Sebring, Florida:– Fast off an incredibly successful 2012 racing season, Martin Barkey and Garage Racing are working hard to prepare for the new season. The 2012 CASC-OR GT Challenge GT2 Class Champions are building on last year’s experiences to meet even greater tests.
The Viper ACRX has been replaced with a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, widely recognized as one of the world’s most successful race cars. With this new and faster set of wheels the team will be contesting The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin. This one make development series pits drivers head to head and is a true measure of their skills.
Garage Racing has joined forces with legendary race engineer Giovanni Panico of Fiorano Racing. The team will be counting on his extensive experience setting up GT3 cars to provide Garage Racing with the competitive advantage it needs.
Also, Barrie native, Kyle Marcelli comes on board as the team’s driving coach. At twenty-two years of age Kyle has already positioned himself as one of the premier drivers on the American Le Mans Series circuit. He will be honing team owner and driver Martin Barkey’s skills throughout the season.
The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada is a series regularly held along with some of the biggest racing events in the world. The Porsche GT3 runs with the Formula 1 racing in Montreal and with the American Le Mans Series at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. With crowds of 300,000 or more in attendance, not to mention international media attention, you can be sure that Garage Racing will face some of the best talent in the country.
Ahead of all this the team is getting in practice laps and adjusting to the higher competitive caliber with some winter testing at the world class 3.7 mile road course in Sebring, Florida. The first week of testing, January 9-13, was Winterfest 2013 sponsored by the PBOC Motorsports Club. This was Martin’s first chance to really learn the car and work with his race engineers to ensure peak performance.
The week’s highlight was Friday’s 90 minute enduro race with a seventy-five car field against some serious racing talent. Martin qualified 14th and drove the first leg of the race. He had a great run including setting his fastest lap of the week, even beating his qualifying time. The team had a flawless pit stop, checking tire temps, pressures and adding fuel. Then co-driver Kyle Marcelli took the wheel for the last leg and moved the Garage Racing car up the field with a first place finish in class and very respectable 5th overall.
Another test week follows January 31- February 5. Then the team faces its first IMSA GT3 Cup event as a support race to the 61st Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring on March 13-16. With over 150,000 fans in attendance this will be by far Garage Racing’s biggest event to date.
Don’t miss any of the high octane race action. Check in at www.garageracing.ca to follow along as Huntsville’s Garage Racing team takes on the hunt for the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin.
We are looking for sponsors for the 2013 season, Big thanks go out to Jackson Transportation Services (www.jacksontransportation.com) and Jake Media (www.jakemedia.ca) who have already pledged their support. For more information about Garage Racing please email Martin Barkey at mb@mbrp.com.
For more info on The Garage visit www.the-garage.net or email mcloutier@the-garage.net.
For more info on MBRP Inc. visit: www.mbrp.com or email marketing@mbrp.com.
Discussion about this post