RSR Motorsports Continues to Evolve as New Jersey Nears

MILLVILLE, N.J.--As the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series season progresses, RSR Motorsports continues to evolve. During this weekend's round eight at New Jersey Motorsports Park, the first RSR Motorsports MINI Cooper S built completely in-house will make its debut.

Team owner Randall Smalley and team manager Owen Trinkler will be behind the wheel once again in the No. 198 RSR Motorsports MINI Cooper S. The car is the first to be completely built in-house at the RSR Motorsports shop in Kissimmee, Florida.

The rebuilt car was completed recently under the direction of chassis engineer Jim Haaser, and the team will put the MINI through its paces during the test day at New Jersey.

"The dyno run went well and we're anxious to get on track to see what it can do," says Trinkler. "It's got the RSR stamp on it with all the changes, so we're looking forward to seeing it in action. A lot of these changes are part of our efforts to develop the RSR MINIs for the 2011 season."

Smalley is also anxious to put the No. 198 MINI to the test, but he's looking forward to seeing the entire team meet their potential. "New Jersey is an interesting track. It's not the best track for us, but we did well there last year and we should be competitive again," says Smalley. "There are some tight sections in the back of the track that are favorable for us."

Sarah Cattaneo got to experience those turns during a recent test at New Jersey Motorsports Park. It marked her first time on the 2.25-mile track. "The test was a chance to learn the track. We had a lot of work to do since I'd never been there," she says. "It's going to be a challenging race for everyone: there will be a lot of traffic, and the MINI will be faster than GS-class cars in some areas."

Cattaneo will be co-driving with VJ Mirzayan in the No. 197 RSR Motorsports MINI Cooper S. Mirzayan hopes to continue seeing improvement following the 11th-place finish the duo earned at Mid-Ohio last month.

"We're coming off a solid finish at Mid-Ohio, so hopefully we'll build on that. Passing at New Jersey can be tough and we have to make sure we keep it clean. We'll go out and give it our best, and I hope we can continue our positive streak," says Mirzayan.

Craig Conway and BJ Zacharias will drive the No. 196 RSR Motorsports MINI Cooper S. Zacharias and Trinkler finished fifth in the Street Tuner class during the 2008 round at New Jersey, the team's best finish there to date.

-source: rsr motorsports

 

Congrats!

This is great...

198 car wins the race...1st race with Motoring Alliance stickers on the car..coincidence or not (queue Twilight Zone theme)