Rennsport One Quietly Went About Making Noise In Daytona Debut-48817

Rennsport One kept a low profile prior to its debut in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge at Daytona International Speedway in the recent BMW Performance 200.

Diving into the deep end of the pool, the team made a huge splash, winning the Street Tuner class while having all three of the team’s Porsche Caymans running in the top five in the final 30 minutes.

Spencer Pumpelly and Luis Rodriguez went on to win in the No. 17 RS1 Porsche Cayman; Jon Miller and Adam Isman finished 10th after running low on fuel while leading in the No. 18 RS1 Porsche Cayman; and Connor Bloum and Greg Strelzoff placed 21st in the late-entered No. 19 Porsche Cayman.The team plans to return with all three cars for the next event of the schedule, at Sebring International Raceway on Friday, March 20 – where they should find it impossible to slip under the radar.RS1 Team Principal Justin Bellinzoni talked about the team’s debut at Daytona and expectations for Sebring and the remainder of the 2015 season.Could you believe it when you saw your cars running 1-2 in the closing minutes at Daytona in your team’s first professional race?“I thought it was a great problem – it was surreal. We’ve had a lot of test days under our belts prior to this season. We were a ‘quiet story’ – we really didn’t want to let the cat out of the bag in regards to what we were doing in case it didn’t materialize. We didn’t want to look like the boy who cried wolf, if you know what I mean. We worked on getting our lineups and cars strong, and from there, we wanted to show everybody what we could do. It was pretty amazing. It was a really good feeling, only to be followed by a bit of disappointment with the No. 18 car running out of gas with only a lap and change left. It was bittersweet, and it culminated with a huge bit of disappointment on my behalf for the drivers, because Adam Isman and Jon Miller really drove their tails off, and it was disappointing for them. Winning was fantastic, but I wish I could have enjoyed it more for my first victory. I thought it was going to be a one-two. I’m not being selfish in this matter, I’m just a little disappointed in the outcome of the second car because it was a simple and silly thing that happened to it.”Were you worried about the winning No. 17 car also running out of fuel?“No sir. Our calculations stated that we had four gallons left in both cars. Spencer said after the race that he felt a stumble in fuel in the No. 17 car. However, that was because of a lack of oil pressure going into the bus stop, and that was a momentary hiccup. With that being said – and him knowing that the other car just ran out of fuel – I think it played a larger role inside his head mentally, that’s why he ‘nursed it around’ to the finish. We pumped out three and a half gallons from that car after the race.”If that’s the case, what caused the No. 18 to run out of fuel?“We really beat ourselves up, because this was Murphy’s Law at its finest. (FOX Sports reporter) Brian Till came over to us with about two and a half laps left and asked how we felt. I told him ‘Pretty darn good,’ pointing to the leader board, and he said the boys on the Murillo Racing team were biting their nails because they were worried about running out. But our numbers were spot on all weekend, and we were showing four gallons remaining. So I told Brian we were feeling pretty good, and literally 30 seconds later, Adam called from the 18 car that he was running out of gas. He said he had a huge burp, so he was going to conserve mode and try to get it across the line so we could get points. To make a long story short, the 17 car pitted about a lap and a half ahead of the 18 car. Fuel consumption on both cars was very similar. However, the fuel stop on the 18 should have been a tap bit longer (than the 17) because it burned more fuel. When we analyzed the video, it was actually eight seconds short in the fuel fill. Missed data in, missed data out, he got a shortened fuel input, and we were basing on calculations on a full 18.9-gallon fuel tank. That’s why we were bummed about it – the drivers earned it, and Spencer knew he would have to battle himself back into the lead after Adam passed him. It was an awesome moment.”Obviously, no team orders, correct?“Yes, that is correct.”Sports car fans are very familiar with Spencer Pumpelly, but can you tell us a little about Luis Rodriguez Jr. – who won in his very first professional race?“Pretty remarkable. He’s a quiet story, out of Miami. He was once huge into karting – racing against Tristan Nunez, Dion von Moltke and some of the other names we see in the limelight now. However, his dad’s business was affected by the economic downturn around 2007, and his karting was parked while his counterparts progressed into sports cars. His dad was smart enough and hard-working enough to rebound to get the budget for Luis to continue. We’ve been working with him and doing a lot of testing and coaching. We knew that pairing him with somebody like Spencer – who is a heck of a wheelman but also a great mentor – would really help him. The entire team also gave him confidence, so it was pretty cool seeing all the pieces come together. Remember, we didn’t get back behind the wheel until last September. It’s been 110-percent for him since then. We’re happy with his accomplishments.”We didn’t see the No. 19 car on the entry list prior to the event. How did that come together?“Greg Strelzoff has known Adam (Isman) for awhile, and reached out to him during the race week. Adam linked us up, and we worked out a deal at the last minute (two days before the race), never meeting them before. However, we couldn’t build a car in time, so we called Autometrics and rented Adam’s old car (the former No. 04 Cayman). With 26 minutes left in the race, the leader board showed our team running 2-3-4, which was pretty unbelievable. John Vincent and The Little Speed Shop team (No. 89 TLSS BMW M3) helped us out a ton on our pit stops. We’re going to take them on for the rest of the season to crew the No. 19 car, since ST pit stops occur after the GS stops.”What can fans expect to see from Rennsport One at Sebring?“They’ll see three cars – and they will all be our cars. The No. 19 car will be one that we built, a new car. We’re hoping to see a good result. We do have a lot of test days under our belt at Sebring with the 17 car. Unfortunately, we won’t be under the radar. We’ve got to do our best to keep up the momentum and not let anybody down. Even on the social media front, we’ve had a lot of new followers and fans, because nobody knew who we were. We were a shop that built club Caymans, and all of a sudden we made our professional debut, and it was like ‘what’s going on?’ It’s gotten us a lot of good feedback, and new followers are eager to see how this plays out. Fans are invited to follow us on Twitter (@Rennsport_One), Facebook (RS1-The Race Development Center), and we post a lot of stuff on Instagram (Rennsport_One).”