Stevenson Motorsports Ready for Sprint at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

CONTINENTAL TIRE MONTEREY GRAND PRIX POWERED BY MAZDA: The twin Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS machines are set for Round 3 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as the series switches to a shorter race format following season-opening endurance classics at Daytona and Sebring. The green flag will fly at 6:45 PM ET for the 2 hour race.

RACE SPECS: Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is a short 2.238-mile road course with 11 turns, known for its drastic elevation changes throughout the course and the famous Corkscrew that boasts an almost 10-story drop from top to bottom.

Stevenson Motorsports DRIVER LINEUP: 
No. 6 Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS –
Andrew Davis & Robin Liddell
No. 9 Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS –
Matt Bell & Lawson Aschenbach

ANTICIPATING SPRINT RACE FORMAT: With a switch to Audi machinery and a step up to the big stage in IMSA WeatherTech competition, Stevenson Motorsports scored solid results in the first two endurance races of the season as both R8 machines took the checkers for the Rolex 24 At Daytona. The No. 6 scored a top-10 finish at Sebring and the Jacksonville, North Carolina-based team now looks forward to switching up its strategy as the series switches over to the shorter sprint race format.

FULL OF HISTORY FOR BELL: Los Altos, California native and seasoned Stevenson Motorsports driver Matt Bell brings fond memories to the Mazda Raceway circuit. The Audi expert has five previous starts including a pole in 2015 and a pole position followed up by a win in IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge competition in 2011.

“Laguna Seca was where I competed in my very first race,” said Bell. “I was in the BMW Club Racing’s D-Modified class in an ex-Turner Motorsport 325i Touring Car. I had a handle on how to drive the car quickly, but had absolutely no racecraft. The race was brilliant fun, but not knowing race track etiquette, I had no clue how to appropriately pass the lead car. I ended up second in my first race merely because I was trying to be polite. Regardless of my embarrassing missing know-how, I had an amazing weekend, and felt like I had found something I could actually succeed at. I guess I feel that Laguna is really where I fell in love with racing cars.”

HISTORY AT LAGUNA: Stevenson Motorsports has history at Laguna Seca dating back to 2006 when Vic Rice and Tommy Riggins combined to score a top-10 in Rolex Series competition. All four of Stevenson’s current drivers bring previous starts to the circuit as well. Notably, Liddell scored a GT class win in 2006 with Tafel Racing and another Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge victory in 2015 with current teammate Davis while driving for Stevenson Motorsports.

REARVIEW MIRROR: The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented a mixed bag to the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Championship winning team as the No. 6 Audi R8 LMS scored its first top-10 finish of the season while misfortune struck the No. 9 as it was forced to retire with less than three hours left to run.

TESTING, TESTING…: Stevenson Motorsports completed a successful test of both of the team’s Audi machines at Las Vegas on April 17-18 with all four drivers on hand.

NO REST FOR DAVIS, ASCHENBACH: Since the IMSA Sebring event, both Andrew Davis and Lawson Aschenbach have been busy in World Challenge competition. Davis, who competes in the GT category, took his first-ever laps around Long Beach to score seventh in Race 1 and 13th in Race 2. Both Davis and Aschenbach were in World Challenge action at Barber Motorsports Park last weekend in which Davis finished ninth and 11th in his two races. Aschenbach, who competes in the GTS division, scored second in Race 1 and fourth in Race 2 which put him in the championship lead with six rounds of the 2016 season now complete.

BROADCAST INFORMATION: 
Sunday, May 1 at 6:30 PM on FOX Sports 2, LIVE