Best finish since Daytona
INDIANAPOLIS (25 July 2014) – Michael Marsal drove to a top-10 finish at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday as he and Turner Motorsport co-driver Tom Kimber-Smith took seventh in the Brickyard Sports Car Challenge. The race marked Round 8 of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge championship.
The result marks Marsal’s best finish since the opening round at Daytona – in which he earned a podium finish of third – and the young racer looks forward to carrying this positive momentum through the remainder of the season.
Marsal opened the race from the seventh row and methodically moved his way forward despite dealing with some unhappy brakes on his No. 97 BMW. The highly competitive Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge saw some close racing in which Marsal seamlessly stayed out of trouble in the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW. A mix of green and yellow flag periods ensued and while close racing creating some attrition among the field, Marsal kept the BMW machine up to speed and in good position.
Despite the yellow periods, Marsal worked his way up into the ninth position running very fast lap times in the BMW machine. When the race neared half-way, the Turner team called the No. 97 to pit lane for routine service and driver change.
Marsal handed the car over to Tom Kimber-Smith who also carried the No. 97 Turner machine forward through the field to run sixth when the group made its final pit stop with 50 minutes to go. Kimber-Smith returned to the track 12th in line but as pit stops cycled through, the No. 97 was back into the top-10.
Through a final stretch of green flag running, Kimber-Smith maintained position and brought home seventh at the checkered flag.
“The car was actually really fast despite the brake issues,” said Marsal, who with the seventh place result scored his best finish to date in the Indianapolis event. “It’s always an honor to race here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and it’s great to have some good momentum moving forward. We next head to Road America which is a track I absolutely love, so hopefully this is a sign of good things to come and we just keep improving from here on out.”
Michael Marsal will take a brief break from competition and return to race action at Road America in two weeks.
The Brickyard Sports Car Challenge will be televised on August 3 at 12:00 PM ET on FOX Sports 1.
