Paul Miller Racing Press Release
Bryce Miller Joined By Audi Works
Driver Benoît Tréluyer at Inaugural IMSA TUDOR SportsCar Championship Test:
Daytona Bound Tuesday and Wednesday
SEBRING, Fla. (November 18,
2013) - Paul Miller Racing and Bryce Miller, joined by Audi LMP1 works
driver Benoît Tréluyer, put the team's new Audi R8 LMS through its initial
paces in testing this past weekend at Sebring International Raceway, the first
organized on-track activity of 2014's debuting IMSA TUDOR SportsCar
Championship.
The No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Audi R8 LMS will compete in the IMSA
TUDOR SportsCar Championship's GT Daytona division (GTD) that promises to be
one of the most competitive in the series.
"We have had fantastic support from Audi from the very onset of
this racing program," Paul Miller said. "The mechanics and engineers
are great, they are there full time with our guys working right alongside, and
have got right into sync with the team. And to have a driver the caliber of
Benoît Tréluyer sent to help us get started is incredibly helpful, and an
indication of Audi's great support that we sincerely appreciate."
Having taken delivery of the new Audi at Paul Miller Racing's
Atlanta-area race shop only a week earlier, the team quickly announced its
plans and prepared and transported the R8 to Sebring to take advantage of not
only the Sebring test but a similar session at Daytona International Speedway
tomorrow and Wednesday.
"I am really excited to just get up to speed and learn the car as
quickly as I can," Bryce Miller said. "We are just trying to soak up
all of the technical support that we can that is being offered by Audi and
Benoît to get our team to where it needs to be to kind of reset and go racing
again. These test days are just a good opportunity to make some measured and
precise changes and learn the car."
Part of Audi's World Championship-winning LMP1 team, Tréluyer was sent
by the factory to assist the Paul Miller Racing squad in what amounted to a
familiarization run at Sebring. A
full-season co-driver for Bryce Miller will be announced in the coming weeks.
"I received a call two weeks ago with the offer to come here and
test the R8," said Tréluyer, who was part of the overall winning Audi team
at this past March in the 12 Hours of Sebring. "I have never tested the R8
before, and when I had the opportunity to come here with the Paul Miller Racing
team, an American team, on this circuit Sebring, which I really like, I was
really looking forward to testing the GT car here."
Tréluyer, Bryce Miller and the team had specific goals for the Sebring
test that were focused on running through a productive work schedule instead of
bottom-line performance.
"We are here to do a shakedown, just test the car and help the
team as much as I can," Tréluyer said. "I don't have so much
experience in the real GT car, I am learning quite a lot too, and if I can give
some of my experience and learn at the same time, it's good." This coming
IMSA season will be the first time Paul Miller Racing has raced with Audi after
decades with Porsche, but the team's parent organization, the Paul Miller Auto
Group, has operated Paul Miller Audi since 1976, one of the largest Audi
dealerships in the nation.
"We are just ecstatic to have this arrangement with Audi,"
Bryce Miller said. "To be able to work with them beyond motorsports, at
the dealership level, it is beneficial to our program that we have
relationships there, and that we have a history there of success. That's a good
platform to build a motorsport program on and just makes it easier to stand it
up and push it forward."
The two-day Daytona test will see Paul Miller Racing and the rest of
the IMSA TUDOR SportsCar Championship field run from 9 am. to 5 p.m. both
Tuesday and Wednesday, with a one-hour lunch break each day at Noon.
About Paul Miller Racing:
Paul Miller Racing is among the top GT teams competing in North
American sports car road racing. In 2014, the team will contest the full GT
Daytona (GTD) season in the new IMSA TUDOR SportsCar Championship in a new
partnership with Audi Sport customer racing. Bryce Miller will drive the No. 48
Paul Miller Racing Audi R8 LMS with a to-be-named co-driver. The racing team is
affiliated with the Paul Miller Auto Group, which has operated Paul Miller Audi
since 1976, races in support of Full Circle Home, and competes with the support
of TOTAL Lubricants, Search Marketing Group and Motegi Racing.
Follow Paul Miller Racing on Twitter @paulmilleracing @bryceracer and
become a Facebook fan at Facebook.com/paulmillerracing and
Facebook.com/brycemiller.net. Learn more about the team at
www.paulmillerracing.com.
About Audi of America and the
Audi R8 LMS:
Audi began a new chapter in 2009 with the introduction of the Audi
Sport customer racing program. For the first time it was possible for
motorsport customers to acquire a race car designed for customer racing events.
Since its inception, the success of the R8 LMS has been significant throughout
the GT3 racing format worldwide, including victory in the GT class in the 2013
edition of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The Audi R8 LMS shares more than 50% of its
parts with the Audi R8 street car including the naturally aspirated V10 5.2
Liter engine, the Audi Space Frame and a variety of other components.
Audi of America, Inc. and its U.S. dealers offer a full line of German-engineered
luxury vehicles. AUDI AG is among the most successful luxury automotive brands
globally. Audi was a top-performing luxury brand in Europe during 2012, and
broke all-time company sales records in the U.S. Through 2016, AUDI AG will
invest about $17 billion on new products and technologies.
Visit www.audiusa.com or www.audiusanews.com for more information
regarding Audi vehicle and business issues.
Photo credit: Paul Miller Racing [2013 Bob Chapman, Autosport Image]
