FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 11, 2016– The Rebel Rock team anxiously passed through the gates at Road America this past weekend anticipating the opportunity to continue both the development of the team and their Porsche Cayman race cars. Returning behind the wheel would be local driver Sam Adams and Elliott Skeer in the #7 Urban Grid Cayman with Robin Liddell and Theo Bean once again in the #8 machine.
A great deal of time was dedicated to the set-up of the cars during the promoter test, which continued well into practice. Due to red flag conditions during practice meant less time on track, and the Rebel Rock crew had to make do with the time they were allotted to get ready for qualifying.
Adams and Bean would qualify the #7 and 8 respectfully in the Street Tuner (ST) class Porsche’s. An immediate issue forced the #7 to stop on the circuit during qualifying, ending its’ session prematurely. The rest of the field would have a one-lap shoot-out to finish qualifying, and Bean had a Top-10 run going, but a miscommunication thwarted his effort and left him with a time fast enough for 18th in the ST class. With that, Adams would start from the rear of the field, but being his home track, and confident in the car the team put under him, knew he’d be able to make up spots once the green flag dropped.
At the start, both drivers immediately began picking up positions on their competition, and setting up their teammates for strong results. Adams would go from 24th in class to ninth before turning over to Skeer, while the team had a great strategy call to pit the #8, and when the field cycled through their stops, Liddell would be up to fourth in the ST class with a great shot at a strong result to finish it out.
As Sam was about to turn over the car to Elliott, he noticed a brake issue, and the car had to go behind the pit wall to render a quick repair. Liddell had an incident where one of the Audi’s checked-up in front of him in one of the turns, Robin had nowhere to go, and hit the S3 in the rear, damaging the front of his Porsche Cayman. The nose damage sustained would hinder the car’s performance the balance of the way, but Liddell was able to hold on for a very respectable 11th place finish, while Skeer was able to pick up a few more spots during his stint to bring the #7 home in 17th.
“When the car was at its best, the weekend went really well. I had limited time in practice and wasn’t able to get a qualifying lap, but the Rebel Rock crew gave me a really fast car for the race, that allowed me to drive from 24thto ninth during my stint.” Adams continues, “Unfortunately on my pit-in lap we had a problem with the brakes, which put us down a few laps from the leaders. I’d like to thank the Rebel Rock Racing team for giving me the opportunity to drive with them this season.”
Skeer adds “Road America was another strong race where the result doesn’t show the performance. We were able to sort out the car for the race, and Sam did a great job getting through the field on his stint. The Rebel Rock guys performed an amazing pit stop, but mechanical issues brought down the performance after that. I’d like to thank the team for all their hard work.”
Bean sums up his weekend, “The car has made huge gains since Watkins Glen, and due to a bold strategy call we were able to get the car up to fourth place, but weren’t able to hold on in the end.”
Having been with the team since the start of the season, Liddell has seen how far the program has come in a short time. “As Elliott mentioned, the results don’t show how competitive the program was this weekend. We had a few little issues come up that held us back, both in qualifying and the race, but I know this teams’ on the verge of coming through the other side and get the results to reward them for all the hard work.”
The Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America can be viewed via tape delayed broadcast on Fox Sports 1 on Sunday, August 14th, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. EDT.