Alta Velocita Racing (AVR) driver/team owner Jerome Mee announced today he will join TUDOR United SportsCar Championship team Performance Tech Motorsports in the prestigious Petit Le Mans endurance race Oct. 2-4 at Road Atlanta.
Mee, from Houston, will team with David Ostella and James French in Performance Tech’s driver lineup in the No. 38 Dash Neighborhood/ Phillips 66 Prototype Challenge (PC) car for the 10-hour endurance event Saturday, Oct. 4 at Road Atlanta’s 2.54-mile, 12-turn circuit.
As a current competitor in the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda IMSA development series, Mee has decided to continue his move up the sports car ladder in 2015 with Performance Tech.
He will compete with the Florida-based team in the four Tequila Patròn North American Endurance Cup events in 2014: the Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen and Petit Le Mans.
“I basically raced as an independent the last three years, and this is my first real exposure to a pro team,” Mee said. “It’s unbelievable the amount of progress I feel like I can have with this team because they are incredibly professional.
“(Performance Tech Team Principal) Brent O’Neill is about as straightforward of a guy as you are going to get. JJ (Jonatan Jorge), the coach, I feel I really hit it off with him, and I have an understanding of what his expectations are and how we communicated went really well (in testing). I don’t think I could get in a better situation than with Performance Tech to step up to this next level.”
During the past few months, Mee has tested with Performance Tech at Watkins Glen International, Palm Beach Raceway and Road Atlanta.
“Watkins Glen was the first time I sat in a PC car,” said Mee, who is 6-foot-4. “I had leg room, I could turn the wheel, and a lot of different things felt better. I knew right away this was going to be a nice fit. When I tested at Palm Beach Raceway I was a little nervous from the standpoint of not knowing what it would be like with a more powerful car and how it would translate to turning, handling and the lateral G-load. I wasn’t overwhelmed. It’s a fast and powerful car, but it was a lot of fun, which I was encouraged by.
“At my test in Road Atlanta, once I got used to the throttle application and speed, I continued to knock off half-seconds on my lap times. Brent believes I have the consistency, quickness and the ability to drive clean. Hopefully that’s what I’ll bring to the team.”
O’Neill is looking forward to watching Mee’s progress behind the wheel of a PC car at Road Atlanta and into the 2015 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season.
“It’ll be exciting having Jerry around,” O’Neill said. “On behalf of all the team, I just want to say welcome to the family. Jerry is a great guy. He did really well in the car when we tested with him. We look forward to continuity in the car for the endurance championship next year. It’ll be a good start for Jerry to run with us at Petit to get his feet wet in the TUDOR series.”
When Mee is not testing with Performance Tech next season, he will test independently in a Wolf car, similar to a PC car.
“I’ll lease a Wolf car, which is also a two-seater body style,” Mee said. “It’s not as powerful as a PC car, but it’s more powerful than a Lites car. It has the same aero as a PC car, so it makes more sense for me to test it.
“I’ll still test with Performance Tech, but this will allow me to test as frequently as I would like to become more competitive.”