By: Michael Shank Racing
November 16 2016
Daytona Beach, Florida – Michael Shank Racing launched its new two-car Acura NSX program at Daytona International Speedway as the team participated in the IMSA sanctioned event on Tuesday and Wednesday. Full-time drivers Ozz Negri, Andy Lally, Katherine Legge, and Jeff Segal were joined by recently announced North American Endurance Cup drivers Mark Wilkins and Tom Dyer for the two-day event.
All six drivers shared seat time between the No. 86 Acura NSX and the No. 93 Acura NSX machines which are numbered in celebration of Acura’s first year (1986) and for when Honda Performance Development opened for business (1993). With 14 hours of testing time on offer, the Michael Shank Racing squad logged over 700 trouble-free miles and obtained valuable data in preparation for the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.
“The key word is progress,” said Team Owner Mike Shank. “We made progress in almost every area of the car, even more than I thought we would. This car is new from the bottom up. Every system that we knew we had issues with, we made big gains with and that’s exactly what I would hope. We are setting ourselves up to be competitive for the Rolex 24. And that’s all we can ask for. It’s just been super positive and everything is going in the right direction, everyone has the right attitude, everyone knows we have a lot of work to do but everyone is doing their part. From the crew, to the engineers to the drivers, just everybody.”
The team will be back at Daytona International Speedway on December 13-14 for a second IMSA-sanctioned test.
DRIVER QUOTES:
Ozz Negri: “We’ve been making a lot of progress. Everybody is going in the same direction which is awesome. Usually at Daytona with so many drivers driving the same car, someone might not like what another driver likes but all six of us like the same thing which makes life a lot easier. The car is amazingly reliable and we’ve just been plugging away the miles.”
Andy Lally: “My experience with Michael Shank Racing is everything I expected it to be. I’ve known Mike (Shank) for over 20 years and have admired his operation from afar and everything he’s done from open wheel to Prototypes to now GTD cars. It’s great to get to work with these guys. The combination of the help from HPD and the expertise from the guys at Michael Shank Racing pooling their knowledge and getting to work on this Acura NSX has been great. You always know that no matter what car you have, it’s never going to roll out of the trailer perfectly when it hits the track. As we expected we were going to have to make a lot of adjustments here but it’s been amazing in a day in a half what we have been able to accomplish. We are now in the ballpark and are able to see our goals. We haven’t quite reached them yet but we’re working hard to get there so when we come back for the Rolex 24 we’ll be in good shape.”
Katherine Legge: "Everyone at Michael Shank Racing are just super guys - the atmosphere at the team and their positive attitude. Everybody is just really cool and they get the job done and they get it done in the right way. The test has gone really well. It's still early stages in the development. We're looking at the Roar and the Rolex 24 looming over us and we're scrambling trying to do as much as possible in the time given. Everybody is multitasking doing a million things at once. We're trying different things on each car and we're making gains in both drivability and speed. It's been very positive. All the drivers have the same feedback and get along really great. The way we're going about it is very methodical and we keep improving."
Jeff Segal: “It’s been great. It is a huge project that we’ve taken on and there are a lot of people involved with it – from Michael Shank Racing to Acura to HPD and to all the various contractors and other people who have been part of the project. It’s a lot of people to manage and a lot of different input and opinions, but so far we are moving very quickly in the right direction. The cars are progressing really nicely. The drivers all get along really well. So far, it’s all been very positive and we’re moving in the right direction.”
Mark Wilkins: “It’s great to be back with Michael Shank Racing. I can’t believe it was six years ago that we ran the DP car together (at the 2010 Rolex 24). We had great chemistry and the team is top notch. It’s a real privilege to be a part of this new program with Acura and the new NSX. Testing so far has just been about getting comfortable and up to speed. We keep throwing some changes at it and making some pretty big improvements to the car. It’s gone very fluidly, from the stand point of getting through a work list and the items on the car. I’m super excited, as we add more changes and more seat time I think it’s going to be a really great package.”
Tom Dyer: “It’s fantastic any time you get to work with a group like Michael Shank Racing that has seen and done so much and has won this race. They’ve always been contenders here at Daytona and they know what it takes to get everything and everyone into the right window to be in contention. This is a new step for them and from what I’m seeing it’s just business as usual to that high level standard that they only know. Everybody has been awesome to work with from the engineers to the HPD guys, everyone has the same common goal to achieve and it’s really cool to see how everyone is coming together to build the best platform that we can.”
Based in Columbus, Ohio, Michael Shank Racing was formed in 1989 when Mike Shank first began driving racing cars professionally. Shank retired from the cockpit in 1997 to focus his efforts on running the team, which quickly found success in the Champ Car Toyota Atlantic Championship. With several race wins under his belt, Shank was named as Team Owner of the Year twice in four years. Michael Shank Racing joined the Rolex Sports Car Series in 2004 as the team proved as quick in endurance racing as in the sprint formula car format. Michael Shank Racing scored a debut Rolex Series win in 2006 at Miller Motorsports Park, and fans selected the victory as the 2007 Rolex “Moment of the Year.” After opening the 2008 season with a front-row sweep of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the team closed out the year taking wins in the final two races of the year.
The team scored a dramatic victory in the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona in 2012, and backed that race-winning effort up with a run to third place with the second team entry.
www.michaelshankracing.com | Follow us on Twitter! @MichaelShankRac | Follow us on Instagram! michaelshankracing
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