Leaving the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix Powered by Mazda at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with a damaged race car, BAR1 takes encouragement from the car’s early performance in the weekend. Though an incident in turn 6 left the team without an entry to the race, everyone on the team got involved to make the best of a tough situation.
“It was really unfortunate,” said team owner, Brian Alder. “During the 2nd half of the first session, Doug [Bielefield] had an off in turn 6,The car hit at just the wrong angle, damaging the tub to the point we would not be able to repair it safely in time for the race, resulting in us having to withdraw the 88 car from the event. Ryan Eversley impressed us from the beginning. In the few laps he had in the car he was quickly up to speed. The crew worked hard and the car was perfect heading into the weekend, we will rebound and be back strong for round 4 at Kansas.”
“The weekend wasn’t what we hoped for” added Ryan Eversley. “It was a great opportunity and I’m really thankful for Brian and Doug giving me the shot. Everyone on the team made me feel right at home and I was glad I was able to get up to speed quickly which is a testament to the team for giving me such a good car. I’d love to work with them again in the future and I know all the Children’s Tumor Foundation families would enjoy it again as well, They loved the PC car!”
Ryan Eversley is a 30 year old race car driver from Atlanta, Ga. Following in his fathers foot steps into the world of sports car racing he began turning wrenches as a teenager for various race teams while getting seat time in any race car he could. Ryan’s been competing in professional road racing since 2003 and has accumulated wins and podiums in the ALMS, Grand-Am, World Challenge series and recently was the 2013 runner up in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge drivers championship. When Ryan’s not on track he’s usually campaigning for the Children’s Tumor Foundation and Racing 4 Research in hopes of curing the disease Neurofibromatosis. Follow Ryan on Twitter at @RyanEversley
“Not the result we were looking for,” noted Doug Bielefield. “Though, I was proud to represent BAR1Motorsports this past weekend at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway in the Tudor U.S. Sportscar challenge. This was a great opportunity to work with this incredible team at BAR1 and drive with the talented Ryan Eversley. I thank Ryan for his participation and hope we can drive together again soon. I also was fortune enough to meet and represent the wonderful children of the Children’s Tumor Foundation and to learn about this disabling disease called Neurofibromatosis. Along with April Anderson and Jill Beck from CTF, the families and the children made this weekend a huge success. My heart is with these kids always!”
Doug Bielefeld has been a sports enthusiast for many years competing as a professional tennis player for many years to his current passion of road racing in the Tudor US Sports Car Challenge. He started just three years ago driving a GT3 Cup in the Porsche Club of American along with NASA. He won multiple podiums and two consecutive National Titles.
Next up for BAR1 will be the Kansas Speedway, June 6-7. The team will compete with the No. 88 PC Oreca FL09 and also be participating in the Cooper Tire IMSA Lites series, where Brian Alder is defending Champion in the Lites 2 category, driving the No. 8 TOP 1 Oil car. Brian currently leads the championship with two wins at Sebring.