Petit Le Mans will mark Scott Tucker’s anniversary of professional driving debut
The pinnacle of the 2011 American Le Mans series transpires on Oct. 1 with the 14th annual Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. For Scott Tucker, driver and owner for Level 5 Motorsports, the race marks the beginning of his 6th year of professional racing. In 2006, he made his professional debut at Petit Le Mans, and from that point, his career took off.
"There are not many Americans that get to race there, first and foremost, so I feel very privileged to be among that group," he said. "This year, we're the only American prototype team there. We feel very fortunate we were selected to race there."
The Petit Le Mans race is definitely an endurance race modeled after the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is its equivalent for the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup series. Road Atlanta owner Don Panoz founded it, and the first iteration ran on Oct. 10, 1998-and Panoz must have had a thing for tens, because the race covers no more than 1,000 miles or a the least 10 hours, whichever comes first. Class winners of Petit Le Mans automatically qualify for the next year's 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Tucker has increasingly concentrated on the American Le Mans Series as his career has continued. After he founded Level 5 Motorsports in 2008, his main actions have included drafting talented veterans noted for incredible precision even at maximum speeds. This year's Petit Le Mans has unofficially been the ultimate goal in Tucker's eyes: Mid-season, he announced the switch from the team's Nos. 55 and 95 Microsoft Office-sponsored LMP2 cars to a brand spanking new, right-off-the-line HPD ARX-01g chassis, the result of a partnership between Honda Performance Development and Wirth Research. Tucker pushed hard to get the car finished immediately, of course with out sacrificing quality. While making the transition between cars, Tucker even withdrew from ALMS races in Lime Rock Park and a huge one at Silverstone in Great Britain, choosing instead to target the all-important Petit ahead.
Now, Tucker has added a fourth professional motorist to his already well-stacked team. Marino Franchitti will join the team and its new car-which Tucker marks as best in its class-for the 2011 race at Road Atlanta. Franchitti has extensive experience with the HPD prototype family, having taken part in the initial year of development of the ARX-01a with Andretti Green Racing before investing some LMP2 time with Dyson Racing. Adding Franchitti to the lineup is an obvious sign that Tucker is headed for that win at Petit Le Mans, though that's never not the case when Tucker enters a race track. He is a three-time national driving champion. Level 5 Motorsports' performance last year during its debut year in the American Le Mans Series sent them to the top podium and bumped them into the LMP2 category.
Tucker has made giant strides since his Petit Le Mans professional debut in 2006, and this year he's probably the most prepared he's ever been. A victory will mean another addition to Tucker's unbelievable record during the past several years, and moving to the LMP1 category means Tucker has made it to the top class in the sport he seemingly was born to compete in. No matter what results wind up meaning for Level 5 Motorsports, the work they've already put in this year make it clear that the team is one of the most prolific, aggressive racing organizations anywhere.
Find more information about Scott Tucker Scott Tucker