AJR's MacNeil and Keen take second in GTC at Mosport

WeatherTech Racing's MacNeil and Keen Finish Second at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

#22 Alex Job Racing : Cooper MacNeil, Leh Keen

Photo by: Michael Tan

BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO, CANADA, (July 22, 2012) - Alex Job Racing's (AJR) Cooper MacNeil and Leh Keen raced to a second-place finish in GTC today at the American Le Mans Series Mobil 1 Grand Prix of Mosport at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport International Raceway).

MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.) had the controls of the white and black No. 22 WeatherTech Racing Porsche at the start. The speedy college student wasted little time getting to the front and was able to lead several laps during his hour-and-thirteen-minute minute stint. Handing over to Keen (Charleston, SC) the Mosport newbie continued his education on the fast 2.4-mile, 10 turn track all in preparation for the sprint to the checker. Keen drove the car into second position and with a late race yellow leaving just a handful of laps to the finish, he set-up the leading 66 Porsche for a pass but found himself on the outside going into the treacherous Turn Two. He decided to lift forcing him to settle for second position at the finish.

"I had a run on Spencer Pumpelly on the last restart, but found myself on the outside going into Turn Two," Keen said. "With Cooper leading the points and the Green Hornet car not finishing today, I thought that I shouldn't take the chance. It was a great points day for Cooper's lead, which is the goal. The most important thing was that we were fighting for the win at the end. This is my first time here. I have the track down now. I wasn't totally happy with the car in qualifying. We made some changes to the car to try this morning, but it rained, and we didn't get to try them. We needed some fine-tuning and, it was a lot better for the race. The AJR guys came through again."

MacNeil extends his points lead as the team heads to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in two weeks.

"It was a great points day for us," MacNeil said. "It was a great outcome, especially with this being Leh's first race here. The WeatherTech Porsche was good today. We extended our points lead, like we did last race and that is the strategy. This place is like a big Lime Rock, very busy with traffic. It is hard to pass here as well. I had a good stint, avoided problems, and ran strong." Alex Job, team owner, has his team strategizing for the championship.

"We thought it would be a challenge coming in here with it being Leh's first time at Mosport," Job said. "He did a great job, did his homework and was able to get up to speed in a hurry. He took a conservative approach to qualifying, which was the right thing to do. With his limited laps here we may have been one adjustment behind the other guys, but we knew in the race things would be different. He had a run on the TRG car, but used his head and backed off. We made a big gain in the points today, and we are heading to some strong tracks for both Cooper and Leh."