Elkhart Lake, Road America 20th August 2006

Following yesterdays qualifying for the Speed World GT Challenge, the two Aston Martin DBRS9s of Autosport Designs Racing acquitted themselves very well during the race.

Johnny Mowlem, who slotted the 44 car into ninth spot on the grid was, by the end of the first lap sitting in seventh place. Within the next four laps he had made his way up to fifth and was pushing for fourth when a full course yellow was called following a heavy accident involving two Vipers on the back straight. After four laps under yellow the racing started in earnest and a great battle ensued for fourth place between Johnny and the second AXA Porsche. This battle was won by Johnny’s 44 car and it seemed that fourth place was his, but the battle with the Porsche had taken a toll on Johnny’s tires and he was unable to hold off the Viper of Michael McCann and finished the race in a very strong fifth position. Johnny said “a great race, and as I said yesterday, with a few more days testing, we should be in a position where we can start challenging for the lead.”

Tom Papadopoulos, car 43 had a very good race as he stormed from twenty seventh on the grid through to fifteenth, this alone would have ensured that Tom got the Hard Charger Award (most place gained during a race) and he was catching the next group of three cars at a rate that could have given him a twelfth place finish, but unfortunately a puncture meant that Tom would spend the remaining four laps of the race as a spectator out at Canada Corner! Tom said after the race “As a team principal I am very pleased with the progress we have made with the cars over the past two months and as a driver, I believe that we will see the true potential of these cars develop over the remaining three races of the season with both cars contending for top five finishes”.