VICI Racing and Kumho Tire are heading for the Miller Motorsports Park this week to contest the Utah Grand Prix, the fourth round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series. They are bolstered by the decision to run a second Porsche 911 GT3 RSR for the first time, and welcome a top-class driver line-up for the new #18 car.

Three exciting young drivers will be in the cockpit of the #18 car, and at Utah the trio will all be driving the VICI Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in race action for the first time. The team’s new Brazilian pilot Ruben Carrapasoto will get his first full cockpit time after impressing everyone during a handful of practice laps at St. Petersburg with his assured and fast pace, while we are delighted to announce the return of Nicky Pastorelli, and the arrival of his promising younger brother Francesco.

Nicky, former European F3000 Champion and most recently a ChampCar pilot, is very well known to the team, as he drove for VICI Racing in the Rolex 24 Hours last year, and also conducted pre-Sebring shakedown testing of the #5 car. Very highly rated by all our staff, we are pleased to have him in a race Seat for Utah. In some families, motor racing oozes through the blood, and it is certainly the case in the Pastorelli household, Nicky’s younger brother Francesco is busy carving a name in European ‘staircase’ formulae. He will be making a big step up to drive in ALMS GT2 but the team is confident that he is ready to make the transition.

From the tight city streets of St. Petersburg and Long Beach, the ALMS moves onto the high-speed Miller Motorsports Park, just 30 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City in Tooele, Utah, for its third visit to a purpose-built track that only opened in April 2006. However after using the 24-turn, 4.5-mile full course during their first two visits, this year for the first time, the ALMS teams will be racing on the blindingly quick 15-turn, 3.05-mile ‘perimeter’ course, providing VICI Racing and Kumho Tire with yet another tough challenge for their new tire development program before the series takes an 8-week long early summer break. This track is around 4,500 feet above sea level, and gets very hot and dry in the day, adding more variables into the equation.

VICI Racing and Kumho Tire have put this ambitious tire development program together in a very short time, with everyone highly motivated and enthusiastic about the challenge. Nevertheless, the team knows a steep learning curve lies ahead throughout this year, this is a tough challenge, and by choosing to run the program in full race conditions from day one, it is a process that will be carried out in the spotlight. Arriving at Sebring in March with new personnel and a new Porsche 911 GT3 RSR straight out of the box, the team showed its professionalism by holding a top-3 position for over 4 hours, only relinquishing it when issues beyond their control arose. Motor racing though brings highs and lows, and for St. Petersburg an early practice crash brought involvement at the Florida street circuit to a premature end. However the team fought back with precision to make the grid for the second consecutive street race at Long Beach a fortnight later and record a highly satisfying finish.

During the opening three races the #5 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR has been piloted by Nathan Swartzbaugh and Craig Stanton, and this lineup, which blends IMSA GT3 Cup champion Nathan’s youth and speed with Craig’s proven winning experience, will be back in the cockpit of the #5 car for the Utah Grand Prix. The #5 car will be supported by long-term VICI Racing partner, Wempe, a Germany-based manufacturer of exquisite timepieces and jewellery, as well as our two new partners this year: high-precision turning machine manufacturer, Tornos, and commercial real estate company, Westway Development.