Intersport Racing Laguna Seca race report

Intersport Racing Continues Podium Streak At Monterey

#89 Intersport Racing Oreca FLM09: Kyle Marcelli, Chapman Ducote, David Ducote

Photo by: Bob Heathcote

Intersport Racing enjoyed a successful weekend for the ModSpace American Le Mans Monterey at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Finishing 3rd and 5th in LMPC and taking a win in Cooper Tire Prototype Lites.

Kyle Marcelli, teamed with Chapman Ducote and David Ducote, drove the No. 89 Merchant Services / Lafarge / DynaPep car to a solid 3rd place finish after taking the pole in Friday's qualifying. Teammate, Tomy Drissi, together with Ricardo Vera and Luca Moro drove the No. 37 The Sitter / Muscle Milk car finishing 5th.

"Both cars ran strong all day," noted team manager, Brian Alder. "We had no issues, it was just fuel, tires and driver changes throughout the race. The No. 89 really ran strong. Kyle had an excellent 3-hour stint in the car, managing to get a lap back that we had lost earlier in the day. That put him in the lead."

"Tomy had a great opening stint in the No. 37," added Alder. "He was easily matching lap times of the leaders. Unfortunately starting from the rear of the grid put us at a major disadvantage to the rest of the field, and the yellow flag we were hoping for never came. Tomy handed to car over to Ricardo Vera who in only his 2nd LMPC race set the fastest lap time of the race for the 37 car. Luca drove a solid double stint during the middle of the race before handing the car back to Ricardo then Tomy for the finish."

On the Cooper Tire Prototype Lites side of things, Ricardo Vera dominated the weekend with a 2nd place finish Saturday and a 1st place finish Sunday. Ricardo heads to Road Atlanta with an impressive 15 point lead in the Championship points.

"Ricardo drove amazing in the 1 hour endurance race," said Alder. "He's been doing exactly what he needed to do to extend his championship points lead. He didn't make a single mistake all day long. He's really showing great maturity, knowing when to push and when to be patient and conserve his tires."

The teams now head to Atlanta for the final race of the 2011 season. The 14th annual Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda is set for Saturday, Oct. 1 from Road Atlanta. The race will air on ABC at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 2. Live coverage will be available in the U.S. on ESPN3 or outside the U.S. on americanlemans.com. Ticket and schedule information is available on the ALMS schedule page.