Mitchum Motorsports Fights Through Adversity at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Altamonte Springs, FL May 6, 2014 – Mitchum Motorsports has been in the racing business long enough to know that sometimes you just have these types of weekends. They also know that the best teams in the world are the ones that grit their teeth, endure the storm, and fight back for the results they want the very next race.
The Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca round of the Continental Tire Sorts Car Challenge was that kind of weekend for Dillon Machavern and Dylon Murcott in the #10 BMW 128i and Lee Carpentier and Dane Moxlow in the #11. The team battled through set-up problems and a crowded qualifying to perform outstanding in the race itself, only to have unavoidable misfortune strike both cars during the race. While not the result that they wanted, the team knows that they had top-10 caliber cars in a hotly-contested field, and are determined to strike back when the series heads to Lime Rock park in just a couple weeks’ time.
Not long after the race began, Lee Carpentier settled in nicely with the new setup and began picking off the competition one by one. Eventually, after having just passed a pack of cars, he was hit by Sargent Liam Dwyer in one of the Mazda MX-5’s. The injured military veteran – who himself is an amazing success story – had his right foot slip off the brake pedal. Since Dwyer had to have his left prosthetic leg pinned to the clutch, he had to use his right for both brake/throttle. Showing complete humility and sportsmanship, Dwyer immediately sought Carpentier out to make sure he was okay. Carpentier did have to be taken to the local hospital as a precaution, but only suffered minor injuries, a testament to the build quality of the Mitchum cars. Carpentier managed to bring the #11 back to the pits where the team was able to render a quick repair and put teammate Dane Moxlow out in the car to get as many points as possible. Moxlow would relay to the team that he was having a blast out on track, turning great lap times in the process, at one point saying that as damaged as the car was it was still very good, and he could only imagine how good it was for Carpentier at the start of the race.
In the #10, Machavern started the race and ran cleanly until turning over to Murcott. Murcott had just passed for 13th position and was running faster lap times than his competitors ahead of him. While poised for a Top-10 finish, the engine locked up with under 5 laps remaining. When the engine locked up, it initiated a spin and Murcott was collected from behind by one of the cars he’d just passed, which caused caused some damage to the rear of the car before being towed back in. During their runs, both Machavern and Murcott had praised the team for finding a great set up on the car that allowed them to turn consistently fast times throughout their stints.
Dillon Machavern #10: “It was a tough weekend for the Mitchum Motorsports BMW starting with struggling with setup on test day as well as all the way through qualifying. The field was so crowded that it was really tough to get a proper bead on the car’s handling. The team worked incredibly hard though, and in the race itself we finally had the set up nailed and we were running very strong but unfortunately our race was ended just too early by a seized motor.”
Lee Carpentier #11: “Although the weather in sunny California was great, the results were not. This was one of those race weekends that you wish never happens, but unfortunately they do. It’s what we do next that decides our fate for the next race at my home track of Lime Rock Park on Memorial Day weekend. We have to put our heads down and get to work, and I have so much faith in the Mitchum Motorsports team that I am able to sleep well at night. Let the hard work begin!”
Chris Mitchum: “Qualifying proved difficult with traffic and cars that were way too free for the drivers to capitalize. The crew put in extra effort overnight with massive setup changes to both cars and we showed great pace during the race. I could not be more disappointed in the results as we had top ten cars today. The #11 was just an unfortunate ‘wrong place at the wrong time’ incident. The hit was completely out of the blue and nothing that Lee could have done to avoid it, and we’re truly lucky Lee escaped without major injury. The guys were able to get the car back out on track but its damage proved to be to much to finish the last fifteen minutes of the race. The #10 was headed for a top ten finish when we suffered an odd internal engine failure with less than seven minutes to go. The crew and drivers showed a ton of heart and determination this week; I hope that we get the warranted results in Lime Rock. The team will be busy building a new #11 chassis and prepping the #10 in time for Round 4 at Lime Rock just two weeks from now.“
The next stop for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge will be at Lime Rock Park on May 23-24, 2014.
About Mitchum Motorsports: Founded in 2001, Virginia Beach-based Mitchum Motorsports comes from a variety of professional road racing backgrounds, spanning over 50 years. They are led by team principal Chris Mitchum, who has vast experience from all sides of the pit wall; from professional driving, driver coaching, team management, crew chief, consulting, and mechanic.
Since 2010, Mitchum Motorsports has become a mainstay in the Grand-Am/IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, with their Chevrolet Camaro GS.R and BMW 128i-ST Programs. The team has also seen numerous Daytona 24 campaigns. 2014 will see the team involved with IMSA CTSCC, and Lamborghini Super Trofeo series; as well as competing in club venues such as: NASA, SCCA, and Porsche Club of America. MitchumMotorsports is an Factory Official Partner Team with Automobili Lamborghini for the Super Trofeo series.
Mitchum Motorsports also specializes in: racecar construction, development, preparation, support, and performance street car service.
About P1 Groupe:
P1 Groupe Inc. is a motorsports management company representing drivers and teams from around the world. P1 Groupe offers its high-speed clientele an array of options designed to allow a dedicated focus to the most important task at hand: winning races. Through marketing, management, branding and design, P1 Groupe provides quality solutions with speed and efficiency. For more information, visit www.p1groupe.com.
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