FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August
9, 2005
Another Top Five Finish for Erickson Motorsports
at Infineon Raceway
photo
courtesy of Highrevphotos.com
The Erickson Motorsports #12
Bay Area Volkswagen Dealers Golf GTI took a hard-fought fifth-place
finish in the Hankook US Touring Car Championship Series (USTCC) this
past weekend at Infineon Raceway, in Sonoma, CA. The event, located in
the rolling hills of California’s beautiful wine country, made this a
taxing back-to-back racing weekend for the USTCC.
Coming off an impressive podium finish at the San Jose Grand Prix on
July 30, the Erickson Motorsports team was fueled with momentum and the
taste of success that carried over into this weekend. “The car setup was
drastically different at Infineon,” said Brett Erickson, owner and
driver of Erickson Motorsports. “In San Jose, because of the bumpy
street surface, the car was setup very soft to improve drivability and
grip on the slick streets.” Infineon Raceway with its extreme grip,
elevation changes, and the very fast esses required a well-balanced car.
Brett was second to the Acura RS-X of Dave Brown in the first practice
session on Saturday, followed by the first of two qualifying sessions
where Brett put the car in fourth place on the grid. The team went to
work again changing the suspension setup even further to get the most
out of this 2.5 mile rollercoaster-style racetrack.
After the final qualifying session on Sunday Brett had improved his time
by almost 2 full seconds, only to learn that it earned him a fifth place
start on the grid.
At the drop of the green flag the cars charged up the hill into turn
two. Everyone held their positions and got through cleanly. On the
second lap Brett moved into fourth position as the third place car
dropped out. Brett continued a seven lap tight battle with the third
position Acura Integra of Andrie Hartanto when the pace car came out to
gather the field up for a restart.
On the restart Brett got a good jump on the third place Acura and took
third position, only to drive out wide off track at the exit of the next
corner and was passed by three competitors. “I had a good run on Andrie
going up the hill into turn two and was confident that I could overtake
him,” said Brett. ”I was carrying too much speed into the turn and
couldn’t slow the car enough to make the transition at the top of the
turn.” Brett quickly gained one position back after a few turns and
began working on the fourth position car. With two laps to go, Brett
finished a respectable fifth after making a last chance attempt to
outrun the fourth position BMW in a drag race to the finish line.
“This was another great weekend for the Erickson Motorsports team and
the Bay Area Volkswagen Dealers,” said Brett. “The car as well as the
team are developing, becoming more competitive, and proving to be a
force to be reckoned with in this series. We have shown that we can run
in the front and have what it takes to win. I would like to thank the
Bay Area Volkswagen Dealers for giving me the opportunity to make this
event possible, and Maier Racing, SPORT Racing, and Sias Tuning, for
their endless hours of support.”
Stay tuned for more exciting news and information on the next the next
race on the schedule.
For more information please visit:
www.ustcc.com
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