DANVILLE, VA (5 October 2021) – Rebel Rock Racing has momentum on its side for its return to IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Sunday at Virginia International Raceway, following off a successful two-day test at the circuit.
Robin Liddell and Frank DePew will co-drive the team’s No. 71 Urban Grid Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R in the two-hour race, the penultimate round of the 2021 campaign. The two drivers were pleased with a recent two-day test last month at VIR.
“Testing went very well,” Liddell said. “We had two good days with lots of running, where we put lots of miles on the car. The car performed very well, with no issues. We’re actually feeling pretty good about the weekend.”
Rebel Rock had a strong start to the season when it won at Sebring back in March. But since then, a variety of challenges have hampered the campaign. But after sitting out the Laguna Seca event weekend, having a productive test and re-setting for the final two races of the season, the team is eager to get back to competition this weekend.
“We’re back with our original Camaro,” Liddell said. “This car has been repaired since Lime Rock and we’ve taken time to make sure it’s right and we’re happy with it. We put a lot of miles on it, and it performed very well. We feel we’re in reasonable shape for next week. I think we’re as prepared now as we possibly could be for the race, and we’re excited about that.”
Liddell is also excited about the progress of DePew, a Virginia resident who considers VIR his
home track.
“Frank has a lot of miles at VIR, and although he’s still working on some of the nuances and little bits I’m helping to make him more aware of he performed very well,” Liddell explained. “He’s made some good improvements since last year, and in fact he did the quickest time he’s done around VIR so hopefully he feels well prepared for what should be a good weekend for us.”
Following the withdrawal from Road America after problems were discovered on the team’s back-up car, the team opted to take some time off to repair the primary car.
“It was a difficult decision not to go to [WeatherTech Raceway] Laguna Seca after the disappointment at Road America,” Liddell said. “We’ve had various incidents this season since our win at Sebring. We decided that unless we could put some proper mileage on the car before we went to a race event, we didn’t want to go out there half-cocked. We wanted to do a proper test, and then go race. We didn’t have that opportunity for Laguna. But after our test, as a group we’re excited to get back out – we’re as prepared as we could be. I think we’re reasonably happy with where we are.”
Following VIR, the last race of the year will be at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Friday, Nov. 12.
“The main goal is to finish out the season strong and get good results in the last couple of events if we can,” Liddell said. “That obviously will be a shot in the arm for over the winter.”
The team will have a pair of one-hour practice sessions at VIR, at 2:15 p.m. Friday and 8:45 a.m. Saturday (all times ET). Qualifying will be at 8:20 a.m. Sunday morning, with the Virginia is for Racing Lovers Grand Prix taking the green flag at 2:10 p.m.
