Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

After a hard winter of testing and preparation, APR Motorsport is ready to debut the first all Audi race car in the history of the Grand Sport class at the Fresh from Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway. The Audi S4, powered by an all aluminum 3 liter TFSI supercharged V-6 routed through Quattro all wheel drive, is one of only two all wheel drive cars in the Grand Sport class.

Leading the Audi S4 program will be Rolex 24 Hour winner Ian Baas and Continental Tire series veteran Mark White. After testing Mark shared his experience with the APR Motorsport S4, “I was extremely pleased with my initial experience with the S4 during testing. I would describe it as ‘eager’ and that’s an awesome trait for a brand new race car. I have quite a bit of seat time working with the Audi platform developing customer cars for Accumoto and one of my favorites is the flagship R8. APR has done a remarkable job building this S4 and I would compare it favorably to the R8 in its willingness to work with you and the manner in which it inspires a great deal of confidence! It should be an awesome car to race and very well suited to a track like Daytona.”

In addition to the Audi Grand Sport campaign, APR Motorsport will continue to field two Volkswagen GTIs in the Street Tuner class for the season. After multiple wins in Street Tuner last year, APR expects the GTIs to challenge for the championship once again in 2010.

About APR: APR LLC is an automotive engineering firm operating a 36,000 sq. ft. performance campus in Opelika, AL. APR was founded in 1997 with a corporate philosophy of Integrity, Excellence and Innovation. APR’s Sole Mission is to provide the highest quality and most highly engineered aftermarket performance products available for Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen vehicles. Learn more at www.goapr.com.

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Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

Looking to build on a stunning 2009 ST effort which included 4 wins and 5 poles, APR Motorsport is ready to lead the field at Daytona for round one of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. APR will once again be running two Volkswagen GTIs in the Street Tuner class.

The 171 VW GTI will see 3 time race winner Mike Sweeney return to APR alongside the experienced Mike Halpin. In the 181 car, 2009 Mesco Rookie of the Year Josh Hurley will be paired with veteran racer Kevin Stadtlander. With two drivers returning from last year’s team, paired with two experienced drivers, APR will be sure to pick up right where they left off in 2009. Look for both cars to be fighting for the championship in 2010!

In addition to the Street Tuner title run, APR Motorsport will be expanding into the Grand Sport class with the Audi S4. This unique entry will be one of the first GS cars to participate with a forced inducted engine and all wheel drive. Look for this exciting entry to make its debut alongside the two Volkswagens in Daytona.

About APR: About APR: APR LLC is an automotive engineering firm operating a 36,000 sq. ft. performance campus in Opelika, AL. APR was founded in 1997 with a corporate philosophy of Integrity, Excellence and Innovation. APR’s Sole Mission is to provide the highest quality and most highly engineered aftermarket performance products available for Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen vehicles. Learn more at www.goapr.com

About Mike Sweeney: After starting his racing career on motorcycles just five years ago, Mike proved his speed in karts, vintage cars, touring cars, formula cars and sprint cars. He competed in his first professional race in 2008 and finished out his rookie year in 2009 with a series-high three wins in the APR Motorsport No. 181 VW GTI. Sweeney is a professional driving instructor based out of Monterey, CA. For more information, visit www.gomikesweeney.com

About Mike Halpin: Hailing from Phoenix, AZ, Mike Halpin is a veteran racer with multiple SCCA championships. His diverse career has included every current GRAND-AM class. In addition to his racing exploits, Halpin is a mechanical engineering with over 35 patents in semi conductor and suspension design.

About Kevin Stadtlander: Pittsburgh, PA native Kevin Stadtlander is an experienced club racer with multiple wins and podiums in SCCA, PBOC and NASA racing events. Combining his love for motorsport with his occupation as a physician, Kevin has been a member of the International Council of Motorsport Science and is currently the Medical Chief for the Florida Region SCCA.
About Josh Hurley: A Fort Lauderdale native, Hurley was the 2008 VW TDI Cup Champion. In 2009, he stepped up to the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge class winning the MESCO Rookie of the Year award as well as one race victory, two poles and five podiums. To learn more about Hurley, please visit www.GoJoshHurley.com

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Thursday, January 21st, 2010

Eight of 10 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Races To Be Aired This Season

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 20, 2010) - How do drivers and teams prepare to compete in the Rolex 24 At Daytona? A television special highlighting that process and more will be aired leading up to the 48th edition of North America’s premier endurance race.

GRAND-AM: 24 Hours at Daytona, an hour-long special featuring everything from preparation for the Rolex 24, interviews with the drivers and teams competing, to shop tours and seat fittings, will premier at midnight ET Friday, Jan. 22, on SPEED. It will also air on FX at midnight ET Saturday, Jan. 23.

The show will air on SPEED four additional times, including 10 p.m. ET Monday, Jan. 25, and also at 2 a.m. and 10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26. It will also air at 2 p.m. ET Saturday, Jan. 30, leading up to the network’s live coverage of the Rolex 24.

Rolex Series stars Alex Gurney, Scott Pruett, David Donohue, Andy Lally, Patrick Dempsey and Spencer Pumpelly are among the drivers interviewed for the special. Five-time Rolex 24 winner Hurley Haywood, NASCAR drivers Jimmie Johnson, Bobby Labonte, AJ Allmendinger and Colin Braun, Indy 500 winners Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti, and car owners Tracy Krohn, Kevin Buckler and Chip Ganassi are also featured in the special.

Footage includes highlights from the recent Roar Before the Rolex 24 test and 2009 highlights, in addition to historic footage from the event that dates back to the 1962 running of the Daytona Continental - including Dan Gurney’s dramatic victory at Daytona’s first international sports car event.

The show goes behind the scenes with visits to the Brumos Racing, TRG, Krohn Racing and Stevenson Motorsports shops. Viewers get a rare inside look at a drivers’ meeting, seat fittings, pit stop practice and crewmen preparing for practice.

Race features include Allmendinger’s physical preparation, driving multiple shifts and managing a crew’s schedule - including time for sleep. Haywood talks about his eight-hour shift in his 1977 victory, when he went into a tent during pit stops and emerged each time with a different helmet so that officials would think it was a different driver.

Additionally, GRAND-AM announced the 2010 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge television schedule, with eight of the 10 races to be aired. All eight Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge races will be shown on a tape-delay basis and during a two-hour window.

Among those is the season-opening Fresh From Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway - which produced finishes of 0.129 (Street Tuner) and 0.133 seconds (Grand Sport) in 2009 - and the season finale at Miller Motorsports Park. Last season, 10 of 11 GS races and all 11 ST races were decided by less than five seconds.

The 2010 GRAND-AM Rolex Series opens its 12-race 2010 campaign with the Jan. 30-31 Rolex 24 At Daytona, while the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge begins its 10th year of competition under the GRAND-AM banner Jan. 29 with the Fresh From Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway (SPEED, at 7 p.m. ET, Saturday, Feb. 13). Live timing and scoring - along with race notes, quotes and updates - will be available on www.GRAND-AM.com. Live updates will also be provided on www.twitter.com/RolexSeries and www.twitter.com/CT_Challenge.

For more information:
J.J. O’Malley, 386-310-6588, jomalley@nascar.com

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Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Mark White of Accumoto joins former teammate Ian Baas to drive APR Motorsport’s Audi S4 at the upcoming Fresh From Florida 200 race in the 2010 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. During one of the coldest weekends in Daytona history, APR Motorsport tested their new GS Class Audi S4 with drivers Ian Baas and Mark White at the Roar Before the 24 test days at Daytona International Speedway. After an opportunity to experience the capabilities of Audi’s newest generation S4 Mark was excited to be returning to the team for the 2010 season inaugural race at the end of this month.

Mark feels right at home at APR Motorsport and in command of an Audi, “I am elated to be part of this effort. Not only am I excited to drive with Ian again, (Rolex teammates in ‘07) but I have the chance to do it with my APR friends and teammates from the ‘08 season. It’s also an honor to campaign a marque for which I have such respect and passion. I have enjoyed a marvelous relationship with the brand through Accumoto and the Audi Club of America. I am ready to represent!”

Jeff Mishtawy, Director of Motorsport for APR said, “It’s always great to have a brand enthusiast as part of the race program and a driver as talented as Mark sweetens the deal even further. I enjoyed reacquainting with Mark after he drove for us so expertly in the ST program in 2008. He was up to speed very quickly and provided excellent feedback regarding the further development of the S4. I think we have a strong driver lineup for the race at Daytona in a couple of weeks.”

Mark White is the owner/operator of Accumoto, a high performance and race car preparation facility near Madison, WI who adheres to APR’s philosophy of Enhancing the Driving Experience with No Compromise and a veteran of IMSA Lites, Rolex GT and the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge ST and GS classes. His successes include multiple podiums, multiple top 10’s, 4 wins and several lap records. In 2008, Mark raced an entire season with APR in their ST VW GTi with 2 top ten finishes and 6 top 10 qualifying efforts. Learn more at
www.gomarkwhite.com and www.accumoto.com.

When co-driver Ian Baas learned of the signing he commented, “Mark is a very talented and respected driver around the paddock. I’ve had the pleasure to be on the same team with Mark in the past and he is certainly very quick. With his experience, talent and ability I am confident we will see a podium in a couple of weeks. APR and Accumoto is a formidable partnership from which I expect many great things to develop.”

APR Motorsport takes to the track for the first race of the season at Daytona International Speedway on January, 29th. APR Motorsport will also field their 2 car VW GTi ST Class team which returns from 2009 after an amazing season that resulted in more wins than any other team.

About APR: APR LLC is an automotive engineering firm operating a 36,000 sq. ft. performance campus in Opelika, AL. APR was founded in 1997 with a corporate philosophy of Integrity, Excellence and Innovation. APR’s Sole Mission is to provide the highest quality and most highly engineered aftermarket performance products available for Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen vehicles. Learn more at www.goapr.com

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Thursday, January 7th, 2010

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Friday, December 4th, 2009

After an incredible sophomore year in the Grand Am Sports Car Challenge, APR Motorsport held a driver selection test at Barber Motorsports Park where Kevin Stadtlander distinguished himself with his talent and speed. Stadtlander has now signed to drive for APR Motorsport in the ST class in 2010. “I’m really excited to have Kevin join our team for next season,” remarked crew chief Jeff Mishtawy. “Kevin showed tremendous pace and ability behind the wheel of our GTI.”

Kevin Stadtlander, while a newcomer to the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, is no stranger to endurance sports car racing. With a resume filled with wins throughout the southeast, most recently at Daytona in a Porsche GT3 Cup Car, the veteran racer is looking forward to his first full season of professional racing. “The test could not have gone better and I felt I really clicked with the team right away, which is crucial to endurance racing. The APR crew is absolutely incredible. I can’t wait to get out there and fight for the ST championship with APR Motorsport,” Stadtlander said after the Barber test.

For now Dr. Stadtlander, who works as an interventional radiologist in South Florida performing minimally invasive surgical and endovascular procedures, is counting the days to Daytona where he will be paired with 2009 Koni Challenge rookie of the year Josh Hurley. The two drivers will share the #181 APR Motorsport GTI for the entire Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season.

About APR: APR LLC is an automotive engineering firm operating a 36,000 sq. ft. performance campus in Opelika, AL. APR was founded in 1997 with a corporate philosophy of Integrity, Excellence and Innovation. APR’s Sole Mission is to provide the highest quality and most highly engineered aftermarket performance products available for Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen vehicles. Learn more at www.goapr.com

About Kevin Stadtlander: Pittsburgh, PA native Kevin Stadtlander is an experienced club racer with multiple wins and podiums in SCCA, PBOC, and NASA racing events. Combining his love for motorsports with his occupation as a physician, Kevin has been a member of the International Council of Motorsport Science and is currently the Medical Chief for Florida Region SCCA.

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Monday, October 26th, 2009

Opelika, AL: After a record setting sophomore year, APR Motorsport has officially announced plans to compete in both categories of the 2010 KONI Sports Car Challenge. The team’s highlights from 2009 are stunning; 4 race wins, 5 pole positions, 38% of all 2009 laps were led by an APR VW, and on 3 occasions the team qualified 1-2. The launch was held Saturday at APR’s Performance Campus in front of a huge crowd consisting of international press, sponsors and enthusiasts.

Dubbed by journalists as “The most exciting Audi related announcement to hit the North American racing scene in recent years”, the staff and owners of APR Motorsport pulled back the cover on its 2010 GS class entry, the all new Audi S4. Power from a potent 3.0L Supercharged V6 will be put to the ground using Audi’s patented Quattro technology, all of which the APR engineering staff is diligently refining for competition. “This is a landmark for our company and Audi enthusiasts alike. The GS Class is the next logical step for the team and our relationship with Audi made the progression a simple choice. Even in factory trim, the balance, handling and power of the new S4 are miles ahead of the previous generations of this car” said Stephen Hooks, President and Founder of APR LLC. The team is already well into the development process and the results are encouraging. Jeff Mishtawy, Director of Motorsport for APR, said, “We tested the new S4 at Barber Motorsports Park a couple of weeks ago and the drivers were quite positive, especially for this early in the development cycle.” The team is working with Grand-Am technical staff to finalize the set of rules for the car and the initial specifications are anticipated to be finished shortly. Several of the team’s technical partners from BBS, Status, IAV and Motul were on hand to develop equipment for the all new car.

Also launched at the event was the team’s new ST entry, the 2010 VW GTI. The 6th generation GTI represents evolution rather than revolution. The APR Motorsport fully expects to hit the track at Daytona picking up where the team left off in 2009. Although the GTI MK6 is drastically different in appearance, the team has been able to directly apply the chassis and brake tuning learned in the past two years of competition to the new entry. APR’s engineers have been working on tuning of the powertrain for the past 4 months and have made some significant progress. The biggest update to the GTI will be the all new engine in which VW has greatly improved its reliability while maintaining excellent power output. “The transition to the new chassis should be seamless. The team has been busy tweaking the car for a while now and with the data we have been able to gather from 2009 we will be competitive very quickly” said APR Motorsport driver Ian Baas.

To match the stunning livery applied to the exterior of each car, the team vows that the technological growth will be every bit as impressive. The entire staff of APR and APR Motorsport are already designing the equipment and components necessary to take the team to victory lane in 2010.

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Saturday, September 19th, 2009

Dion von Moltke passed teammate Josh Hurley with two laps remaining in the Street Tuner (ST) portion of the race to earn his and co-driver Mike Sweeney’s third victory of the 2009 season. Von Moltke and Sweeney drove the No. 181 APR/BBS Volkswagen GTI for APR Motorsport.

The battle for the lead was between the APR cars for much of the event, before Randy Pobst in the No. 74 Skunk2/034 Motorsport Honda Civic Si and Tom Long in the No. 145 Mazda/Freedom Autosport Mazda MX-5 joined during the final half hour. The four drivers went four-wide at one point and Pobst and Long staged a war for the third position, reminiscent of their battle for the lead in March at Homestead.

However, no team other than APR led a lap in ST. Polesitter Ian Baas led the opening 20 laps in the No. 171 APR/Gunther VW Volkswagen GTI before pitting and giving Sweeney the lead for two laps. Hurley picked up the lead on Lap 23 and held on until von Moltke made the winning pass, which came in near pitch-black conditions.

“I’m not too sure what happened, actually,” von Moltke said. “Tom Long got a little crazy on the last few laps and he and Josh had a big contact. For a long time, Josh kept in front of me. I knew that I was a little quicker the whole race but I could never get it done because it’s so hard to overtake. He slowed up just enough to let me by. It was a clean move and it ended up being great. The night is my favorite time to race. I absolutely love it. It’s kind of my deal. I guess it’s kind of bittersweet but I’m really glad to get on P1 with Mike Sweeney. He drove an excellent first stint.”

The second-place run for Baas and Hurley - who is on the verge of winning Rookie of the Year honors in KONI Challenge competition - vaulted the duo into second in the championship standings, now 27 points (286-259) behind leader Christian Miller, who co-drove with Pobst.

“We don’t like to see races end this way but either way, both of the cars came home and that’s what matters,” said Miller, who only needs a 26th-place finish at VIR to wrap up an ST championship. “Both drivers are safe. It does do us good for points. I want my drivers safe and happy.”

Added Baas: “We finished in front of the people we’re fighting for the championship right now and I’m really excited for having a one-two for APR.”

Subaru Road Racing Team co-drivers Kristian Skavnes and Andrew Aquilante dropped to third in points with a seventh-place finish in the No. 111 Subaru of America Subaru Legacy. The two are 31 points behind Miller after entering the race 25 points behind.

Fourth were Long and Derek Whitis, while Ford Racing Mustang Challenge regulars Rick Edwards and Ted Anthony Jr. finished fifth in the No. 76 Skunk2/Hondata Honda Civic Si.

The final race of the 2009 season is the Bosch Engineering Octoberfest, a four-hour combined race Sunday, Oct. 4, at the 3.27-mile Virginia International Raceway.

Catch it on TV Oct 3, 1:30 PM ET on SPEED!

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Monday, September 14th, 2009

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Monday, August 17th, 2009

Three Rivers Quebec- “Simply Awesome” a simple quote but a great way to surmise the latest weekend with APR Motorsport. The team continued its dominance of the Koni ST field with car 171 taking a strong 2nd place and car 181 solidly in the top ten at 7th.

The team arrived in great spirits looking forward to the 40th edition of the longest running street race in North America. If one has not attended this event, make plans to attend one year. The crowds are huge and their passion for the sport is contagious. Grand AM gave the team a great paddock location with which they could roll out APR Motorsport’s legendary fan friendly experience.

The practice sessions went according to plan with different setups and drivers learning the changes in the track. All practice sessions saw both cars run solidly in the top ten. As the weekend wore on, APR MS knew they were in a good position heading into qualifying. The highlight of all the practice sessions was the first night practice in Three Rivers history. There is nothing like race cars at night!!

Qualifying saw Dion von Moltke in car 181 and Josh Hurly in car 171. The team was looking forward to turning the cars loose in the early morning Saturday session. Like always getting in the fast laps in these sessions requires the drivers to really work their magic. Right out of the box car 171 was up the charts with Josh ultimately turning in a time that looked like the car’s fifth straight pole. Then at the very end of the session the MX5 just pipped our time resulting in car 171 qualifying in a strong 2nd spot. Josh also had to deal with a small engine fire that caused lots of excitement but ultimately did not deter him. Car 181 stormed through its session turning in a time that would put it 4th on the grid. All in all the team was very content to have two cars solidly in the top five. As many know, starting at the front of a race at Three Rivers is absolutely vital and the team was able to deliver.

The competition in the race was intense with many teams trying unorthodox race strategies to gain an advantage. Both APR Motorsport cars ran similar strategies however, due to a rules limitation, 171 was forced to pit 15 minutes after car 181. Both Hurley and von Moltke were able to keep their qualifying positions throughout their stints. Once the entire field had completed pitstops, the APR Motorsport GTI’s (now being driven by Ian Baas in 171 and Mike Sweeney in 181) found themselves still in 2nd and 4th position.

Baas and Sweeney both pushed their brakes as far as possible in order to make up ground on the competition. Baas was able to continue to the checker flag in 2nd while Sweeney finished 7th after losing a couple positions during an attempt a pass at the end of the back straight. Sweeney was on his way to back to podium contention when a transmission failure prevented the 181 GTI from shifting. Sweeney was forced to run the final 9 laps stuck in 3rd gear. Amazingly, Sweeney only lost 1 second per lap from his average and was still catching competitors whose cars had no brakes left.

After the GP3R event, 171 is 3rd in team points and closed some of the gap to the championship lead. In 181, the solid finish kept Mike Sweeney in 2nd place in the Mesco Rookie standings trailing behind leader, and APR Motorsport teammate Josh Hurley.

APR Motorsport competes next at Miller Motorsport Park, September 17 and 18. Keep up with the team at www.goapr.com/race . Live timing and scoring can be found at www.grand-am.com

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