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| Homestead Race Notes: GSM Fastest in Miami in GTI |
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GSM Motorsports has bounced back after the difficult Daytona season opener to prove its true potential at the Homestead-Miami speedway. The Bildon Motorsport sponsored Volkswagen GTI took a hard fought 7th place in a race which saw drivers Andrew Lewis and Evan Darling lead for much of the early going and where Lewis set the fastest overall race lap.
Both Lewis and Darling are from Florida and their familiarity proved to be key in the GTI's successful weekend. Technical Director Bill Sulouff said "The fact that these two drivers knew the circuit so well allowed us to immediately begin dialing in the setup." "Our drivers were able to give excellent feedback in the early sessions, and with this we made some small but very effective changes which turned what was a mid-pack car into a front runner."
After qualifying 6th, lead driver Andrew Lewis took the green flag and moved steadily through the field in the early going, eventually hauling in the pole winning Subaru of Chuck Hemmingson. "I was trying to be conservative and save the car but the GTI was so good today it was hard not to race to the front," said Lewis. On lap 23 Lewis took the GTI to the front and stayed there until the decision to pit under a full course caution relinquished the lead.
"I want to congratulate my crew on the fast pit stop they were able to pull off today," said GSM Motorsports crew chief and owner, Jon Lewis. "They did a fantastic job of quickly getting the drivers and tires changed and the car refueled." When Evan Darling rejoined the race he was only about 40 seconds back from the lead pack, none of whom had pitted yet.
Evan settled in and began to race his way back towards the front. "I was having a blast picking off cars," Darling reported. "I was pleased to see that our race pace was equal to that of the leaders."
Unfortunately the team's charge back to the front was cut short when a Mazda RX8 made an over optimistic pass going into turn one. The ensuing contact knocked the toe out of the GTI and the lap times began to suffer. In the end the team was able to salvage a fine 7th place and has made it known that the GSM Motorsports Volkswagen GTI is a force to be reckoned with.
GSM Motorsportsappreciates support from Bildon Motorsport, Apex Competition Systems, Revo Technik, KW Competition, Autotech, Carbotech Brakes, and Spec Clutch.
For more information on the team visit: http://gsm.bildon.com & http://www.bildon.com
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