Acura Motorsports Race Report
Sunday, August 2, 2015
StopTech Grand Prix Presented by MOMO
Circuit: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (2.258-mile road course) Lexington, Ohio
Weather: Sunny, mild, 78 degrees F
RealTime Racing Acuras Run in Tandem in Dual Mid-Ohio Weekend
• RealTime Racing Acura TLX GT has finished in top 10 in 12 of year’s 15 races.
• Peter Cunningham wins Hard Charger Award in Sunday’s race.
• Both Acura TLX GTs gain eight positions in Sunday’s race
LEXINGTON, Ohio (August 2, 2015) – The Acura TLX GTs of RealTime Racing were not listed as a dual entry for this weekend’s Pirelli World Challenge weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, but the cars of Peter Cunningham and Ryan Eversley were welded together on the results page, with Eversley finishing right behind Cunningham in both races.
Both cars used a strong late-race run to earn Cunningham a top-10 berth on Saturday as Cunningham finished in 10th, one spot ahead of the 11th-placed Eversley. On Sunday both cars used strong efforts on starts and restarts to climb to 12th and 13th after starting 20th and 21st.
“The car was good and we made a few changes between races that helped us make up some ground on Sunday,” Cunningham said. “The track really came to us on Sunday and we took advantage of every opportunity we could to gain positions.”
A caution flag with 10 laps to go in Saturday’s race gave the Acuras a chance to make a late-race run, as the slower caution laps dropped some vital component temperatures, and allowed both drivers to push harder over the last six laps, where the cars combined to gain five positions.
On Sunday, warmer temperatures played into the hands of the RealTime team, as they fought from the 10th row on the grid to make up eight spots in a very competitive field.
“Our team worked hard to find some speed in these Acuras and our engineer made some good changes overnight which gave us a better car today,” Eversley said. “Hats off to these RealTime guys, they never quit, they are easily the most professional bunch that I have ever worked with.”
Saturday’s top-10 finish was the 12th such result in 15 GT races this season, and when coupled with Sunday’s finish, will be enough to keep Eversley in the top 10 in points, a perch he has held since his breakthrough victory at St. Petersburg back in March.
The race was also a showcase for the Wisconsin-based team, allowing them to display their talents to thousands of Honda associates that came from nearby Marysville to see the Acuras run.
“It was great to see all the Honda associates out here supporting us this weekend,” Cunningham said. “We tried to do the best we could, we wanted to give them something to be proud of, and our guys worked really hard this weekend to make it happen.”
As was the case before Mid-Ohio, the PWC series will take three weeks off between races before heading into the year’s final stretch. The Acura TLX GTs will head to Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah for Rounds 16-17 before trips to Laguna Seca and Sonoma bring the season to an end.
Developed from the production Acura TLX by HPD and RealTime Racing, the Acura TLX GT features HPD chassis and aerodynamic performance parts approved for Pirelli World Challenge competition. It is powered by a direct-injected, twin-turbocharged V6 engine, developed by HPD from the production TLX, and will utilize all-wheel drive, as found in Acura’s SH-AWD system.
Lee Niffenegger (Team Leader, Acura Motorsports): “We had brought some improvements to the cars for this weekend, but were held back by decisions beyond our control. While it wasn’t quite the weekend we had hoped for in front of the home crowd, Ryan and Peter drove flawlessly bringing the cars back in perfect condition. The RTR guys did a great job preparing the cars while our HPD staff kept the drivetrain in top form. We will be back at it in a few weeks and look forward to moving up the grid in the races to come.
Peter Cunningham (Team owner/driver RealTime Racing #42 Acura TLX GT): “We got about everything we could out of our cars in their current configuration, and our guys are great at maximizing our opportunities, so we are pleased with the effort.”
Ryan Eversley (Driver RealTime Racing #43 Acura TLX GT): “This was the most fun I’ve had on a race weekend in a long time, running nose-to-tail with PD (Cunningham) all weekend. If you can run one of these races right with the all-time winning driver in the series, you’ve done a good job.”