Miami, Fl —

Following a series of mixed fortunes throughout the season, the whole team at TRG were really looking to the final round at Homestead Miami Speedway to end on a high note. After a day of boiling temperatures and untimely incidents, the team’s three-car effort can look back at a top-five and two top-10's.

For John Potter in the No. 65 Magnus Racing/TRG Porsche 997 GT3, a solid first stint was interrupted by an untimely yellow and a resulting mistaken penalty by series officials. When a caution period came out 30 minutes in to the race, John was caught in an awkward position behind the overall leader in the race but in front of the GT-class leading No. 07 Pontiac GXP.R. Under normal circumstances all GT cars in front of the GT class leader are waived around the pace car to catch up to the back of the lead pack, however a mistake by series officials prevented John from being waved by. This mistake essentially put John a lap down.

“I sat in the car waiting to be waved by but it never happened,” claimed Potter. “I’m still not sure what went wrong. Everyone in front of us was allowed to catch up to the field but us, and that sort of set us up to have to claw our way back.”

With the race resuming, the No. 65 was forced to alter their strategy and driving approach to come back from the mistaken call. Grand-Am officials would eventually allow the car back on the lead lap, but at this point the damage was already done. Co-driver Spencer Pumpelly would eventually take the reigns to finish fourth.

For the No. 63 Team Polizei/Dietz & Watson Quality Meats/ Freescale Semi Conductors/Future Electronique/ TRG Porsche, the trio of Peter Ludwig, Henri Richard, and René Villeneuve ended with a solid ninth place finish.

Keeping pace during his opening stint, an unfortunate tire lock-up by Peter Ludwig led to a set of damaged tires, bringing him in for an early pit stop. Going a lap down in the process, Ludwig would finish his stint with extremely competitive lap times, handing over to track debutant Henri Richard.

“I just got a little too hard on the brakes and it just destroyed the tires,” stated Ludwig. “Once we stopped and got tires the stint went very well, and I’m pretty happy with the day overall.”

Having never driven the track until the race, Henri Richard was quickly up to speed. Having just flown in from another race in Barcelona, it only took Richard four laps before he was on pace with the lead lap times, proving the impressive talents of the French Canadian.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect when I jumped in the car but it all worked out. Everyone at TRG prepared a great car, my only issue was the fact I couldn’t get my cool suit to work. It was so hot in the car that not having my cool suit working was really tough, but I got through it and I’m happy we finished.”

For René Villeneuve, a solid final stint led to a top-10 result, a solid second race for the Californian.

“The final stint for me was luckily pretty uneventful. The Team Polizei car was great, and we were really lucky to avoid some big accidents at the end. I set the goal of a ninth place finish headed in to the race, and that’s right where we finished!”

For the No. 66 AXA/TRG Porsche, the final outcome was not as positive. Following a mysterious electrical gremlin all weekend, a number of incidents throughout the race would eventually lead drivers Spencer Pumpelly and Andy Lally to retire with a broken radiator.

“There was a lot of contact out there today, it was really hot and it was just one of those races,” claimed Lally. “It finally ended when some dummie in a DP drove into the side of us in pit lane and we popped a radiator. It’s unfortunate but that’s racing.”

For Team Owner Kevin Buckler, a day of mixed fortunes only promises greater results for the future.

“I think a top-five and two top-10’s is a solid end to the year. John was a victim of a really bad call by Grand-Am, and it’s a shame to see the season end that way for him. We had that car in a great position with 4 fresh tires and 5 laps to go but a late race caution had us finishing under yellow.  John showed tremendous talent all year---I mean REALLY solid improvement and just excellent driving and with the guidance of Craig (Stanton, John’s teammate for the year who was forced to miss the final race) and Spencer this weekend, it’s been amazing to watch him progress. For the 63 car it was Mission Accomplished and it looked like they were having a lot of fun. Team Polizei is always a joy to have around, and I still can’t believe how quickly Henri got up to speed! Peter was super strong and he put in a great opening stint. René drove his usual smart and professional race with some stellar lap times to boot and brought the car home in one piece. It was too bad to see the AXA 66 have the day that it did. Andy and Spencer are two of the best in GT, but this weekend just never went our way. At the end of the day, there’s a lot we can take from this year and look forward to next. We had a great win at the Rolex 24, and there were a number of races that we showed our true potential. We have a TON of cool new developments for next year, and I’m really excited.”

Stay tuned for a more thorough review of the season in the coming weeks.

TRG was founded in 1993 and has been competing at the top level of motor racing ever since.  The team has the most wins of any team in the Grand-Am Rolex Series with 26, including the 2005 and 2006 Rolex Series GT championship trophy to go along with wins at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

TRG is a manufacturer and distributor of high-performance racing parts. The group specializes in engine and chassis tuning as well as full service professional race car preparation. The company also provides electrical and mechanical engineering services, driver development and arrive-and-drive opportunities. TRG is based in Petaluma, Calif., near its home track of Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.  The company's NASCAR operation is based in Mooresville, North Carolina and a new state-of-the-art facility is coming on-line at New Jersey Motorsports Park in late 2009.

For more information please contact Kyle Chura at (248) 821-0468 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Detailed team info can be viewed at www.trgmotorsports.com or www.theracersgroup.com.  

More information and a complete press kit can be found at www.theracersgroup.com. Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 707-935-3999 for additional information.

 

Petaluma, CA — TRG is heading to the Grand-Am Rolex Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway with three potent Porsches for this weekend’s Grand Prix of Miami to be run on Saturday, October 10.

The modified oval layout of Homestead-Miami Speedway is comprised of almost three-quarters of the speedway surface with a tricky nine-turn infield section.

Henri Richard and Rene Villeneuve return to the No. 63 Team Polizei/Dietz & Watson Quality Meats/ Freescale Semi Conductors/Future Electronique/ TRG Porsche, with the addition of third teammate and seasoned road racer, Peter Ludwig.

For Team Polizei, this marks the return of the famous underground brand to the Grand-Am Series.  Making their debut at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca earlier in the year, the group, spearheaded by street rally legend Alex Roy, has been hard at work in their efforts to brand with professional sportscar racing.  The team will continue their usual flood of behind-the-scenes content at www.teampolizeihq.com.

Driver Henri Richard sees Homestead as a challenge, even though he has laps at the track located south of Miami.

“I have many laps at Homestead, but not with this configuration,” Richard said.  “In the Ferrari Challenge we run a different configuration than Grand-Am.  I am anxious to see how this layout feels.  We will lean towards more down force and compromise speed in order for us to be safe and sound. The biggest issue is stability into Turn One coming off the bank.”

“Homestead is similar in nature to Daytona,” Villeneuve, Team Polizei/TRG driver said.  “It is not so difficult on the driver, but you really need to get the infield section right to get a good lap time, as the oval is all about how much downforce you trim off the car for top speed. I have some laps in a street car on the layout that includes both infield sections, but not including the oval. The infield is a fun section with hard braking zones which I like.  TRG is the best out there at setting these cars up. We will start the Team Polizei 144 Porsche with the setup that the engineers think will work the best and take from there. I feel we should not worry about top speed and be sure to make our tires last as best we can by looking after them in the infield section.”

Peter Ludwig will lean on his KONI Challenge experience at Homestead this weekend.

“I raced here earlier in the year with KONI, first time ever at Homestead and we won there so that was a good start,” Ludwig said.  “The circuit is certainly challenging between high speed banking and a tight infield but I adapted well. I hope to build on the first experience now in GT taking into consideration we are in the slower of two classes, which makes things a bit more intense and exciting.  The car will need to be setup to make all the drivers comfortable, I have not yet driven with Rene or Henri so I need to find out what they like and how they drive. For me, It is important that we utilize a proven set-up which TRG feels comfortable with. We are fortunate to have Andy and Spence here to offer suggestions and compare data.”

John Potter will be sharing the No. 65 Magnus Racing/TRG Porsche with Spencer Pumpelly this weekend.  Pumpelly will pull double duty in the 65 and 66.

“I have laps in the KONI Porsche at Homestead,” Potter said.  “It was good to have some time earlier in the year in that car.  In the KONI Porsche, the banking was flat-out but difficult.  We have a little more grip in the GT car but it should still be fun.  We do the best we can to figure out where we need straight line speed and where we need handling in the turns; the aero changes will be the biggest challenge.”

In the third car, TRG aces Andy Lally and Spencer Pumpelly will be paired in the No. 66 AXA/TRG car in a sprint race for the first time.  This will be a reunion for the duo, who are looking to add to their win column together. 

“It will be great to be teamed with Spencer again,” Lally said.  “We have been teammates in a bunch of races in our time with TRG. We won the nine hours of Miller together in 2006 as well as the six hours of the Glen in 2007.  We hope to add another victory to our partnership this weekend.”

“I expect to hand the car over to Andy and let him take it to the win,” Pumpelly said.  “He and I work well together and TRG puts good cars under us so I am optimistic. I think the key to having a good car at Homestead is the ability to set the car up to get over the bump in Turn One well. It is where the time is made up.  We will have a good car in the infield, hope to get off the last turn as fast as possible and hold it to the floor going into one.”

Kevin Buckler, TRG team owner, is hoping to bookend the season with a win.

“It is great to have the Team Polizei guys with us again this weekend – this group is awesome to work with in so many ways,” Buckler said.  “We also welcome back long time friend Peter Ludwig.  John has been getting consistently better every single weekend and we are looking for a break-out weekend from him here at Homestead.  Andy and Spencer should be really competitive this weekend.  It is great to have them together in a race car again.  We won the first race of the season in Daytona and we are gunning to win the last one this weekend.”

The Grand-Am Rolex Series race from Homestead-Miami Speedway will be televised live on the SPEED Channel starting at 1:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 10.

TRG was founded in 1993 and has been competing at the top level of motor racing ever since.  The team has the most wins of any team in the Grand-Am Rolex Series with 26, including the 2005 and 2006 Rolex Series GT championship trophy to go along with wins at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

TRG is a manufacturer and distributor of high-performance racing parts. The group specializes in engine and chassis tuning as well as full service professional race car preparation. The company also provides electrical and mechanical engineering services, driver development and arrive-and-drive opportunities. TRG is based in Petaluma, Calif., near its home track of Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.  The company’s NASCAR operation is based in Mooresville, North Carolina and a new state-of-the-art facility is coming on-line at New Jersey Motorsports Park in late 2009.

For more information please contact Kyle Chura at (248) 821-0468 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Detailed team info can be viewed at www.trgmotorsports.com or www.theracersgroup.com. 

More information and a complete press kit can be found at www.theracersgroup.com. Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 707-935-3999 for additional information.