No. 74 ProSpeed Porsche Retires Before Miller's First Driving Stint
Bryce Miller has a knack for finding his way to the podium in 24-hour races, as evidenced by the fact that he's already done it three times in his relatively brief sports-car racing career.
In January, Miller finished second in the GT class in the Daytona 24 Hours for his second runner-up result in the prestigious Central Florida enduro to go with a second-place run in 2008. Miller also claimed a second-place trophy in the 2009 TOTAL 24 Hours of Spa, and returned to the world-renowned Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium last week looking for yet another podium result.
The 29-year-old American joined forces with one of Europe's strongest Porsche teams in ProSpeed Competition and co-drivers Paul Van Splunteren, Nicolas De Crem and Ludovic Sougnez. The No. 74 NEC/Chopard Porsche 911 GT3-R was easily among the favorites for victory in the Pro-Am Cup class, and Sougnez put car third on the grid in qualifying on Thursday.
On race day, Sougnez driver got a solid start and it appeared the No. 74 would be a certain podium contender. Unfortunately, the Belgian driver tangled with his ProSpeed teammate and countryman, Marc Goossens -- who was leading overall in the team's No. 75 Porsche -- in the "bus stop" chicane. The contact was enough that it removed both cars from contention for the victory inside the first hour of the race. Both attempted to continue after lengthy repairs but team owner Rudi Penders retired shortly thereafter, preventing Miller from getting an opportunity to drive in the race.
"Ludovic got back in the car and ran fast lap times, but we lost an hour making repairs," Miller said. "We ended up retiring the car because it was just too far out of contention. ProSpeed gave us a Porsche we could have put on the podium, and Ludovic showed it before his incident. We'll do it next time!"
After the race, Miller immediately returned to the U.S. to prepare for this weekend's fifth round of the 2011 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio on Saturday. Miller will once again co-drive the No. 48 Chopard/Marquis Jet/TOTAL/IPC Porsche 911 GT3 RSR for Paul Miller in the GT class alongside Sascha Maassen.
About Bryce MillerBryce Miller hails from Summit, New Jersey and is competing full time in the 2011 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) as well as selected European endurance races and the GRAND-AM Daytona 24 Hours. The 29-year-old driver has wins in ALMS, GRAND-AM and IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge competition and more than 20 podiums. Miller co-drove the championship-winning GT car as a GRAND-AM rookie in 2007, earning podium results in 10 of 13 races. Other career highlights include a victory in the GT3 Cup event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2007, two second-place performances in the Daytona 24 Hours, a second-place run in the 2009 TOTAL 24 Hours of Spa and back-to-back appearances in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2010 and 2011.
Miller enjoys a long-standing relationship with Porsche and competes with the support of four international sponsors in Chopard, Marquis Jet, IPC Information Systems and TOTAL Lubricants. Follow Miller on Twitter @bryceracer, become a Facebook fan at Facebook.com/brycemiller.net, and check out his website at brycemiller.net.
