LMPC car to a 4th place finish at the American Le Mans presented by Tequila Patron Mid-Ohio Sports Car Championships at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
Featuring the Dog Days Diary of a Wimpy Kid livery on their ORECA LMPC car, Tomy and Bruno took on one of the most popular tracks on the ALMS championship circuit, the legendary Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, a natural terrain road-racing circuit featuring 13-turns and several elevations changes over 2.25 miles. The track lived up to its difficulty factor aided by high temperatures and extremely slick surface conditions.
“This is a great track, but it can be tough” noted Drissi. “Today it was exceptionally tough. I had a good run going and was leading early on. Though actually, the car was a handful in the opening laps. It takes quite a while to get heat into these spec Michelins and the car was really unpredictable. I was getting a lot of pressure from other cars in the LMPC class.”
“The last few races have seen some pretty intense traffic jams,” said Tomy. “But nothing like this. The LMPC cars typically are much faster than the GT cars. But in the early stages of the race, our tires aren’t up to temperature. The GT cars are on a softer race compound and they’re ready to go at the drop of the flag. LMPC drivers are struggling to hold their position and hold their line… meanwhile, the GT guys want to go. It was great fight for the first half hour, though pretty crazy for the first half dozen laps.”
“I’m personally frustrated as I thought we could have had a second place or winning car,” added Tomy. “I had a great opening sting going, but then made a mistake under breaking. Bruno did a fantastic job of moving us back into striking position, but we just ran out of time.”
“Once again, RSR did a great job of setting up the car,” added Tomy. “Paul [Gentilozzi] and his sons had the car up-to-speed pretty much right of the trailer. We’ll get ’em at Road America in a couple of weeks.”
The livery for No. 9 car featured the movie Dog Days Diary of a Wimpy Kid opening Friday August 3rd. This is the third movie in the series.
The team’s next event is the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón Road America Road Race Showcase at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., on Saturday, August 18.
Tomy Drissi is an American driver and Trans Am Champion. His driver experience includes ALMS, Trans-Am, NASCAR and Speed World Challenge.
Born December 9 in Hollywood, California, Tomy owns an advertising firm that produces upcoming film displays for cinemas. Drissi’s first racing experience in motorsports was street racing on Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills.
His professional racing career highlights include; 1999 Trans-Am Rookie of the Year, 2000 Trans-Am BBS Most Improved Driver, 2000 Trans-Am Crew of the Year and Trans-Am Champion. In 2010 Tomy competed in Trans-Am taking 1 win, 1 pole, 3 podiums, 4 Top Fives, 7 Top Tens; He also competed in the American Le Mans Series LMP1 class at Mid-Ohio finishing 3rd. In 2011 Tomy returned to the American Le Mans Series, LMPC division. He scored a 2nd at Long Beach, 3rd at Lime Rock, 1st at Mid Ohio,1st at Inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix and second at Road Atlanta -Petit Le Mans.
Tomy is married to Lacy Livingston Drissi.
Find out more about Tomy Drissi at http://www.tomydrissi.com or follow Tomy on Facebook /tomydrissi and Twitter @tomydrissi
Dog Days Diary of a Wimpy Kid: During his summer vacation “Wimpy Kid” Greg Heffley, the hero of the phenomenally successful book series, hatches a plan to pretend he has a job at a ritzy country club – which fails to keep him away from the season’s dog days, including embarrassing mishaps at a public pool and a camping trip that goes horribly wrong. Opens August 3rd. http://www.diaryofawimpykidmovie.com
The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón is the world`s leading sports car championship and is recognized as the Global Leader in Green Racing. In the tradition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, multiple classes of cars – purpose-built prototypes and production-based Grand Touring automobiles – race on the track at the same time to create compelling race action and constant passing. All cars in the Series compete using one of five approved alternative fuels or energy sources: clean sulfur-free diesel, cellulosic E85 or E10, Isobutanol and electric hybrid technologies. The Series has more automobile marques involved than any other major race series in the world as manufacturers develop relevant technologies on track that transfer directly to the customer showroom. The ALMS competes at North America`s premier road racing tracks and selected temporary street circuits in major urban markets.