. Rising to the challenge, Lewis was able to claw his way back to the lead, and by the time he completed his three-hour tour of duty, he had managed to put the entire LMPC field nearly one lap down.
“The race was coming to us and the car was handling beautifully, really. The only time it was a bit exciting was after the second stop when the car was heavy with fuel on old tires. It was sliding around in the fast corners, exciting, but not uncontrollable. For the most part, putting in three hours early on wasn’t that difficult, but it did build up an appetite. I didn’t eat that much before the race and was starving after I got out of the car!”
Comparatively well-nourished, Ken Dobson, of Sonoma, CA, was called in for service and rejoined the race for PR1/Mathiasen in P4 with four fresh tires and a full tank of fuel with the top three LMPC cars still needing to make their scheduled pit stops. While running a smooth and consistent pace, Dobson’s fellow competitors began to feel the strain endurance racing places on man and machinery as unnecessary risks and bad luck began to plague several fellow competitors. An assortment of pit lane penalties and power steering failures knocked several LMPC cars off of the lead lap while the #52 soldiered on, continuing to challenge for the lead.
“I drove from the third to the fifth hour of the race, right in the middle,” Dobson said. “During my stint, you could see that a lot of guys were beginning to get a little impatient with each other, taking more risks than they needed to. I just focused on hitting the marks that our engineer set for us, just keep everything clean and out of the sand out there. We still had a lot of race left, so I didn’t want to dig us in a hole that we’d have to spend the rest of the night trying to get out of.”
With his double stint completed, Dobson pitted the #52 and handed the wheel over to Henri Richard, a native of France now living in Los Altos Hills, CA, who rejoined the race in P3 and would go on to pass for the lead before being hit from behind by the #89 car.
“I was having a great battle up front, but when I passed the #89 car, I wasn’t aware that it was for the lead,” Richard said. “Had I known, I would have pushed harder to build up a gap and Tomy Drissi, who was in the #89 at the time, wouldn’t have been close enough to hit me. He apologized later though, no big deal, but it did cost us the lead and a lot of time on track. Despite going nearly a lap down, the #52 was still eight laps ahead of the P3 car after six and a half hours, so I still liked our chances in what was now a two-car race.”
With Lewis getting back in the car for the remainder of the race, PR1/Mathiasen Team Principal, Bobby Oergel, had his team focus on strategy and their pit work.
“The guys were awesome all night, which is crucial during green flag stops,” Oergel siad. “Ryan got back to the lead and nearly put the field a lap down again before a caution got the #89 back behind us. We were locked in a battle with them for quite a while with both of us passing and re-passing each other for the lead. We kept together with the #89 until we had an ignition issue and coasted back to pit lane a few laps after our stop on lap 323. We lost a lap, but we were good to go on fuel at that point and were hoping that the #89 was going to need to stop again. But we still needed to get back on the lead lap even if they didn’t have to stop, so we worked to position ourselves to be able to capitalize on full course cautions, looking to get that wave around.”
A late race incident between a Dyson Racing LMP1 car and a CORE Autosport LMPC competitor created the full course caution needed to get Lewis back into contention. After cleaning up the track, the green flag fell for the last time with only a few laps remaining in the season.
“After racing Marcelli in the #89 all day, I knew where they were strong, and where I could pass,” Lewis explained. “The Intersport car was extremely fast in a straight line, but I was able to out brake them, especially in turn 10. On the second to last lap I stayed right behind him, setting the pass up as early as turn six, riding the brake a bit to keep from running over him and looked briefly to the outside to see if he’d defend the inside line. Once I could see that he thought I was looking to his right, I moved to the left on the inside and stayed with him, fully committed until the pass stuck heading towards the white flag. From then, I made sure to push as hard as possible to keep him behind me. He got a few good runs on me, had a few looks, but couldn’t mount a real challenge. When we crossed the line, I could still see him in my mirrors.”
“Once I took the checkered flag, I felt an immediate sense of relief. I knew that we were capable of this result for so long and it was extremely relieving to prove that to everyone today. It was an incredible victory, one that we will celebrate for a long, long time.”

To review photo galleries of our victory click here

The 2012 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón season, will begin the 60th Anniversary Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring fueled by Fresh from Florida on Saturday, March 17, 2012 at 10:30am ET. Potential partners interested in the PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón LMPC program can contact the team directly atpr1motorsports@aol.com or at (559) 277-1300.

About Quest Software:
Quest creates simple-to-use IT management software that saves time and money across virtual, physical, and cloud environments. Their award-winning products and time-saving services ease the toughest IT challenges for more than 100,000 customers worldwide. Customers need simpler ways to do powerful things. That’s what Quest has delivered since 1987.
The company is focused on technology innovation that delivers real value and cost savings, fast. Customers can rely on Quest to meet just about any IT management need with their breadth of smart, award-winning products and time-saving services. Whether customers are working with Windows, databases and applications, or in physical, virtual or cloud environments — customers are covered. Customers will be amazed how their innovative yet practical solutions will transform IT operations and boost staff productivity higher than ever imagined – and all from a solid company that’s been helping organizations large and small since 1987. www.quest.com

About Future Electronics:
Future Electronics is a global leader in electronic components distribution, recognized as one of the most respected and innovative companies in the industry. Headquartered in Montreal, and operating in 41 countries, Future Elecronics has earned an impressive reputation for the strength of its commercial and technical competencies, through all stages of the design production cycle, and for developing efficient, comprehensive global supply chain solutions. Globally integrated, Future Electronics has one worlwide IT infrastructure providing real time inventory availability and access, while enabling all integrations of operations, sales and marketing worlwide.
Future Electronics is pleased to introduce the most comprehensive, user friendly and informative web site in the industry. Visit FutureElectronics.com and enjoy shopping for all your component needs 24/7; American orders placed by midnight can be delivered the next morning. Future Electronics is ushering in a new era in online component selection at FutureElectronics.com, empowering engineers by providing domain expert information and advice, combined with vivid imagery and an extensive library of reference material. FutureElectronics.com boasts the most intuitive navigation engine built on top of the richest, most relevant product information in the industry today.Offering the highest level of service, the most advanced engineering/design capabilities and technical solutions, and the largest available-to-sell inventory in the world, the company’s mission is always to Delight the Customer.

About MOBOTIX:
When MOBOTIX developed the first weatherproof web cam with digital image sensors and an integrated PC back in 1999, no one could ever have imagined the impact this would have on the future of video surveillance. The transmission of video streams over computer networks finally enabled video technology to depart from the restrictions of a TV standard which had applied for 60 years, bringing it in line with the megapixel image quality of modern-day digital cameras. MOBOTIX is the only network camera manufacturer to date that is capable of storing smooth high-resolution video streams with 1536 lines instead of the usual 288, including sound. The new technology isn’t just more powerful in all areas, it also has two decisive advantages: it is more cost-effective than traditional CCTV video technology and more multi-functional thanks to its integrated computer and network connection. Visit www.mobotix.com for more information.

About Freescale Semiconductor:
Freescale Semiconductor is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets. The privately held company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing or sales operations in more than 30 countries. Freescale is one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies with 2007 sales of $5.7 billion (USD).
Freescale is the world’s No. 1 supplier of automotive semiconductors, with more than 30 years of experience in the automotive industry. Freescale’s sensors, analog products and 8-, 16- and 32-bit MCU families provide intelligence and connectivity for advanced safety, body electronics, chassis, engine control, powertrain, driver information and telematics. www.freescale.com

About HP:
Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ), commonly referred to as HP, is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA. The company was founded in a one-car garage in Palo Alto by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, and is now one of the world’s largest information technology companies, operating in nearly every country. HP specializes in developing and manufacturing computing, data storage, and networking hardware, designing software and delivering services. Major product lines include personal computing devices, enterprise servers, related storage devices, as well as a diverse range of printers and other imaging products. HP markets its products to households, small- to medium-sized businesses and enterprises directly as well as via online distribution, consumer-electronics and office-supply retailers, software partners and major technology vendors. www.hp.com

About PR1 Motorsports:
In paddocks packed with excellent teams and quality drivers, PR1 Motorsports has established itself as one of the top driver development programs. Based in Fresno, CA, PR1 Motorsports occupies an expansive facility housing a stable of F2000 Zetec and professional sports cars. Team drivers enjoy the benefits of a completely professional program including engineering support, state-of-the art data acquisition, and a race winning experienced crew. PR1 Motorsports drivers, and partners, also enjoy first-class trackside hospitality and comprehensive marketing support.

PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports team information can be found at: www.PR1Motorsports.com
Press contact: Eric Wildt at (707) 480-7350 or ericwildt01@mac.com
Photo Credit: Andrew Henderson