Early Incident Hampers Home Race for AIM Autosport.
No. 555 AIM Autosport Ferrari 458 Italia finishes 13th at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park
July 13, 2014 (Toronto, Ontario) – A strong opening stint by Bill Sweedler in the no. 555 AIM Autosport Ferrari 458 Italia in AIM Autosport’s home race went unrewarded after an incident removed the car from contention in Sunday’s Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ontario.
With AIM Autosport located only an hour from CTMP, a large contingent of family, friends, and VIP’s attended Sunday’s round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. That crowd was able to cheer on a strong start from Sweedler, who advanced several positions after taking the green flag. However, an incident that involved both a faster GT-LeMans car and a lapped GT-Daytona car would cause Sweedler to hit the tire barriers in turn three and ultimately lose two laps.
“The incident was really unfortunate,” said Sweedler. “There was a group of cars going into the turn– the no. 4 Corvette, the no. 48 Audi, and an off-pace Audi that was high in turn three. All of a sudden he moved down, the Corvette came in, and I had no choice but to hit him or go off on the inside. Unfortunately, he went around and I went off and into the tire barriers. Our AIM Autosport guys worked really hard on the Ferrari all weekend, and got everything they could out of it.”
Once Sweedler turned the car over to Townsend Bell, he would have a relatively trouble free run for the rest of the race. The two hour and forty-five minute contest went without caution, providing no opportunity for the team to make up the lost laps through strategy. Despite having made contact with another car as well as the tire barrier, the no. 555 AIM Autosport Ferrari 458 Italia suffered minimal damage.
“It was always going to be tough to make up two laps, so I just tried to be consistent and stay out of trouble,” said Bell. “The Ferrari was stable and consistent like it always is, and the AIM Autosport guys did a great job all weekend and to make the necessary repairs on my pit stop. It’s pretty obvious that the Ferrari’s just didn’t have the pace this weekend, and we just hung in there. But, on we go to Indianapolis.”
Despite the result, Sweedler and Bell narrowly retained the GT-Daytona drivers’ championship lead while AIM Autosport retains the lead in the team championship.
“Unfortunately, we just got caught up in a stack-up of traffic,” said Ian Willis, engineer for AIM Autosport. “It was always going to be a bit of a challenge today, but it was impossible to make up the two lost laps without any caution periods. Bill had a very good opening stint and Townsend got all the speed available to the Ferrari this weekend. We’re glad to still be leading the championship and we’ll push as hard as we can at Indy.”
The next round of the TUDOR Championship is the Brickyard Grand Prix on July 24-25 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Press contact: PR@AIMAutosport.com
About Revo
Founded in 1985, REVO quickly became a global performance eyewear brand known as the leader in polarized lens technology. REVO sunglasses were first created by utilizing lens technology developed by NASA as solar protection for satellites. Nearly three decades later, REVO continues to build on its rich tradition of technology and innovation by offering the clearest and most advanced high-contrast polarized sunglasses available. Designed for the active consumer, the REVO eye wear collection is available at Sunglass Hut stores and other premium retail locations worldwide. For more details visit www.revo.com.
About Motegi Racing
Through technical partnerships with leading professional racing teams, Motegi Racing competition and high performance tuning wheels are designed and engineered for performance. Motegi Racing is a Wheel Pros brand. Wheel Pros products are sold worldwide in more than 20 countries on four continents and through a U.S. Network of more than 10,000 active dealers. It is one of the world’s largest suppliers of branded custom wheels, performance tires and related accessories for cars, SUVs and light trucks. For more details visit www.motegiracing.com.
About Royal Purple
Royal Purple manufactures high performance lubricants for most automotive, industrial, marine, motorcycle and racing applications. The Houston, TX based company is considered the best synthetic oil by many end users. Royal Purple synthetic oil and synthetic lubricants are formulated to maximize performance in real world applications. For more details visit www.royalpurple.com.
About AIM Autosport
Established in 1995, AIM Autosport is a Canadian sports team operating multi-car teams in professional sportscar racing. AIM’s success has been achieved through the dedication of its employees and the continuous support of the team’s commercial and technical partners. Away from the track, AIM Autosport serves the needs of the racing community with a purpose-built preparation shop situated in the Toronto suburb of Woodbridge, Ontario. For more information visit www.aimautosport.com or follow us on facebook www.facebook.com/AIMautosport and twitter @aimautosport.
