British F3 champion Felipe Nasr will get his second taste of American road racing this weekend where he will test with Michael Shank Racing at the ‘Roar before the 24’ official test session at Daytona International Speedway.
Nasr was the winner of the 2011 Sunoco Rolex 24 At Daytona Challenge, landing a funded drive in the Jan. 28-29 Rolex 24 At Daytona after scoring the top point average among competitors in three British racing championships.
Michael Shank Racing (MSR) have scored podiums in every season since joining GRAND-AM, and has best finishes of 2nd (2006) and 4th (2011) in the Rolex 24 and Felipe will be out to impress the team after performing exceptionally well at the unofficial test in early December where he topped both days timesheets.
"We were impressed with not only the immediate speed that Felipe showed in the car, but also his disciplined approach to the test last month," said team owner Mike Shank. "We are looking forward to having him test with Michael Shank Racing this week. The Sunoco Daytona Challenge has continued to develop, getting stronger every year and Felipe is a great demonstration of the talent that the program is attracting." Mike Shank, owner of Michael Shank Racing
Based in Columbus, Ohio, MSR was formed in 1989 when Mike Shank first began driving racing cars professionally. Shank retired from the cockpit in 1997 to focus his efforts on running the team, which quickly found success in the Champ Car Toyota Atlantic Championship. With several race wins under his belt, Shank was named as Team Owner of the Year twice in four years. Michael Shank Racing joined the Rolex Sports Car Series in 2004 as the team proved as quick in endurance racing as in the sprint formula car format. Michael Shank Racing scored a debut Rolex Series win in 2006 at Miller Motorsports Park, and fans selected the victory as the 2007 Rolex “Moment of the Year.” After opening the 2008 season with a front-row sweep of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the team closed out the year taking wins in the final two races of the year.
MSR will be fielding 2 cars and Felipe will be testing the #6 Riley Ford - the same car that United Autosports used for the 2011 Rolex 24 race where they finished fourth overall.
“We are very excited that Felipe is going to test with Michael Shank Racing. They are a very strong organisation and showed their speed last year with 3 cars in the top 10 of the Rolex 24. This could be a great opportunity for Felipe to really make an impression on a top team.” Anders Hildebrand, MD of Anglo American Oil Company
The driver line up for the test will be announced later this week.
Felipe Nasr will be at the Autosport show in Birmingham on the Anglo American Oil Company/Sunoco stand 6565 in hall 6. A press conference will be held on the Thursday of the show (12th January) and a ‘champagne reception’ with past drivers of the Rolex 24 will be held on the Friday (13th January) – for more details or to register your attendance to either event please contact us.
