(Newswire.net — May 9, 2014) Madison, Wisconsin —
In the opening round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, Scott Tucker and Level 5 Motorsports came out at the top of the 29-car field of the GT Daytona class. The team ran the No. 555 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3, driven by Scott Tucker, Jeff Segal, Townsend Bell, Alessandro Pier Guidi, and Bill Sweedler.
Level 5 Motorsports’ participation in the race marked their first time racing for the new Ferrari customer program. The team recieved the cars only weeks before the Rolex 24, but the results show that the drivers and crew managed to prepare the black and silver Ferrari sufficiently to take home the checkered flag.
After leading for the majority of the race, Level 5 Motorsports was forced to battle for the winning postion in the final laps of the race, after yellow flags and a restart brought the No. 45 Flying Lizard Audi within closing distance.
After making contact with the challenging Audi, the Level 5 Motorsports Ferrari was penalized by the IMSA and did not take part in the podium ceremonies, but the Rolex 24’s sanctioning body reversed it’s decision a few hours later and reverted the first place standing back to Level 5 Motorsports.
Level 5 Motorsports driver Bill Sweedler commented on the incident.
“It’s bittersweet that we weren’t part of the podium ceremony, but IMSA took a look at what actually happened, which was incredible racing in the last five minutes of this race,” said Sweedler. “Alessandro not only drove an incredibly clean race but didn’t give up, and frankly that’s what I believe IMSA and the TUDOR United SportsCar series is going to be all about as we move forward. I’m also really glad to share the win with these guys and to be part of Scott’s 101st win.”
The recent win at the Rolex 24 was the first for all of the Level 5 Motorsports drivers. Under the leadership of Scott Tucker, the team has now won at all major North American endurance races.