(Petaluma, Calif. July 19) It’s time to go racing as The Racers Group (TRG) returns to IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship competition July 21-22 for the Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park as TRG drivers James Davison and Brandon Davis step behind the wheel of the iconic Cly-Del Manufacturing | LaSalle Solutions | TRG Aston Martin #007 GT3 in GTD for the first time this season. Craig Lyons and Kris Wilson will be doing the driving honors in the TRG #03 Aston Martin GT4 in Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge action.
TRG is one of the most successful GT teams ever to have raced at Lime Rock with four major victories (including historic 1-2 finishes in 2006 and 2011) and seven podium finishes with three different marques: Aston Martin, Porsche and Pontiac GTO. This weekend’s races at the always fast and unpredictable seven-turn track, feature a two-car Aston Martin line-up for the team.
Drivers
James Davison and Brandon Davis, IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, Cly-Del Manufacturing | LaSalle Solutions | TRG Aston Martin #007 GT3
James Davison, the Australian pro driver who delivered an outstanding five straight pole positions in 2014/2015 in the Aston Martin GT3 is once again reunited with Brandon Davis and the fierce V12 Vantage GT3 he has driven so well. Davison joins the team in Lime Rock fresh off his stint at the Indianapolis 500 where he led the race and off of a second-place finish in Pirelli World Challenge for TRG at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix earlier in the year. “This is really a homecoming for me, racing with TRG at Lime Rock,” says Davison. “I had my first opportunity to race with TRG on this track and we had a remarkable run, finishing fourth after starting at the back of the field. I’m excited to partner again with Brandon — we’ve proven we can fight for podiums and wins together and we’re really looking forward to a successful weekend.”
Davis, who brings over a decade of top-level racing experience and race wins in series like Pirelli World Challenge, IMSA and NASCAR is excited to get in the car and to tackle the challenges at Lime Rock. “Lime Rock is a unique circuit and I haven’t been back for a few years. Since the race is timed, the number of laps run increases for a stint, but the distance doesn’t change much. It is a physically demanding circuit with very little rest time and in the middle of July that could prove to be a factor in the outcome. All in all, I’m excited about our chances and look forward to a great result and to be reuniting with James.”
Craig Lyons and Kris Wilson, Continental Tire Championship, TRG #03 Aston Martin GT4
Craig Lyons and Kris Wilson lead off in IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge GS action in the TRG #3 Aston Martin GT4. Lyons is relishing the opportunity to take his first crack behind the wheel at the storied Lime Rock track. In past seasons, he’s had success — and wins — in the Porsche Pirelli GT3 Cup Trophy Series as well as solid runs in Continental Challenge and Pirelli World Challenge.
Craig’s co-driver and driving coach, Kris Wilson, competed a full season in IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge with TRG in 2014. This season, Wilson notched a hard-fought victory and second place finish in Pirelli World Championship SprintX action at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). Kris has also competed in various top sportscar series including Rolex Series, World Challenge, World Sports Car and American Le Mans Series. As fans have come to expect, anytime Wilson gets behind the wheel of a race car, wins and podiums are well within his grasp.
“We are always excited to be racing at Lime Rock,” says TRG CEO Kevin Buckler. “This has always been a strong track for us and we have an awesome history here, including a couple of 1-2 finishes. I also always like coming to this area and I’ll never forget the first time driving to the track where there were all sorts of road signs talking about incredible American history and I was thinking to myself, man, I should’ve attended more of my high school history classes!
Our friends at Cly – Del Manufacturing and LaSalle Solutions are entertaining a great group of executives and we have a terrific schedule booked out including a Thursday night VIP reception at the track and then a 5-star wine dinner back at the Resort. We love seeing how Corporate America is leaning in around motorsports as an entertainment platform and we are always trying to lead the charge! IIMSA does a fantastic job at this event and it’s a super important market for all of us being this close to New York.
We have a terrific line-up this weekend and it’s kind of ironic as the Lime Rock Conti race was the first time I ever met James Davison and gave him a shot as we were down a driver and he totally rocked it. He and Brandon are a lethal combo and we have been working diligently on preparation for the beautiful Cly-Del Manufacturing | LaSalle Solutions | TRG Aston Martin #007 GT3. The crew guys have been flat out on Craig’s GT4 and it’s beautiful and it’s ready. I am also super excited to have Craig and Kris running here together for the first time. Craig has been making incredible strides in his driving and we are all really happy to see the improvements and him taking on this historic circuit. He is never afraid of a challenge and has worked so hard at his driving and his professional approach and he and Kris will definitely have a shot at the podium. Let’s do it!”
TRG’s unique mix of memorable experiences and B2B opportunities is the bedrock of these race weekends. On Thursday evening at the track the team will be doing an elegant opening reception and then on Friday, TRG and Adobe Road Winery will host an ultra-exclusive wine dinner featuring unique creations by Chef Chris Eddy at Litchfield, Connecticut’s Winvian Farm. Long time TRG partner LaSalle Solutions Cly-Del Manufacturing guests and other VIPs will enjoy first class TRG hospitality with the chance to engage with one another and collaborate on ways to enhance each other’s businesses around motorsports. These key networking opportunities will take place at the Winvian, at the track and throughout the race weekend.
About Cly-Del Manufacturing
Cly-Del is a leader in metal goods manufacturing, specializing in precision, high volume drawn shells, metal stampings, eyelets and ferrules. Cly-Del is proudly celebrating their 78th anniversary. The company is a family owned, fourth generation, American company located in Waterbury, Conn.Cly-Del operates from a 200,000 square foot facility and with over 200 high-speed transfer and stamping presses. Industries served include: alkaline & lithium batteries, automotive , ammunition, electronic, consumer, hardware, appliance, lock / security industry, cooling fins, fuel cell and communications.
About LaSalle Solutions
Founded in 1980, LaSalle Solutions is a leading provider of life-cycle management services for technology and capital assets. These services include acquisition and financing, IT asset management, maintenance contracts management, remarketing and disposition. LaSalle Solutions’ processes, outstanding customer service and powerful, market-leading cloud-based toolset, LAMP, enable customers to more economically and effectively manage and plan to meet their goals. LaSalle Solutions is an independently operated company and a subsidiary of MB Financial Bank, a publicly traded Chicago-based bank holding company. MB Financial is traded on the NASDAQ as “MBFI”. For more information on LaSalle Solutions, please visit www.elasalle.com and www.YouTube.com/LaSalleSolutions.