Tucker, Level 5 Motorsports Roar in Mosport in First Place

With two races remaining in the season, Scott Tucker can almost see the finish line ahead. On the other side, an American Le Mans Series LMPC championship awaits.

Tucker leads the ALMS LMPC standings by four points over Gunnar Jeannette coming into this weekend's Mobil 1 Presents the Grand Prix of Mosport at Mosport Speedway in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. The season will conclude in October with the 13th annual Petit Le Mans.

Tucker's lead closed by seven points following last weekend's race at Road America in Wisconsin after a series of problems relegated the team to a third-place finish -- a solid finish but disappointing to a team focused on winning.

"Things are getting interesting for the championship. However, we're leading the points, so we're still the team to beat," said Tucker, who will co-drive both the No. 55 and No. 95 Microsoft Office-sponsored ORECA FLM09 this weekend at Mosport. "Our main goal is obviously to get another victory. If we do that, then the points take care of themselves going into the last race of the year.

"I'm looking forward to getting to Mosport to race. I know that the Level 5 Motorsports team will give us great cars and we'll be well-prepared when it comes time to qualify and race."

Mosport Speedway is a 10-turn, 2.4-mile road course. This weekend will be the only time the American Le Mans Series will race outside the United States in 2010.

"Mosport is a very fast racetrack, one of the fastest on our schedule," said Level 5 Motorsports Team Manager David Stone. "The track demands a lot of the car so we know we've got to be prepared."

Joining Tucker as usual will be Christophe Bouchut, in the No. 55, and Andy Wallace in the No. 95.

A 20-minute qualifying session for the LMPC cars for the Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport is set for 4:50 p.m. ET Saturday. The green flag is scheduled to wave Sunday at 3:05 p.m. ET. The race will be broadcast by the SPEED Channel on a tape-delayed basis, beginning at 4 p.m. ET.

The ALMS season finale is set for October 2 at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia. It is third endurance race on the 2010 schedule and the first since May in Monterrey, California.

"We will have some time off to think about that one," Tucker said. "But, we will continue to stay focused on our ultimate goal -- winning a championship."

Boardwalk Ferrari Level 5 Motorsports will also participate in a Ferrari Challenge Series race at Watkins Glen International September 3-5.

 

 

About Microsoft Office 2010

The Microsoft® Office system provides tools to help people quickly and easily create great-looking documents, spreadsheets and presentations, organize and search for information in one place, and keep everything in one place, all with enhanced security. www.office.microsoft.com

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. www.microsoft.com

About Level 5 Motorsports

Level 5 Motorsports has fielded successful entries in the American Le Mans Series, NASCAR Grand Am Series, Ferrari Challenge Series and the Sports Car Club of America since 2005. Owner and driver Scott Tucker has earned national championships and numerous podium finishes in his illustrious driving career.

Bookmark and Share

 

Level 5 Team Fights for Podium Finish at Road America

EKLHART LAKE, Wis. -- Championship teams know how to overcome adversity. Scott Tucker and the Level 5 Motorsports did that this weekend at Road America in the American Le Mans Series Time Warner Road Race Showcase.

After myriad engine problems hampered the Level 5 team's effort throughout the weekend, Tucker brought the No. 95 Microsoft Office 2010-sponsored ORECA FLM09 home in third place in the LMPC class Sunday. The finish allowed him to hold on to a four-point advantage over Gunnar Jeannette in the ALMS LMPC standings with two races remaining on the 2010 schedule.

A 20-second penalty for too many men over the wall during a pit stop with nearly an hour remaining in the 2-hour, 45-minute race also hurt the team's chances for a top-2 LMPC class finish. Jeannette won the LMPC class, taking the checkered flag in the No. 99 ORECA FLM09 by more than 21 seconds over Luis Diaz.

"You don't like to have penalties like that. But, in this case, our guys were just a bit overzealous," Level 5 Team Manager David Stone said. "The penalty really took us out of the opportunity to win.

"It was really incredible. It was a super human effort by those guys just to keep us in the hunt. They deserve a lot of credit and thanks for that."

Most of the Level 5 Motorsports crew went more than 38 hours without sleep after two engine failures on Friday and another on Saturday.

Andy Wallace started the race in the No. 95 ORECA FLM09 and ran up front in the LMPC class for several laps. An extended caution period with nearly an hour to go prompted the Level 5 team to pit, with Tucker taking over the seat.

It was during that pit stop that the Level 5 team was hit with the 20-second penalty. That allowed Jeannette to move into the lead and put Tucker back in fourth in the LMPC running order.

Tucker made up one spot prior to the checkered flag.

"We had a lot of things to overcome this weekend. It seemed like it was one thing or another," Tucker said. "Unfortunately, things like that happen. We hung in there and we came out of here still in the lead in the standings, and that's all that matters right now. We're still focused on winning a championship."

The No. 55 ORECA FLM09 encountered some tough luck Sunday. During the first half of the race, Tucker was involved in an accident that saw a GT car hit him from behind. The damage was too extensive for the Level 5 Motorsports team to repair.

Christophe Bouchut, co-driver of the No. 55 ORECA FLM09, did not get an opportunity to drive Sunday and didn't score any points.

Following this weekend's race, the American Le Mans Series visits Mosport Speedway in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, August 27-29, before the season finale 13th annual Petit Le Mans at Road America in Braselton, Georgia, September 29-October 2.

"We've got a lot of work to do before we get to Canada next week," Stone said. "We've got a wrecked car to repair before Wednesday, and we're going to have to thrash to get it done. We'll see what happens. Mosport is a fast track like Road America. It's going to be interesting to see what happens."

About Microsoft Office 2010

The Microsoft® Office system provides tools to help people quickly and easily create great-looking documents, spreadsheets and presentations, organize and search for information in one place, and keep everything in one place, all with enhanced security. www.office.microsoft.com

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. www.microsoft.com

Bookmark and Share

 

Level 5 Team Whips Engine Problems with Solid Qualifying Effort

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. -- After overcoming major adversity throughout the weekend, the Level 5 Motorsports team, with Andy Wallace behind the wheel of the No. 95 ORECA FLM 09, will start fourth in the LMPC class in the American Le Mans Series' Time Warner Road Race Showcase at Road America.

Engine problems on both Friday and Saturday hampered the Level 5 Motorsports effort. However, Wallace qualified the Microsoft Office 2010-sponsored No. 95 O in a time of 2:00.740 around the 4.045-mile, 14-turn road course.

"Sometimes, things just happen. But, it's the teams that have guts and character that come through it," said Scott Tucker, co-driver of the No. 95. "This Level 5 team has shown a lot of that this weekend, and that's why we're a championship contender."

On Friday, both of the team's cars, the No. 55 ORECA FLM09 and the No. 95 ORECA FLM09, encountered engine failure. New engines were sent overnight to the team in Eklhart Lake on Saturday morning. The team worked non-stop Saturday to prepare the cars for practice and qualifying.

"I can't say enough about how the team has responded under these circumstances," Level 5 Motorsports team manager David Stone said. "It's a testament to this team and its dedication to win a championship. They're all hungry and will do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal."

In Saturday's first practice session, the No. 55 ORECA FLM09 unexpectedly lost another engine. The car did not participate in the final practice session and did not qualify. The Level 5 Motorsports team, however, intends to get the car ready to race on Sunday.

In Saturday's final practice session prior to qualifying, Tucker and Wallace were third on the LMPC speed chart with a best lap of 2:02.279.

Tucker leads the LMPC standings and carries an 11-point advantage over Gunnar Jeannette into Sunday's race. Christophe Bouchut, Tucker's Level 5 Motorsports teammate and co-driver of the No. 55, is third in the standings, 13 points behind Tucker. Andy Wallace co-drives the No. 95 with Tucker.

The Time Warner Road Race Showcase is the seventh of nine races on the 2010 ALMS schedule. Tucker has scored four LMPC class victories in the first six events.

Tucker hopes to continue his success at Road America. In September 2009, he drove to victory in the T1 race in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) National Championship Runoffs at Road America.

Road America is the longest track on the ALMS schedule. It is the third-fastest track on the schedule, but with the fastest corner speed.

The green flag is scheduled to wave Sunday for the Time Warner Road Race Showcase at 3:05 p.m. ET. The race will be broadcast live by the SPEED Channel, beginning at 3 p.m. ET.

Following this weekend's race, the American Le Mans Series visits Mosport Speedway in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, August 27-29, before the season finale 13th annual Petit Le Mans at Road America in Braselton, Georgia, September 29-October 2.

About Microsoft Office 2010

The Microsoft® Office system provides tools to help people quickly and easily create great-looking documents, spreadsheets and presentations, organize and search for information in one place, and keep everything in one place, all with enhanced security. www.office.microsoft.com

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. www.microsoft.com

Bookmark and Share

 

Level 5 Motorsports and Microsoft Office 2010: Fast friends

As one of the premier teams in the American Le Mans Series' Le Mans Prototype Challenge, Level 5 Motorsports knows that it takes teamwork to mount a successful campaign in the highly competitive world of professional motorsports. That is what makes having Microsoft Office 2010 part of the team so important.

"This is well beyond a typical race car-sponsor relationship," Level 5 owner / driver Scott Tucker said. "We've allowed them into our operation to see how we use Office 2010 to support our team. And they, in turn, have helped us get even more out of the software. That certainly helps us get the most out of our efforts, which translates into winning races."

With Microsoft Office on board since the season-opener at Florida's Sebring International Raceway, the Level 5 team has been on quite a roll. The team has four victories and sits atop the point standings. But, heading into this inaugural season for the LMPC in the American Le Mans Series, there were many unknowns.

"This team brought a lot of racing experience to the table, but certainly the new car presented us all with quite a learning curve," Tucker said. "Our success on the track shows the professionalism of this whole team."

That professionalism and experience attracted Microsoft Office and fueled this unique sponsorship program, the first of its kind for Microsoft Office. The platform was developed by Level 5's marketing and communications agency, Anthem Media Group.

"We knew we had a unique opportunity with Microsoft Office," said Brian Weaver, CEO of Anthem Media Group. "We were able to tailor this program around their very specific set of objectives and drive tremendous value through this relationship."

The exposure earned by the multiple-race-winning team is only the beginning for Microsoft Office. The software giant, and Microsoft service partner Core BTS, has become embedded with Level 5 Motorsports to experience first-hand the demands of running the organization.

"Certainly we were attracted to this sponsorship for the traditional reasons: great exposure for our products. But, we also saw that we could do something rather unique with this opportunity," said Chris Barry, Director in Microsoft Office. "We wanted to show how Office 2010 could help even the highly technical, fast-paced business of racing be more productive."

The hands-on approach for Microsoft Office was essential to understanding the day-to-day needs of the team. From office personnel, to crew members to drivers --Office 2010 is a part of nearly every facet of the team's activities.

"There are more moving parts to this operation than most people realize," said David Stone, Team Manager for Level 5. "Microsoft Office and Core BTS got an up-close view of what the race team is all about. And, they certainly have a product capable of supporting this effort."

For their part, Core BTS was thrilled to have the chance to undertake such a project.

"In my 17 years of consulting, I have helped many businesses leverage Microsoft platforms in a variety of different ways," said Nicholas Morris, Vice President of Enterprise Architecture, Core BTS. "But nothing has inspired us quite like the opportunity with Level 5. It became apparent while developing the solution that Office 2010 presented a real competitive advantage for the team and provided an excellent platform for rapid development."

This weekend, as the ALMS races at Wisconsin's Road America, Microsoft Officials and the Core BTS team will be trackside as Level 5 race competes at the highest level.

"We're looking forward to seeing just how this incredible organization puts all of the planning into action," Barry said. "We'll be looking to help them find even more ways that Microsoft products can help."

The result of this weekend's activities, and the months of work that have gone into this program, will be a series of video case studies that will demonstrate the power of Microsoft Office to support any business. Those videos and the supporting information will be made available to IT professionals and other users of Microsoft Office later this summer.

"If you think Office 2010 solutions are only relevant within office buildings, the solution we implemented for Level 5 shoots that idea right out the window," added Tim McKellips, Solutions Architect with Core BTS. "It is truly amazing what the product can do for any organization, race teams included, when applied intelligently to their unique needs."

About Microsoft Office 2010

The Microsoft® Office system provides tools to help people quickly and easily create great-looking documents, spreadsheets and presentations, organize and search for information in one place, and keep everything in one place, all with enhanced security. www.office.microsoft.com

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. www.microsoft.com

About Core BTS

Core BTS, Inc. is a leading business transformation company, providing organizations comprehensive IT solutions through True Lifecycle Management. Across the breadth of Core's competencies in data center, security, application development, collaboration, managed services and Inacom Learning practices, Core maintains a unique and consistent methodology that begins with business analysis, continues with scope and deployment, and closes with hands-on training and ongoing support.

Core brings clients the expertise, availability, knowledge and talent of more than 350 skilled professionals. Core BTS is headquartered in Madison, WI, with offices across the Midwest and East Coast. For more information, visit www.corebts.com.

About Level 5 Motorsports

Level 5 Motorsports has fielded successful entries in the American Le Mans Series, NASCAR Grand Am Series, Ferrari Challenge Series and the Sports Car Club of America since 2005. Owner and driver Scott Tucker has earned national championships and numerous podium finishes in his illustrious driving career.

Bookmark and Share

 

Level 5 Motorsports Shoots for Continued Success at Road America

Simply the mention of Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, brings a huge smile to the face of Level 5 Motorsports' Scott Tucker. It is the site of Tucker's first major racing championship.

It is also the site of this weekend's Time Warner Road Race Showcase, the seventh of nine races on the 2010 American Le Mans Series schedule. It's a track where Tucker and Level 5 Motorsports will look to continue their quest for yet another championship trophy.

In September 2009, Tucker drove to victory in the T1 race in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) National Championship Runoffs at Road America.

"There is no doubt that I've got some fond memories of Road America," said Tucker, who brings an 11-point advantage in the ALMS LMPC standings into Sunday's 2-hour, 45-minute event. "It had always been a dream of mine to win a racing championship, and we got the job done at Road America last year.

"We know how to win at Road America, so we would like to do that again this weekend in the American Le Mans Series."

Tucker and Christophe Bouchut, who have scored four victories in six ALMS races this season, will pilot the Microsoft Office 2010-sponsored No. 55 ORECA FLM09 this weekend. Level 5 Motorsports' second car, the No. 95 ORECA FLM09, will be piloted by Tucker and Andy Wallace.

Road America, a 4.045-mile road course, is the longest track on the ALMS schedule. It sports 14 turns, nine to the right and five to the left. It is the third-fastest track on the schedule, but with the fastest corner speed.

This weekend is also special for Level 5 Motorsports as official's from Microsoft -- the team's sponsor -- will be on hand to experience for themselves the excitement of the American Le Mans Series. Level 5 and Microsoft have spent several months deploying Office 2010 software solutions within the Level 5 organization. This weekend is a continuation of that effort, the result of which will be shared with IT professionals and other users of Microsoft Office through video case studies.

"Certainly we were attracted to this sponsorship for the traditional reasons: great exposure for our products. But, we also saw that we could do something rather unique with this opportunity," said Chris Barry, Director in Microsoft Office. "We wanted to show how Office 2010 could help even the highly technical, fast-paced business of racing be more productive."

A 20-minute qualifying sessions for the LMPC cars for the Time Warner Road Race Showcase is set for Saturday at 4:40 p.m. ET. The green flag is scheduled to wave Sunday at 3:05 p.m. ET. The race will be broadcast live by the SPEED Channel, beginning at 3:05 p.m. ET.

Following this weekend's event, there will be two races left on the ALMS schedule. The series visits Mosport Speedway in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, August 27-29, before the season finale 13th annual Petit Le Mans at Road America in Braselton, Georgia, September 29-October 2.

About Microsoft Office 2010

The Microsoft® Office system provides tools to help people quickly and easily create great-looking documents, spreadsheets and presentations, organize and search for information in one place, and keep everything in one place, all with enhanced security. www.office.microsoft.com

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. www.microsoft.com

Bookmark and Share

 

More Entries