Stevenson Motorsports Targets Continued Momentum at Road America

From the shortest track on the 2016 schedule at Lime Rock, to the longest on the schedule this weekend at Road America, Stevenson Motorsports arrives in Wisconsin for Round 8 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. At 4.048-miles with 14 turns and varied elevations, Road America is one of the toughest road courses on the IMSA schedule.

RACE LENGTH: 2 hours, 40 minutes

Sunday – Race: 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM local (4:00 PM – 7:00 PM ET) LIVE on FS1

PODIUM MOMENTUM: Stevenson Motorsports is carrying good momentum into Road America after delivering the team’s best finish of the year at Lime Rock Park two weeks ago with a double top-five result. It was the second consecutive runner-up finish for Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell in the No. 6 Audi R8 LMS after also finishing second at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Teammates Lawson Aschenbach and Matt Bell were fifth in No. 9 Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS which was the duo’s best finish of the year. Davis has also put the No. 6 Audi on the front row with a second place qualifying effort in the past two races.

STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS’ ROAD AMERICA HIGHLIGHTS:

• Stevenson Motorsports won in its very first race at Road America. Matt Bell and John Edwards led 27 laps en route to the win in Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge competition. It was the first-ever win for the Camaro GS.R. 
• Since that first win, the team has claimed a pole position (Davis, 2015) and a runner-up finish (2014, Davis & Liddell).

ROAD AMERICA TESTING: Stevenson Motorsports hopes to roll off the truck with two strong Audi machines after having tested at the facility several weeks ago. Road America is a unique circuit in that it requires a really good car in braking, handling and top speed. 

Team Strategist Mike Johnson Talks Testing at Road America: “The Audi is maybe the best in the field at braking, and it definitely has the downforce for the big corners. Top speed unfortunately has not been our strong suit all year, so it could pose a challenge for us. Right now, the GTD field is so tight that track position is becoming more and more important since passing is so difficult with great drivers, ABS and downforce. Our plan at Road America will be to have fast cars and hopefully get them out front so they can stay there.”

TEAM STRATEGIST MIKE JOHNSON RECAPS 2016 SEASON TO DATE: “I know it’s hard to see but we have had strong runs at every race this year, with both cars. They have led laps at almost every event, and have been consistent front runners for pole. We just haven’t finished races the way we used to and that has probably been the most frustrating thing of all. DNF’s are very rare for the Stevenson team, and we have had three already this year, plus two serious mechanicals at Daytona. Throw in a few flat tires at the Glen, and the frustration adds up. However, coming off two podiums with the No. 6 car and now only being two points out of third in the championship has definitely boosted our confidence going into the final four rounds of the Championship, but to be honest, I don’t think this team will really hit its stride until we win a race and we need to get the No. 9 where it belongs on the podium as well.”

STEVENSON DRIVER HIGHLIGHTS AT ROAD AMERICA:

• Both Lawson Aschenbach and Matt Bell have made NASCAR Xfinity starts at Road America both for  Team Owner Johnny Davis. Aschenbach started 23rd and finished 18th in last year’s event. Matt Bell started 42nd and finished 34th in 2012.
• In addition to his starts with Stevenson Motorsports, Robin Liddell made four starts at Road America in ALMS competition with a best finish of third in 2007 driving a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR for Tafel Racing.
• Matt Bell teamed with John Edwards to deliver the very first win for the Camaro GS.R in 2011 with Stevenson Motorsports.
• Prior to joining Stevenson Motorsports at Road America, Andrew Davis made four starts at the track – two with Brumos Racing, one with Kelly-Moss Motorsports, and one with Dempsey Racing.
• Lawson Aschenbach has made four starts at Road America in Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge competition, but the 2016 race sees him make his first WeatherTech start at the road course. He won the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge event in 2014 driving for CKS Autosport.

ASCHENBACH WINS AT MID-OHIO IN WORLD CHALLENGE: Lawson Aschenbach hasn’t taken any time off since the Lime Rock round. He races a Camaro in the GTS category of Pirelli World Challenge competition and stormed to victory at Mid-Ohio last weekend.

DRIVER QUOTES:

Andrew Davis, No. 6 Audi R8 LMS: “Our momentum is great moving into Road America. We have even more confidence now after Lime Rock. We’re getting the hang of the car and understand what we need to do to run up front. Road America is another great circuit. I just commend the IMSA Series for the schedule they’ve given us. We’re very excited. We had a nice successful test there a few months back so we’ll take that knowledge and what we’ve learned in all the races that we’ve run in between. I think we’ll be pretty strong there. I think the track suits the Audi well, but as we’ve seen, the competition in the GT Daytona class is very tight. It’s going to be a great show; the fans will enjoy it.”

Robin Liddell, No 6 Audi R8 LMS: “It’s a fun track. We tested there and we also tested at the Glen. We went to the Glen for the race weekend with a really strong car. So I’m excited to go to Road America because we’ve already been there this season with the Audi. A lot of these tracks we’re going to for the first time with this car, and at least we’ll be going back to Road America having an understanding of how the Audi will perform. I’m cautiously optimistic about this event for us.”

Lawson Aschenbach, No. 9 Audi R8 LMS: “I think Road America will be a pretty good track for the Audi. It’s very clear that right now we have a straight line deficiency to all the other cars and it’s enough that it really affects your race. So it’s a bit tough to race the way we are right now. But the car handles well, it brakes well, and seems to hold the tires on it pretty well. Our biggest thing is track position so if we can get good track position during the race, we’ll be fine.”

Matt Bell, No. 9 Audi R8 LMS: “Road America is one of my favorite tracks. It’s tough. It’s high speed, has a lot of high speed corners, the kink in the back straight, and heavy braking corners. You go from really high speed right down into Canada Corner. It’s certainly fun. We’ve had some success there. When we won with the Camaro,that was the first time the GS Camaro won anything anywhere, so I have fond memories of it. We’ll see how we do. There are a lot of strong contenders in this class. The competition is very close as we saw at Lime Rock. I think it could be more of a strategy game there.”