We knew that a third team would be joining the Audi Sport customer racing program and bringing another Audi R8 Grand-Am car to the Rolex Series. Limitless Racing announced the news and unveiled the Audi R8 Grand-Am at the New York Auto Show. Founded by Dr. Jason Lee of New Jersey, he will share driving duties with 2011 SCCA Spec Miata champion Elivan Goulart.

Limitless took delivery of the R8 Grand-Am back in February.

“It’s an amazing opportunity to be a part of a new team and start on the ground floor of building something that is literally limitless,” Goulart said. “I look forward to the challenge of building a new team from the ground floor to eventually top of the podium. Jason is a huge fan of racing and the driving force behind the team. He is providing us the tools to build a great team with amazing potential.”

For use in the USA, Audi quattro GmbH has modified the R8 GT3 to meet Grand-Am regulations. The chassis has been stiffened by a thicker roll cage, a new front splitter, a modified rear diffuser and a standard Grand-Am rear wing change the aerodynamics of the sports car. Output of the engine has to be reduced to 450-470hp. The standard anti-lock system and traction control of the R8 LMS are prohibited as driving aids in the USA.

Technical and engineering duties for the team will be handled by Goulart’s father, Ademir Fedumenti. Ademir has over 40 years of racing and engineering under his belt so we are sure the team is in good hands.

“The crew we’ve gathered have shown great attention to detail during the long hours they’ve spent preparing the car, and I feel strongly that their focus will be a competitive advantage to deliver results,” Lee said. “Elivan is a great mentor, team manager and a talented driver. He does a great job at managing the team efficiently and smoothly.

“I would like to thank Ademir, Sascha Pilz, (Engineer for Audi Sport Customer Racing) Brad Kettler (Kettler Motor Werks), and Andrea (Santilli, Audi Marketing Specialist). I also want to thank Audi Sport for their technical and organizational support,” Lee said.

Limitless Racing will be headed to New Jersey Motorsports Park, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen International, and Lime Rock Park. If you’re an Audi fan make put these on your list!

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With the storms moving in and out during yesterdays sessions, we managed to snap some shots and finally get them posted. Todays calls for much better weather but the CTSCC race my have showers.

CTSCC

Porsche 250

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In the distinctive no. 51 APR Audi R8 Grand-Am, Dion von Moltke showed the car’s improved form by qualifying in seventh in the Rolex Sports Car Series’ GT-class – missing the pole setting time by a mere 0.4-sec in the car that he will share with Dr. Jim Norman. However, the car did not pass post-race technical inspection when the ride-height bar hit a bolt on the front spitter of the car. As a result, the car will start the race from the back of the GT field.

“I’m a little disappointed for the guys, because I think we had a car to be in the top three,” said von Moltke. “But, we have a good car for the race, and Dr. Jim has been really quick in practice so I am pretty confident for tomorrow. It’s APR’s home race and we want a big result for everyone who is coming out to support us.”

Photo: © 2012 Corey Beaman

- APR Motorsport

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It was a planned move, but for Rum Bum Racing it is a similar challenge this weekend as the team has moved from a proven race winning platform to focus on unlocking the potential in a brand new car and the Porsche 911.

Despite the Barber Motorsports Park race being the debut event for the new machine, Rum Bum Racing made it look easy as Nick Longhi qualified the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche fifth on the grid for Saturday’s Barber 200 and Round 2 of the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge championship.

Longhi’s time of 1:37.247-seconds was less than one second back of the pole-winning Camaro entry.

“The car is in very good shape for the race,” said Longhi. “The weather helped that it was cooler but the big unknown for the race is the surface, temperature, and the traffic. But our 911 that the crew and Joe (Varde) has put together is a good car for the race.”

With the team moving from a front-engined V8 to the smaller, rear-engined flat six entry, the opportunity for setbacks was large. But the race-winning squad turned up looking as though the new car was one they had long been running.

“It’s been as seamless as it can be,” said Longhi of the conversion. “With most teams they would be ecstatic where they are right now and we’re actually not unhappy. We have high expectations, and our goal is to be on top. This is just a new car so what makes us a little bit nervous is that we already know everything we need to know about the M3 but don’t know everything we need to know about this car. So it’s exciting because there is some potential there but there is also some unknowns.”

Longhi will turn the car over to co-driver Matt Plumb to take to the finish, as the team looks to improve on the run to seventh place earned at the picturesque track last year.

“To be fifth on the grid, and the best-qualifying Porsche in our first-ever qualifying session is very encouraging and is a great result for all the hard work Joe (Varde) and the whole crew have done to make this transition,” said Plumb. “Of course, this is just qualifying but it is a very solid start to the weekend. I think we could have some trouble with the V8 cars ahead of us, but we will just see how the race plays out. In a way, we’ve started over and it is our first day. But, we’ve got the right team behind us and that shows in the result today. Hopefully we can move forward in the race tomorrow and build the momentum as the season gets going in earnest.”

“In terms of this race and this track, the car is running well. We wanted to be safe and get the car into the race and into a good spot,” said Longhi. “This race is going to be a very high attrition race with 80 cars on a very tight track which is great fun – we love it, don’t get me wrong – it’s great. But it’s going to be just getting the car towards the end of the race and at the end of the race being able to have Matt (Plumb) have a car that he can race and try to win. I’m pretty confident about our chances.”

- Rum Bum Racing

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This will be the first test for the next-generation Daytona Prototypes in a sprint race, and there are a number of pressing questions begging to be answered:

Can the Riley DPG3s continue the momentum from the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, where the new cars swept the podium? Rolex 24 winner Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian will have Ozz Negri celebrating his century race with John Pew in the No. 60 Liveon.com Ford/Riley, while Daytona runners-up Ryan Dalziel and Enzo Potolicchio share the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport Ford/Riley.

How will the Corvette Daytona Prototypes fare in their second outing? David Donohue and Darren Law led the Bow Tie Brigade at Daytona with a fifth-place finish in the No. 5 Action Express Vette. They will be joined in similar Coyote-chassied Corvettes by teammates Joao Barbosa, Terry Borcheller and JC France in the No. 9 entry, while Spirit of Daytona looks to continue his series of strong showings at Barber with Antonio Garcia and Richard Westbrook in the No. 90.

What about the championship contenders who struggled at Daytona? While Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas had a strong run in the opener – the No. 01 TELMEX BMW/Riley led 96 laps – late-race gearbox problems resulted in a sixth-place finish, ending a run that saw the No. 01 team finish either first (three times) or second in the five prior runnings of the Rolex 24. Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates also is running the Riley DPG3.

Two other perennial contenders – GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing and SunTrust Racing – both finished well down the running order at Daytona. Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty followed up their 2007 and 2009 Barber victories by winning the DP title. This year, they have a new Red Dragon No. 99 Corvette that debuted 89 laps behind the winner in the Rolex 24. The new No. 10 SunTrust Corvette is even farther behind in the standings, finishing last at Daytona after experiencing engine problems in the early going. Max Angelelli returns with Ricky Taylor – who never even got to drive in the Rolex 24.

Can an older DP pull off an upset? Alex Popow and Lucas Luhr – who shared the second-place car in the Rolex 24 – run the No. 2 Starworks Ford/Riley DPG2 for a final time at Barber. Car owner Peter Baron plans to upgrade to DPG3 specs for Homestead in April. Popow is on a hot streak, coming off a victory in the most recent Ferrari Challenge race at St. Petersburg after winning his class in the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Returning Stars, New Cars Pace GT Field

The GT field has 19 solid entries, including defending Barber winners Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana in the No. 94 Turner Motorsport BMW M3, Rolex 24 class winners John Potter and Andy Lally in the No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche GT3, and 2011 GT champs Leh Keen and Andrew Davis in the No. 59 Brumos Porsche GT3.

Robin Liddell returns in the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, with Ronnie Bremer sitting in for John Edwards – coming off surgery following a skiing accident. Liddell and Bremer co-drove to victory in the last two races of 2011. Another strong Camaro is the No. 88 Autohaus Motorsport entry of Jordan Taylor and 2007 Barber winner Paul Edwards.

The GT field also includes a new Ferrari 458 Italia Grand Am – the No. 69 AIM Autosport Team FXDD of Jeff Segal and Emil Assentato – plus a pair of new Audi R8 GRAND-AMs, the No. 51 APR Motorsport entry of Dion von Moltke and Dr. Jim Norman, and the No. 74 Oryx Racing car for Humaid Al Masaood and Steven Kane.

TRG has a pair of Porsche GT3s, the No. 66 of Rolex 24 runners-up Steve Bertheau and Spencer Pumpelly, plus the late-entered No. 68 of Emilio Di Guida and Jeroen Bleekemolen – who ran a fast lap late in Wednesday’s unofficial test day at the circuit.

Marsh Racing runs the No. 31 Corvette of Boris Said and Eric Curran for the first time in 2012, Horton Autosport makes its season debut in the No. 73 Porsche of Patrick Lindsey and Eric Foss, while Jeffrey Earnhardt makes his Barber debut with Chris Cook in the No. 14 POYNT Ford Mustang.

Mazda has a solid six-car entry, including two-time Barber winners SpeedSource with Sylvain Tremblay and Jonathan Bomarito in the No. 70 RX-8; two cars for Dempsey Racing, the No. 40 for Joe Foster and Patrick Dempsey, plus the No. 41 of Charles Espenlaub and Charles Putman; and three for Team Sahlen, with Joe Sahlen and Dane Cameron teamed with Joe, Will and Wayne Nonnamaker.

Photo: © 2012 Corey Beaman

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