BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO, CANADA, (July 22, 2012) – Alex Job Racing’s (AJR) Cooper MacNeil and Leh Keen raced to a second-place finish in GTC today at the American Le Mans Series Mobil 1 Grand Prix of Mosport at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport International Raceway).
MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.) had the controls of the white and black No. 22 WeatherTech Racing Porsche at the start. The speedy college student wasted little time getting to the front and was able to lead several laps during his hour-and-thirteen-minute minute stint. Handing over to Keen (Charleston, SC) the Mosport newbie continued his education on the fast 2.4-mile, 10 turn track all in preparation for the sprint to the checker. Keen drove the car into second position and with a late race yellow leaving just a handful of laps to the finish, he set-up the leading 66 Porsche for a pass but found himself on the outside going into the treacherous Turn Two. He decided to lift forcing him to settle for second position at the finish.
“I had a run on Spencer Pumpelly on the last restart, but found myself on the outside going into Turn Two,” Keen said. “With Cooper leading the points and the Green Hornet car not finishing today, I thought that I shouldn’t take the chance. It was a great points day for Cooper’s lead, which is the goal. The most important thing was that we were fighting for the win at the end. This is my first time here. I have the track down now. I wasn’t totally happy with the car in qualifying. We made some changes to the car to try this morning, but it rained, and we didn’t get to try them. We needed some fine-tuning and, it was a lot better for the race. The AJR guys came through again.”
MacNeil extends his points lead as the team heads to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in two weeks.
“It was a great points day for us,” MacNeil said. “It was a great outcome, especially with this being Leh’s first race here. The WeatherTech Porsche was good today. We extended our points lead, like we did last race and that is the strategy. This place is like a big Lime Rock, very busy with traffic. It is hard to pass here as well. I had a good stint, avoided problems, and ran strong.”
Alex Job, team owner, has his team strategizing for the championship.
“We thought it would be a challenge coming in here with it being Leh’s first time at Mosport,” Job said. “He did a great job, did his homework and was able to get up to speed in a hurry. He took a conservative approach to qualifying, which was the right thing to do. With his limited laps here we may have been one adjustment behind the other guys, but we knew in the race things would be different. He had a run on the TRG car, but used his head and backed off. We made a big gain in the points today, and we are heading to some strong tracks for both Cooper and Leh.”
The team will travel to central Ohio for the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge to be run Aug. 2-4.
The American Le Mans Series Mobil 1 Grand Prix of Mosport at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park will be run July 20 – 22. The television broadcast will be joined live July 22 at 1:00 pm EDT on ESPN 2, with full race live streaming starting at 11:45 am EDT on ESPN3.com.
Alex Job Racing is one of the most successful teams in ALMS history with 42 wins. This record is supported by 48 pole positions and 102 podium finishes. The team has won three championships (GT in 2002, 2003 and 2004) complimented by their two GT class wins at Le Mans. The team also boasts eight Sebring 12-hour victories.
The ALMS GTC category is specific to one of the most popular factory produced racing cars in the world, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Developed for Porsche’s one-make series around the world, the new version of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is based on the road-going 911 GT3 RS. The power unit featured in the new 911 GT3 Cup is largely identical to the production engine of the 911 GT3 RS with the same output of 450 bhp and the same maximum engine speed of 8,500 rpm.
MacNeil Automotive, headquartered in Bolingbrook, Illinois, has long been recognized by the discerning automotive enthusiast as a supplier of accessories of unparalleled quality. In addition to the WeatherTech brand, the company supplies products to many automobile manufacturers (OEM) as an original equipment supplier. In fact, MacNeil currently supplies accessories to all four German manufacturers of luxury automobiles as well as a host of other automobile manufacturers worldwide! More information can be viewed at www.weathertech.com.
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