Muscle Milk Pickett Racing will be making its annual visit to Canada this week as the team heads to the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park for the Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix, round 5 on the 2013 American Le Mans Series schedule.
The Bowmanville, Ontario track (formerly known as Mosport) has been a happy hunting ground for the Greg Pickett led team. Since its first appearance at the Canadian venue in 2010, the Muscle Milk squad has started on pole and visited victory circle every year.
In addition to trying to keep its streak alive at the 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course, the team is also vying for its fourth victory this season after having won the three previous rounds on the ALMS schedule.
However, despite their past success, the Pickett Racing team knows it won't be an easy feat at a track that is known to separate the men from the boys with its high speed, flat out corners. Not surprisingly, it is also one of Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr's favorite circuits.
As in years past, the Muscle Milk drivers will be looking to give themselves a birthday gift with Graf celebrating his birthday on Sunday, July 21 and Luhr on Monday, July 22.
The team and drivers head into the fifth round of the season with a 24-point lead on their closest rivals in the P1 Championship standings.
Graf and Luhr will be skipping the Friday promoter test session and will be making their first appearance at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park with its Muscle Milk HPD ARX-03c on Saturday, July 20 for practice and qualifying.
Qualifying for the Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix will be streamed live on ESPN3.com and ALMS.com starting at 3:20 pm with the race being broadcast live Sunday, July 21 on ESPN2 from 1:00 pm ET to 3:00 pm ET.
Muscle Milk Quotes
Klaus Graf - driver #6 Muscle Milk HPD ARX-03c"I really like going to Mosport especially since we've had pole position and won the race the last three years. We obviously want to go for four in a row, although we all know how difficult it is to keep these streaks alive."I look forward to seeing all the updates and changes the new owners have done to the track to improve the safety and the experience for the fans."Our Muscle Milk HPD ARX-03c should perform very well in Canada as the updates are built around the aerodynamics and the Mosport track with its unbelievable high speed corners should be a good match."I've said it before, it's a big boys track and I once again look forward to the challenge."
Lucas Luhr - driver #6 Muscle Milk HPD ARX-03c"Mosport is one of the quickest tracks we go to. It is very high speed all around and I always love going to this track. I hope we can make it four in a row but as we saw early in the race at Lime Rock, the Dyson car is quick. That said, I know we will further improve our car. Lime Rock was the first race we did with the Muscle Milk HPD ARX-03c and we collected a lot of data that we can use for the rest of the season and make the car even better."It's also a birthday weekend for Klaus and I so we'll be looking to give ourselves another great birthday present."
Race Facts:Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand PrixCanadian Tire Motorsports Park, 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course, Bowmanville, OntarioJuly 20 - 21, 2013
American Le Mans Series: Round #5 of 10Race Duration: 2 hours and 45 minutesALMS TV Broadcast:Race (USA): ESPN2Live broadcast, Sunday, July 21, 2013 from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm ETInternational: Live broadcast on MotorsTVALMS live online coverage:USA: www.ESPN3.comInternational: www.alms.comQualifying - Saturday, July 20, 2013: from 3:20 pm ETRace - Sunday, July 21, 2013: 11:45 am - 3:00 pm ET
Schedule (All times Eastern):
Saturday, July 20, 2013:Practice 1: 9:30 am - 10:30 am (All Classes)Autograph Session: 12:00 pm - 12:45 pmPractice 2: 2:20 pm - 3:20 pm (All Classes)Qualifying: 3:30 pm - 3:45 pm (GTC)Qualifying: 3:50 pm - 4:05 pm (GT)Qualifying: 4:15 pm - 4:30 pm (PC)Qualifying: 4:35 pm - 4:50 pm (P1/P2)
Sunday, July 21, 2013:Warm up: 9:10 am - 9:35 am (All Classes)ALMS Race: 12:00 pm - 2:45 pm (2 hours 45 minutes)
