Alder Shows Skills As Driver, Owner In Lites 2

Subtitle:BAR 1 Motorsports Fields Teams In Prototype Challenge, Prototype Lites

Reigning Lites 2 Champion Alder Brings More Than Driving to Series

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 23, 2015) – Two-time defending Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda Lites 2 class champion Brian Alder brings more than driving skill and speed to the racetrack.

Alder, a resident of Plain City, Ohio, puts on his driver helmet while competing in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Development Series. But he also wears a hat as a team owner at the track, running the BAR 1 Motorsports team that fields his Prototype Lites entry and a car in the Prototype Challenge class of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

“I think the only way to make it work is to have the right people working for you, and that’s what we have here,” Alder said. “We have great mechanics, engineers and a team manager. Those guys keep everything under control and really run the whole operation at the track, which allows me to focus more on driving and dealing more directly with our PC drivers.”

Martin Plowman won the pole for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida last week in the No. 16 BAR 1 Motorsports Prototype Challenge car he shared with Marc Drumwright, Tomy Drissi and David Cheng.

Alder also enjoyed success last week at Sebring in the driver’s seat, winning Round 2 in the Lites 2 class and setting a race lap record en route to the top step of the podium.

As a driver, Alder finds the expanding Lites 2 class to be a perfect fit for his team’s short- and long-term goals.

“In 2013, IMSA announced Lites 2 would be the 2011-spec car, which is what we had, so we decided to go out and have some fun,” Alder said. “In 2013, we raced at Mid-Ohio and Road Atlanta and then from there we just fell in love with the class. It was a smaller class, but it’s grown this year, and I think we’ll see a couple of more guys later this year.

“For me, there’s not much difference between the Lites 1 and Lites 2 car, so you gain the prototype experience in either class. I’m not out there trying to prove myself as a driver or move up to PC, so it makes sense for me to stay in Lites 2 and help the series as much as we can.”

The stress of balancing driver and team owner responsibilities is another factor in Alder’s decision to continue racing in Lites 2.

“To be honest, coming into race weekends you meet your max level of stress mentally, and this actually allows it to be fun for me on the weekends, as well,” Alder said. “It allows the crew guys to do their job, and it makes the weekends more enjoyable. Our sponsors get the media they deserve, and we don’t get lost in the shuffle of 20-25 cars.”

With support from sponsor Top 1 Oil, Alder would like to build an intra-team ladder system between the two classes in which BAR 1 competes.

“In the future, we would like to add on to our Lites program,” Alder said, “and in a perfect world down the road we would like to move someone from a Lites car to a PC car. It’s just a matter of finding the driver that wants to come onboard with us. It wouldn’t be a huge undertaking for us with the experience we have. It’s something we will push more in the future. For now, our main focus is the PC cars, and we don’t want to take away from that.”

Top 1 Oil is continuing its primary sponsorship on Alder’s Lites 2 machine for the 2015 season and expanding its support to BAR 1 Motorsports’ PC program as an associate sponsor.

“Top 1 Oil is trying to move their product to America, and we are trying to help them as much as we can,” Alder said. “It’s similar to driver development, where they can get a taste of sponsorship at an IMSA Lites level, and then we can take it up a step with our PC program.”

Alder drove in BAR 1 Motorsports’ PC car for the first time at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January. Climbing to TUDOR Championship competition confirmed his beliefs on the importance of the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda series.

“It’s a big step, but this class definitely prepares you for that,” Alder said. “It gives you the right tools to move forward. The cornering speeds are higher in a Lites car, but there’s a lot more power in a PC car. As far as a feeder series, there’s no better feeder series than Prototype Lites.”

Rounds 3 and 4 of Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda action will take place April 9-12 during the Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, Louisiana, located 15 minutes from the historic French Quarter in New Orleans.