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At Speed Motorsports Volvo Scores Podium Finish at Mid-Ohio SPEED GT Race
Lexington, Ohio (20 May 2006) – The At Speed Motorsports Volvo S60 R scored a podium finish in the SPEED World Challenge GT race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Piloted by former SPEED GT Champion Michael Galati, the car finished third after a see-saw battle with second place finisher and current series points leader Lawson Aschenbach that saw the Volvo pass the Porsche for second place early in the race only to be re-passed just before the end.
“I had a great battle with Lawson, but couldn’t keep him behind me towards the end,” said Galati “He raced clean the whole time. Nobody stuck their nose in or took unnecessary risks, and we fought right to the end.”
This was the first race of the season for the Volvo. Without a sponsor at the end of the 2005 season, the team did not expect to run the car this year. However, a last minute package was put together in early February. Although the team had been hopeful of running the car earlier in the season, the late start did not afford sufficient testing and development time to participate in the first three rounds, which were crammed in over only a four-week period on both coasts.
Team principle Bob Miller, who brought the At Speed Porsche 996 GT3 Supercup home in 13th place, was ecstatic about the Volvo result. “This is only the third year of the program. The first year we did only three races, and last year we developed a completely new car and ran solidly in the top ten in the second half of the season, finishing a high of fifth. To score our first podium in our first race of the season is just amazing. I can’t say enough about the crew, who spent countless hours solving issues both in the shop and at the track.”
Galati, who had the best previous finish with the Volvo (a 5th at Portland last year) was strong all weekend. In the Thursday practice, he was tied for fastest with the Corvette of Lou Gigliotti, right down to the thousandth of a second. In qualifying he was 4th, less than two tenths of a second out of 2nd. “I thought I had a good chance for 2nd on my last lap, but I went into the left hander before the Carousel a little too fast and had to back off. We looked at the data, and I lost more than two-tenths there, so I had to settle for fourth. Anyway, I got a good start in the race and moved right up to third, and the race with the Porsche was on.”
Director of Motorsports Paul Amico had arranged for Galati to drive this race only within the last few days. “We were very lucky that Michael was available. He had just returned from a victory in Grand Am Cup ST at Phoenix, and was willing to turn right around and drive for us on two days notice. He obviously picked right up where he left off last year at Portland.”
Galati had the final word as he lauded the At Speed crew for their efforts. “The crew was fantastic. They worked long hours on the car and made this result possible. I especially want to thank Scott [Poirier] and Mark [Plows] for doing what was needed this weekend to make sure the car ran to the finish. I also want to thank Paul and Bob for giving me the opportunity to step into the car again.”
The team has a month off and will continue to develop and test both the Volvo and the Porsche and plans to be at Sears Point in June for GT round 5. The Mid-Ohio race will be broadcast on SPEED at 9pm EDT on Saturday, May 27.
