For 21-year old Race Driver Kyle Marcelli, 2011 proved to be a successful year at the office. Just four weeks ago the 14th Annual Petit Le Mans marked the completion of the 2011 American Le Mans Series Presented by Tequila Patron.
2011 saw Marcelli drive full-time for Intersport Racing in the American Le Mans Series alongside a few different co-drivers including Tomy Drissi, Chapman Ducote, David Ducote, Rusty Mitchell and Luca Moro. Marcelli also drove part-time alongside Chapman Ducote in the European Le Mans Series for Monaco based JMB Racing. With the race season now to a close, Marcelli added a number of new professional statistics into his already impressive resume including; three pole positions, three class wins, eight podiums positions and two new lap records.
The 2011 American Le Mans Series kicked off at Sebring International Raceway. It wasn’t the start Marcelli had hoped for as the #89 suffered engine over heating issues and forced an early retirement awarding zero points.
After a two-month break, the series was back in action for The Grand Prix of long Beach. Intersport Racing was confident in Marcelli and Drissi to bounce back. Doing just that, Marcelli qualified the car P2. After exchanging the lead multiple times throughout the one hour and forty minute race with the #06 Core Autosport entry, Marcelli and Drissi finished second place earning valuable championship points.
“After Sebring’s upset it was important for us to show well in Long Beach. I knew we had the pace to do so, it was just a matter of everyone doing their job.” Said Marcelli
A phone call from Race Driver/Entrepreneur Chapman Ducote was all it took to get Marcelli on a plane across the Atlantic for the fourth round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup at the famed Imola Racing Circuit. Making his European debut, Marcelli had been brought on to co-drive with Chapman Ducote and Frenchman Nicholas Marroc for Monaco’s JMB Racing in their #99 LMPC entry. Having little time to get acquainted to a new car, new team and new circuit, Marcelli showed like a true professional getting up to speed. Impressively, the six-hour endurance race ran green flag from start to finish. Marcelli was opted by the team to both start and finish the race. With Ducote and Marroc driving successful stints and handing the wheel to Marcelli in P2. Marcelli was able to push for the last hour and re-take the lead earning the win. The victory marked JMB Racing’s first LMS win as well as the first LMS win for Marcelli, Ducote and Marroc.
“It was a weekend of new for both myself and Chapman. I was very impressed with the series and the atmosphere of auto-racing in Europe. To win at Imola was certainly very special and a victory I will always remember.” Stated Marcelli
Next on the calendar was the “Bull Ring”, a 1.5-mile circuit in Lakeville, Connecticut known as Lime Rock Park. After struggles at the start, of the race the duo of Drissi and Marcelli raced to another podium finishing P3.
Post Lime Rock Park was the only Canadian stop on the schedule. Mosport International Raceway, located in Bomanville, Ontario. This was the fourth round of the American Le Mans Series and the home grand prix for Barrie, Ontario native Kyle Marcelli. With a crowd of 80,000.00 plus attendees, Marcelli thrilled the local fans as he qualified the #89 Intersport Racing LMPC on pole position, setting a new lap record of a 1:11.3 beating previous record holder, Mexico’s Luis Diaz. Many eager friends, family and local sponsors were gathered to cheer on Marcelli. Unfortunately, as countless fans expected to see Marcelli in victory lane, the Mosport Grand Prix would end in sadness for the local hero as a spinning GTC car made contact with the rear of the #89 causing suspension damage and ending the much anticipated day for the talented Canadian. Marcelli did however set the fast lap of the race.
With frustration from the Grand Prix of Mosport, Marcelli was eager to win in Ohio. Upon swapping fast lap after fast lap with Core Autosports Gunnar Jeanette, it was Jeanette that topped the charts in qualifying with Marcelli a close second.
On race day, overcast skies ahead gave teams and drivers an unknown going into the two hour forty-five minute race. Marcelli was back in the car with LA’s Tomy Drissi. Drissi had the driving duties for the first stint then handed things over to Marcelli. Marcelli set fast lap of the race and took the lead with about one hour to go. However, following the final round of pit stops, Marcelli found himself in second behind the Intersport Racing sister car of Jon Field. With about 30 minutes remaining, the clouds had opened up causing heavy rain. This created excitement within the fans but a race of survival for the drivers. Veteran driver Jon Field and rising talent Kyle Marcelli exchanged the lead multiple times per lap. The final pass was made by Marcelli around the outside of Field in turn one to take the lead, this secured the victory as the lap following officials threw the red flag due to very pour visibility and large volumes of standing water. Shortly thereafter, officials waved the checkered. Earning a one-two finish for Intersport Racing was the #89 driven by Drissi and Marcelli and the #37 driven by father and son pairing of Jon and Clint Field.
“This was a special win not only for Tomy and I but for Intersport Racing as well. Everyone played their role perfect and the result showed. I had so much fun racing wheel to wheel with Jon, his experience made me a better racer.” Said Marcelli
Teams travelled to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin to one of America’s premier circuits, the 4.5-mile, 17-turn, Road America. Marcelli had been employed by Performance Tech Motorsports as a one-off to drive alongside Anthony Nicolosi and Jarrett Boon in the #18 LMPC. After overcoming some gremlins in practice, Marcelli was elected to qualify the car. Putting a smile on the staff at Performance Tech, Marcelli sat atop the time charts until just the final lap when Butch Lightzinger and Gunnar Jeanette put in a lap time only hundredths better. This moved Marcelli back to P3, missing the pole by only 0.012 (twelve hundredths), this marked the closest qualification in LMPC history.
Anthony Nicolosi had started the race, unfortunately after a promising start it was a small mistake on the entrance to the carousel that put him into the gravel trap and down 2 laps. Although the team worked hard to get laps back, it wasn’t meant to be. A weekend that started out with such promise sadly ended in frustration.
Following Road America, Marcelli was back at home with Intersport Racing for the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix. Taking place on the streets of downtown Baltimore next to the inner harbor, it was the site of world-class wheel-to-wheel auto racing. It was a sold out crowd of over 140,000 fans. For Kyle Marcelli and Tomy Drissi it marked their second victory in three races.
“I really enjoy temporary street circuits. As a driver, it’s a rush to get everything out of the car and use every inch of the road. Tomy did a wonderful in his stint and the team executed perfect pit stops. Our pace was very close to the pace of the LMP1, I thought for a while we had a shot at the overall win.” Said Kyle Marcelli
September was a near full month for Marcelli. It was another flight across the Atlantic, this time to London, England for the fifth round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup held at Silverstone Circuit. Marcelli was back in the #99 JMB Racing LMPC with co-pilot Chapman Ducote and this time Luca Moro as the third driver. Silverstone is a world-class auto-racing facility home to the Formula One British Grand Prix.
Silverstone recently had additions made to the first sector of the circuit as well as a new pit-lane facility. Qualifying proved to be exciting. Marcelli was behind the wheel and conditions were cold and overcast, typical for England. For GT qualifying the circuit was dry, however minutes before prototype qualifying it began to rain. Many thought that maybe a GT car would sit on the over pole position for the race. Luckily, with about 10 minutes remaining the rain had stopped. Prototype teams quickly pulled out the slick racing tires from the tire warmers, bolted them on and sent drivers onto the track to get a lap in. Impressively, Marcelli with little experience on the circuit qualified P2. For the six-hour race, Luca Moro was behind the wheel for the first stint, then Chapman Ducote, then Kyle Marcelli to finish. The race was drama filled yet featured only one full-course caution. An early mistake in the pits made for a long race of plying catch up. Although Marcelli had been matching the pace of the leader, time had run out and the #99 JBM Racing entry finished third.
The penultimate round of the American Le Mans Series was held in beautiful Monterey, California at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Intersport Racing continued to be the team to beat as Canada’s Kyle Marcelli earned his second LMPC pole position of 2011. Co-driving with the brother duo of Chapman and David Ducote, the six-hours of Laguna Seca would prove to be a race of attrition. The 40-car field featuring some of the world’s best drivers and most advanced machinery raced bumper to bumper until the checkered flag. The #89 Intersport Racing entry of Marcelli, Ducote, Ducote would earn another podium, finishing a respected P3 this marked two international podiums in only six days.
The 14th Annual Petit Le Mans attested to be an emotional weekend for Kyle Marcelli and the Intersport Racing family. A maximum grid allowance of 53 cars meant cutbacks to the LMPC and GTC classes. This required Intersport Racing to enter only the #89. However, due to class cutbacks the ALMS allowed teams to enter a four-driver line-up for the 10-hour race. With Marcelli initially out of a drive, this allowed the team to put Kyle back in the car with the Ducote brothers and Tomy Drissi. After being at or near the top of the timing charts through each free practice, it was the final practice before qualifying when things took a dramatic turn for the worst. David Ducote was involved in a serious collision with the Robertson Racing GT-40 at the exit of the very high-speed turn one. The accident left the #89 LMPC in pieces and airlifted driver David Ducote to the hospital. After being unconscious, David thankfully left the hospital injury free. In the meantime, the crew raced the clock for the next three hours to re-build the car for qualifying. Team driver Kyle Marcelli was strapped in to the repaired car and shined as he remarkably qualified on pole position with a 1:14.848, this also proved to be a new qualifying lap record beating previous record holder Luis Diaz.
“Mentally I took Kyle Marcelli out of the car and put Jon Field in.” Said Kyle Marcelli. “At the time we were still all unsure of David’s condition. I had a job to do and I was ready to do whatever it took. The team worked so hard to get the car on track for qualifying, I’m so happy to have earned them the pole position.” Said Marcelli.
The Petit Le Mans, a 10hour of 1000km race is said to be one of the most challenging events for both man and machine. As Marcelli and co-drivers Tomy Drissi and Chapman Ducote arrived to the track early Saturday morning, the team informed them of the news. They had been moved to the back of the grid due to an unfortunate protest against Marcelli’s qualifying efforts. As it turned out, switching to the back-up #37 tub was not an issue providing you use the major components from the #89. Although the #89 had passed post-qualifying technical inspection, many were questioning Marcelli’s incredible performance in qualifying. Sadly, some thought the wrong restrictor was in the car. However, this information proved to be false. Nevertheless, rules are rules and that meant Marcelli had his work cut out at the start of the race. With the drop of the green flag, Marcelli went from last to first in only eleven laps! After shuffling through the driver line-up over the next several hours, the #89 remained at or near the top of the charts. Marcelli was back in for the final two-hours of the race where he led for majority of that time. It was with only seven laps remaining that a full-course caution occurred which bunched up the field. With only three laps to go, the race went green. Marcelli was third in line on the restart with two LMP2′s behind him then the second place LMPC of Ryan Lewis. After holding them off for the first lap, the LMP2′s would soon find a way by Marcelli into turn six. This gave Lewis a good run and allowed him to draft by Marcelli. With only one lap remaining, the crowd was on their toes. Lewis drove defensive and Marcelli tried to find a way by, unfortunately the two crossed the finish line nosed to tail separated by only 0.172. The #89 of Marcelli, Ducote and Drissi would earn a well-respected second place.
“It was an emotional weekend for everyone under the Intersport banner. It was heartbreaking to loose the lead on the last lap but I think we accomplished a lot this weekend. It’s been a strong second half of the season for us, it’s just a shame we had a rough start to the season otherwise I think we would have been racing for more than just the win but the championship as well.” Said Marcelli.
Having earned three pole positions, three class wins, eight podiums positions and two new lap records it was two uncontrollable DNF’s at Sebring and Mosport which led Marcelli to finish third in the 2011 ALMS LMPC drivers championship. Marcelli was also awarded with the Michelin “Driver of the Year” which sends him to Mexico for a Baja experience.
While the dust still settles on an exciting year of world-class sports car racing, preparations for 2012 are already underway. For 21-year old Kyle Marcelli, he hopes to back full-time in American Le Mans Series and will continue to be working hard over the next several weeks in discussion with a few manufactures eager to earn a drive.
Kyle would personally like to thank each of his corporate partners from 2011 including: Lafarge (Turbo Plus), DynaPep Energy, Barrie Trim & Mouldings, Simcoe Building Centre, Thermo Seal Insulation Systems, Braille Battery, Merchant Services Ltd, Sailun Tires, Spherion Staffing Solutions, 104.1 The Dock, Leaf Racewear and Intersport Racing.
Source : Kyle Marcelli