For Level 5 Motorsports Ferrari V8 Crawford GT Grand-Am Rolex Series Debut At GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami
Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series driver Ed Zabinski moved to Atlanta from Miami at the end of 2007 but you would never know it considering the amount of time the former longtime Florida resident has spent in the Sunshine State this year.
Zabinski returns yet again this weekend to Homestead-Miami Speedway with team owner and co-driver Scott Tucker for the GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami where the duo will make the worldwide race debut of the all new No. 55 Level 5 Motorsports Ferrari V8 Crawford GT race car in Saturday's GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami (SPEED TV at 6 p.m. ET).
For Zabinski, a 15-year professional race car driver who has one of the best rides of his career with Tucker and the innovative and new Ferrari V8 Crawford GT, this weekend's race marks his sixth time back in Florida for a race weekend in 2008. Along with Tucker, no other driver entered this weekend has participated in as many racing events in Florida this year as Zabinski.
"With my racing career picking up along with all of the travel that goes with it, moving to Atlanta made some sense because of the airport," said Zabinski, who lived in Sunny Isles in North Miami Beach from 2003 until his move. "But I have lived in South Florida twice in the past 10 years and I have no doubts I will be back again some day. Right now, it kind of feels like I never left."
After moonlighting in a Porsche GT3 with Tucker in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, Zabinski – a confirmed Ferrari specialist – will be back in familiar territory, on and off the track, this weekend.
The new Level 5 Ferrari V8 Crawford GT just might be the most exotic and innovative race car in the paddock at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Powered by a potent Ferrari V8 in a chassis built by sports car road racing specialists Crawford Technologies from North Carolina, the Ferrari V8 Crawford GT took its first official racing laps in a Grand-Am test at Homestead last month with Zabinski, Tucker and sports car racing champion and two time Homestead-Miami winner Andy Wallace all taking turns behind the wheel. Working through the usual new race car teething problems, Tucker and Zabinski believe they saw enough potential in the Ferrari to be cautiously optimistic for success in the GAINSCO Grand Prix.
"The Ferrari V8 Crawford is flat-out the best GT race car I have ever driven," Zabinski said. "Crawford Daytona Prototypes have won half of the Grand Prix of Miami races since 2004, and you can feel that success and experience in the GT Ferrari."
Other valuable experience on the 11-turn Homestead-Miami road course comes from Zabinski himself. He has raced and coached other drivers at Homestead extensively over the years and most recently guided Tucker through the season-opening round of the Ferrari Challenge at the track earlier this month. Tucker is a championship contender in that series while Zabinski is in his third year as his driving coach. Adding a schedule of seven 2008 races in the Rolex Series with the new Ferrari V8 Crawford GT made some sense this year.
"Scott is ready to move up to Grand-Am Rolex Series GT competition," said Zabinski, who also handles the technical driving development for Tucker's Ferrari Challenge team. "He did a great job in this year's Rolex 24 and I am really looking forward to finally co-driving with him in a Ferrari-powered Rolex Series race car instead of just coaching."
Yet another Florida visit this year saw Zabinski and Tucker compete in an SCCA Double National event in their Ferraris at Homestead in mid January where they both achieved a great deal of success. In the two races, Zabinski scored a first and a second in a Ferrari 360 Challenge car while Tucker took a pair of wins in his Ferrari 430 Challenge car.
"As drivers, we are always looking for ways to improve our performance and increase our knowledge," Zabinski said. "SCCA club racing provides a cost effective way for us to achieve that objective. If you want to win at the professional level, you better be constantly working, testing and practicing, because that is what your competition is doing."
No team or pair of drivers has tested or raced in Florida and at Homestead-Miami Speedway more than Zabinski and Tucker this year, and they expect it to pay off.
"So many things can happen in racing which are beyond your control," Zabinski said. "But we have gone to great lengths to make sure that what is within our power to plan and control, we have. We are ready to go and I am very confident that we will be successful."
Noteworthy
Heading into this weekend's GAINSCO Grand Prix, Zabinski's complete racing tour of Florida this year has included, in chronological order, Daytona Test Days (January 4 – 6), the Homestead-Miami SCCA Double National (January 12 – 13), the Rolex 24 At Daytona (January 24 – 27), the Homestead-Miami Rolex Series Test (February 25 – 26) and the Homestead-Miami Ferrari Challenge (March 6 – 9)… Zabinski's additional experience at Homestead-Miami saw him coach then aspiring Indy Pro Series driver Mishael Abbott to a fourth-place qualifying effort in 2005. He also drove in the SCCA Tropical 12 Hour at Homestead in 2006 with Donnie Gottlieb and his girlfriend Amanda Hennessy… Zabinski and Hennessy are true professional racing couple, which means they will not be seeing much of each other any time soon. While Zabinski and Tucker will be racing the new Ferrari this weekend, Hennessy is in Europe racing in the Renault Clio Cup at such renowned circuits as Dijon and Magny Cours, trying to make her next big career mark.
