Driving No. 89 Intersport Racing Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes LMPC
Coming off an outstanding 2nd place finish at Long Beach, Tomy Drissi will return to the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón driving the No. 89 Intersport Racing Rise of the Planet of the Apes LMPC at Lime Rock Park. He’ll be joined in the car by Kyle Marcelli. The series, after its traditional break for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, returns to racing with Round 3, the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park, on July 9.
“I’m really excited to get back in the No. 89 Rise of the Planet of the Apes / Muscle Milk LMPC car,” said Tomy. “We had such a good run at Long Beach, the anticipation of getting back in the car has been killing me. And I’m a big fan of Lime Rock. Running the prototype here should be a a lot of fun.”
This will be the eighth year of the American Le Mans Series Presented by Tequila Patron at Lime Rock Park. Lime Rock is a track that looks deceivingly simple but is immensely challenging to drive quickly. Unique in that it is only 1.5 miles in length, Lime Rock offers up only eight corners and the lap times are typically under a minute. With the high-tech ALMS cars, traffic and negotiating your way through can and will determine your success or failure.
No stranger to Lime Rock Park, in 2010 Tomy posted a Trans-Am qualifying time of 49.462 (111.358 mph), just three tenths off the pole setters time. He went on to finish the race in second and posted his fastest lap time at 50.527.
“I think Kyle and I will do really well here,” noted Drissi. “I’ve had quite a bit of experience at the track and I know Kyle was very fast here last year. The Intersport guys know the setup so I think we’ll be quick right off the transporter. I’m also looking forward to going wheel-to-wheel with Jon Field who’ll be in the No. 37 LMPC sister car. That’s going to be a blast!”
“Lime Rock Park is really a special place,” added Tomy. “Not only is it a beautiful part of the country, it’s so well suited to sports car racing and such an important part of sports car heritage. And the fans are fantastic. To put Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Muscle Milk’s product in front of the New York market is a really a great opportunity.”
The American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 9. Live video coverage is available on ESPN3.com in the US and americanlemans.com for international users. Worldwide radio coverage is available on American Le Mans Radio at americanlemans.com. ESPN2 will air the race starting at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 10.
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 competing in 7 rounds and 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. Tomy is married to Lacy Livingston Drissi.
Find out more about Tomy Drissi at http://www.tomydrissi.com or on Facebook. You can follow Tomy on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/tomydrissi.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
In theaters August 5, 2011, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is set in a contemporary San Francisco and follows a young scientist who becomes a crucial figure in the war between humans and apes. Franco has been testing his Alzheimer cure on apes, but one of them, named Caesar, starts to evolve rapidly, so he takes him home to live with him and protect him from the cruel doctors, thus starting the inevitable ape revolution. James Franco stars, along with Andy Serkis providing motion capture for Caesar and Weta doing CGI; Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, with Tom Felton. Rise of the Planet of the Apes arrives in theaters on August 5th late summer. Trailer: http://www.apeswillrise.com/
The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón 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.