Versteeg, Janco Close Season with Podium Finishes at Road Atlanta

BRASELTON, Ga. (Oct. 2, 2015) - Performance Tech Motorsports finished the 2015 Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda season with a podium celebration and engine woes at Road Atlanta.Austin Versteeg finished his rookie season in third place on the Lites 1 podium while teammate Joel Janco took home third in the L1 Masters class in Round 14 of the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Official Development Series.Alon's No. 00Robert Alon had a less-fortunate end to his season after loss of engine power cut his race short. Alon finished third Thursday in Round 13 and was in contention for third in the Drivers Championship at the start of Round 14.The field took to the 12-turn, 2.54-mile track under cold, rainy conditions for the final race of 2015. Water was sent flying as the green flag waved and the cars made their way to Turn 1. At the start, Alon jumped from fourth to third. Versteeg stayed put in fifth place as he battled for position with Clark Toppe of JDC Motorsports. Janco made the largest jump in position after starting 14th overall and skillfully maneuvering his way into seventh.Toppe's car went off course while Versteeg hunted him down for fourth place. Toppe fell to the back of the field, which opened the opportunity for Versteeg to chase a podium finish and for Alon to chase a second-place finish in the Drivers Championship.Alon's engine troubles stopped him on track nearly halfway through the race and brought out a full-course caution. His exit moved Versteeg into third place while Janco moved into sixth. On the restart, Versteeg held on to his spot while Janco lost one spot to fellow Masters competitor Stuart Rettie.Alon finished the season with nine top-five finishes and five podium finishes. He ended the season fifth in the standings with 164 points after 14 rounds."We were running up front," Alon said. "We had great pace, and then the engine went. There's really not much more to say. After Clark Toppe fell back, I knew I had P2 in the championship tied up if I stayed where I was. But the engine lost power, cut my race short, and that was it. Not the way I wanted to end the season."Versteeg Versteeg ended his season with 10 top-10 finishes and four podium finishes. He narrowly beat Alon for fourth place in the driver standings, ending his season with 166 points."We made improvements in the rain," Versteeg said. "Every track we go to is different in the rain. It's a different learning process, especially in the first year. It was really about experimenting. Those last five to six laps, things just really started to click, and I was learning to adapt to different situations."We got lucky with Clark Toppe going off in front of us. I feel for my teammate Rob. He was driving really well in the rain, but he had his engine blow up and that ended his race. But a podium is a podium; we kept it alive out there. It's a good way to finish off the season."Janco Janco collected nine podium finishes in the L1 Masters class. He finished his season second in the L1 Masters Championship."It was quite a race," Janco said. "It was very wet and challenging out there. It's awfully nice to be back on podium. Thank you to Jonatan Jorge and Performance Tech for coaching and giving me a good car. We'll be back next year."Team Principal Brent O'Neill was dismayed that Alon was unable to finish the last race but content that each of his drivers finished the race weekend with one podium finish. The team collected 14 podiums overall this season."A lot of teams have been put in a bad situation with the motors this year, another new one blew up," O'Neill said. "It's a shame for Robert. Austin did a good job; he struggled to find a little front grip. It's been a learning process for him this year, but he did an awesome job keeping it on track. Joel, once again, he was in the top 10 overall, and P3 in Masters was a great job.Keep up with Performance Tech Motorsports by following the team on Facebook and Twitter at @Perf_Tech. For more information on the team, visit performancetechmotorsports.com.