After kicking off 2010 with an exciting Rolex 24 win, Action Express Racing traveled to Homestead-Miami Speedway for Round 2 of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 season ready to defend their championship lead.
Despite weeks of careful preparation and planning, a repeat victory was not in the cards, as an overheating problem took the #9 Porsche Riley back to the garage for repairs and eventually retired it from the race.
The team made the most of limited practice time to fine tune the car’s performance, working from the successful set up of 2009 when Joao Barbosa drove the Brumos #59 Porsche Riley to a Homestead season finale victory. Terry Borcheller qualified Action Express in 9th position and was the starting driver for the race. Keeping a steady pace, Borcheller steadily worked to gain ground in a race that ran completely under green other than one full course caution in the closing minutes. He drove a strong first stint, leading the race briefly before coming in for a driver change and handing the car over to Barbosa for the finish.
Barbosa delivered his usual fine performance, setting the fastest lap of the race just before the overheating problem brought him back in for an unscheduled pit stop. A failure of the heat exchanger took the car back to the garage for replacement of the part. Although the crew worked diligently to make the repair and got the #9 back on track, damage had already been done and the car was later forced to retire from the race. Completing just 61 of 129 laps, the #9 ended the day with a 15th place finish.
Joao Barbosa had praise for his team despite the obvious disappointment, saying, “It is just such a shame – Action Express started this race so well. We rolled off the truck with a really strong car, and the team did a great job getting it set up for us. It was really fast and we were gaining ground steadily. I had the fastest lap in the race and we had a very good shot at getting on the podium, if not winning this race. I was feeling good and was really comfortable in the car and ready to take it to the finish – it is just too bad that the engine didn’t cooperate with us this time. All I can say is that I am glad this one is out of the way and I am looking ahead to the next race at Barber. I know we are going to be really competitive for that race as well as the rest of the year. We will have some points to make up but hopefully, we have already had all the bad luck we will see and will be due for some good luck again.”
Following the Homestead race, Action Express is in 4th place in Rolex Series Team Point Standings with only two points separating them and the 2nd place team. They remain in first place in the Team Performance Index and Team Laps led for the season, and Joao Barbosa tops the standings for the Driver Performance Index.
Action Express will be back in action as they travel to Birmingham, AL and scenic Barber Motorsports Park for Round 3 of the Rolex Series season.
That 2.75 hour race will be held on April 10, 2010 beginning at 12:30 PM.
Source : Action Express Racing