Team MGR Racing to Test at PIR on September 9-10

Phoenix, AZ, September 7, 2006. Team MGR Racing will be testing at Phoenix International Raceway on September 9-10, 2006. In preparation for the upcoming ASC races at PIR this Fall, the Phoenix based team has booked time with NASA for a two day testing session this weekend.

NASCAR and Grand-AM driver Ross Thompson (www.RossThompsonRacing.com) is scheduled to drive the #27 Ghaster Painting Ford and handle most of the testing duties on Saturday. Ross raced at PIR just a couple of months ago during Grand-AM's stop at the Avondale racetrack earlier this season, finishing in third place in the GT Class. Manuel Gil del Real will take over the wheel on Sunday hoping that the track will come back to him quickly after almost three years since the last time he drove there.

"This is an important test for us. The last time we raced at PIR was in February 2004. Since then, the car has gone through a number of changes, and we want to make sure that we gather enough testing data to help us set up the car for the October race," says Manuel Gil del Real, Team Owner and lead driver.

For more information, please visit www.MGRRacing.net

Mechanical Failure Prevents MGR Racing from Reaching a Podium Finish at Thunderhill

Phoenix, AZ, August 14, 2006. Two seventh place finishes was all Team MGR Racing could accomplish during ASC's last race weekend at Thunderhill. With unusually hot temperatures in Willows, California, and after very limited practice time on Friday, the #27 Symbolic Ford seemed to be ready for the race; however, the first qualifying session on Saturday proved otherwise. Despite reducing their best lap time by as much as three seconds on sticker tires, Manuel Gil del Real qualified in seventh place, almost two seconds behind the pole time.

Ralph Byers, Crew Chief, and Manuel were hoping that the car setup would "come in" during the later stages of the race allowing them to finish in the top three. However, a spin on turn six caused by Michael Arnheiter early in the race, left the Symbolic Ford very much out of contention. Despite driving the car at the limit for the remainder of the race, Manuel Gil del Real had to settle for seventh place. "The car was more and more difficult to drive as the race went on, I had a real hard time keeping it on the track to be honest with you", said Manuel to Ralph at the end of the race.

Desperate situations require desperate moves, and after considering all the alternatives, Manuel and Ralph decided to take a gamble and radically change the suspension setup of the car for Sunday's race. The gamble proved to be a good one after the warm up session on Sunday when Manuel's times went down compared to the day before.

During qualifying, this time on race tires, the Symbolic Ford handled much better than it did on Saturday. Although Team MGR Racing qualified again in seventh place due to finding traffic during the qualifying run, this time around Manuel was only a second behind the leaders in the top three positions. Ralph could breathe a little easier now since he wasn't totally convinced that the changes to the car setup would work as planned.

Sunday's race had a clean start. Stinnett, who also had problems in qualifying, started in fifth place just in front of the Symbolic Ford. Manuel's plan was to stay bumper to bumper with Stinnett while he charged his way to the top of the field. That plan worked until just past the first corner. At that point, the #80 of Michael Arnheiter made an evasive move to the left to avoid contact with another car, and Manuel had to back off to avoid hitting him.

Manuel moved to sixth place when he passed Belinda Endress at the end of the first lap. Then on lap three, the Symbolic Ford passed Dennis Hannel and Michael Arnheiter, moving up to fourth place. As opposed to what happened the day before, this time the car was getting faster and faster as the race progressed. By lap eight, when Manuel Gil del Real recorded his fast lap of the race, he was also the fastest car on the track, almost a second quicker than Stinnett, Glowniak, and Hartman that were ahead of him. The chase was on.

With one lap to go, Manuel, who had been fighting nose to tail with Hartman for third place over the last couple of laps, had already picked a spot to make his move. Unfortunately for him, he never got to that spot. Just as he shifted into third gear at the beginning of the front straight, the Symbolic Ford's clutch failed. Manuel let the car roll off course and parked it just below the tower.

Despite the heartbreaking end, Team MGR Racing left Thunderhill in high spirits. Ralph Byers hard work and determination turned an average racecar into the fastest racecar; mechanical failure or not, the Symbolic Ford was fastest at the end of the weekend, when it really counts. ASC now moves to Phoenix International Raceway in Arizona for round seven of the series. The first of the two races remaining at PIR will be on October 14-15. For more information, please visit http://www.mgrracing.net/ or check out the Schedule section on our Website.

F1 Side by Side Racing: Villeneuve and Arnoux, 1979