Brumos Racing Gearing Up For Laguna Seca
Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Although no one could say that Lady Luck has favored Brumos Racing in their last few outings, the entire team agrees that Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca would be the ideal place to reverse that unfortunate trend.  The 2.238 mile, 11-turn track, located near California’s scenic town of Monterey, has long been a favorite destination for the Brumos Racing group.  Peter Gregg brought home the first Brumos victory there back in 1975, and repeated that feat in 1979, en route to the GT Championship that year.  Since the introduction of the Grand-Am DP Program, victory lane has proven elusive for the Brumos cars, despite some impressive finishes.  In 2006, the #58 Brumos entry took the checkered flag in 5th position.  The 2007 race also yielded good results for the Darren Law/David Donohue duo, as they narrowly missed a podium finish, ending the day in 4th place. 

The 2008 Brumos story is one of contrasts - the #58 team has had some of their best starts ever this season, capturing a top three qualifying position in the last three races. However, some tough breaks have thus far prevented the team from enjoying the strong finish they anticipated. The #59 team has not fared as well in qualifying, but in each case has run a strong race, finishing better than their qualifying spot.  In order to succeed at Laguna Seca, each car must find a way to improve those different areas of challenge while maintaining the positive aspects of past performance.

As the Brumos team continues to work on improving the cars, they also plan to participate in some additional testing. Team Manager Michael Colucci is looking forward to seeing some positive results from those tests. “We are sending our entire engineering staff to participate in a shaker rig test and I feel confident that we will come away from there with some really useful information”, he said. “We are also planning on doing wind tunnel testing before the Watkins Glen race, which will give us more in-depth information about the body work and aerodynamics.  The guys are working really hard on refining the cars, and these additional tests will give us an even better feel for how to maximize performance.”

As for Laguna Seca’s raceway, it is famous for its signature corkscrew turn, and is considered a high downforce track, featuring elevation changes, gravel traps, and high speed turns. The layout of the course makes passing a difficult proposition. Drivers often reference Turn 11 as one of the most critical, as it leads on to the main straight, typically offering poor traction due to dusty conditions.  The configuration of the course is considered by most to favor higher horsepower, which could place our engines at somewhat of a disadvantage.  However, a Porsche-powered team took the victory last year, proving the team that adapts to different conditions will prevail. While last year’s event was a DP-only contest, this year the DP cars will be joined by GT entries, and larger fields tend to produce a greater number of full course cautions, especially when combined with the gravel traps.  As last year saw seven yellow flags with a DP-only field, this year’s strategy will need to take into account the possibility of a similar, or even increased number of delays.

Car #59 driver Joao Barbosa is looking forward to a return to Laguna Seca, as he is familiar with the track, having competed there in his Formula Atlantic and Grand-Am Cup days.  He is optimistic about his team’s chances for a victory in the Grand-Am Series, where he finds the competition evenly matched, making the outcome impossible to predict.  He joins the rest of the Brumos team in hoping Laguna Seca will prove to be a turn-around point for the team, saying, “Bad luck has been chasing us in the last few races - I think we can get the result at Laguna Seca that the team deserves for all their hard work.” Team Manager Michael Colucci summed it up for everyone. “We have the utmost faith in all of our drivers - that goes without saying.  And in each race, we shoot for one thing… to finish on the podium....and we expect to do so every single time.” As the Brumos team makes preparations for their fifth race of the Grand-Am season at Laguna Seca, they share that faith and are ready for some good fortune and a return to Victory Lane.

The 2008 Rum Bum.com 250 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will be held on Saturday, May 17th.  The race will begin at 1:45 PT/4:45 PM ET.  It will be televised via tape delay Sunday, May 18th at 12:00 ET on Speed TV.

Posted on 05/13 at 11:39 AM