Daytona Beach, Florida (Monday, January 22, 2024) – Forte Racing kicked off the 2024 VP Racing SportsCar Challenge season with back-to-back wins in Bronze Cup. Driver Brian Thienes was quick from the start of the weekend with the 2nd and 3rd fastest times in the first two practices at on the 3.56 mile Daytona International Speedway Road Course.
The veteran American driver followed up with a qualifying time of 1:43.982 Saturday morning for a fourth place starting spot on the grid for Saturday afternoon’s season debut race. Thienes had a great start moving up to third on the grid by the end of the third lap before being passed on lap 15. The No. 77 Thienes Engineering Ligier LMP3 lost another spot on the restart after a late yellow to finish fifth overall, but still holding on for the win in Bronze Cup.
“A really great job by Forte Racing,” Thienes said after Sunday’s race. “They gave me a great race car. Pete Jacobs always gives me such a good setup where I can be competitive. We ran qualifying within a second of the track record and I felt good about the car. My pace wasn’t there on Saturday’s race, but I still managed to finish first in the Bronze Cup and fifth overall.”
Team engineer Peter Jacobs was impressed with Thienes’ early season speed. “Overall, the weekend went pretty well. At the start of the weekend Brian was very competitive running in the top two in the first session. He qualified fourth with a 1:43.982 which is really good. That was a very competitive time for anyone and even more impressive since he’ll be 61 this year.”
Sunday saw a bit more excitement with Thienes getting spun by the number 51 on the first lap as both cars were trying to move into the second-place spot on the track. Thienes dropped all the way to the back of the field, but immediately began working his way forward. He quickly moved through the GSX field and was back into seventh overall before a late race caution. The green flag dropped with one lap to go, and Thienes drove flawlessly to get back on the podium for his second win in Bronze Cup and a fourth-place overall finish.
“With a little advice from Bob Perona this afternoon, I was trying to make a pass for second at the start,” Thienes said. “I got hit by Cody Ware. He got a 10-second penalty; not sure he really deserved that. We were all just trying to fight for the same piece of track. I spun out and ended up dead last, so I had to pass all the GSX cars just to get back behind the tail end of the P3 cars. I obviously lost a lot of track position, but somehow drove the car from dead last to 4th overall.”
Jacobs was amazed with Thienes’ performance. “Race 2, he finished fourth. He didn’t drive quite as well as he did yesterday. Even though he was spun out by the No. 51 car today and fell back to 33rd position he worked his way up to 7th position before the caution. Then after the full-course yellow, he was able to move up to fourth position overall and Bronze Cup number one. He did an excellent job!”
Forte Racing’s VPRC Program Manager David Cozart was pleased with the team’s execution in the season-opener. “The weekend was really good for us,” he said. “We have a few new faces in new positions who performed above expectations. Brian really likes this track. He did fairly well here last year and came out of the box strong. He carried that momentum through the weekend and had two good solid races to get us started for the 2024 season.”
Thienes was appreciative of the team and his loyal supporters. “Thank you everybody on the team; Garrison (Masters), Anders (Cozart) and the rest of the guys. Great spotting by David Cozart. He really helped me through the track. I wasn’t used to him on Saturday, but he really helped a lot in the race on Sunday. It was great having him call the race for me; he did a great job. Thank you Tricia (Thienes) and Natalie (Simpson) for being here for me and following me with my crazy hobby.”
The next stop for the 2024 VP Racing SportsCar Challenge is the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, March 08 to March 10 on the streets of St. Petersburg, FL.
About Forte Racing (Formerly known as US RaceTronics)
Forte Racing is a Los-Angeles based Motorsport team supported by Lamborghini Squadra Corse and competing in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, the IMSA VP Racing Sportscar Challenge and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series.
Founded in 2023 and operated by US RaceTronics, the Italian-American team’s GT Daytona title contender is a Lamborghini Huracan EVO2 GT3 driven by Pro driver Loris Spinelli and Misha Goikhberg. The ream finished the 2023 season with four top-five finishes in the last five races of the season and included a 2nd-place finish at Indianapolis and a win at the season-finale Petit LeMans. The team finished an impressive rookie season fifth in the IMSA WeatherTech GTD Championship.
The team line-up for the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech GTD Championship includes the team’s 2023 Petit LeMans winning driver Goikhberg and Spinelli along with NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver Devlin DeFrancesco for the five IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races.
US RaceTronics (USRT) was founded by Shane Seneviratne in 2005 to compete in the Atlantic Championship, a formula race car series. The team finished 5th in points its first year and continued its success during the succeeding years, ultimately amassing a total of 21 podiums, 7 poles, 5 race wins and finishing 3rd in the 2009 Atlantic Championship. USRT was put on hold after series officials announced the Atlantic Series was put on hiatus.
Seneviratne fully returned to racing in 2015 after receiving an invitation to manage the O’Gara Motorsport entries in the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North American (LBSTNA) Series. The team won the Team Championship, Dealership Championship, Pro Championship and Amateur Championship that season.
The success of 2015 reignited Seneviratne’s passion for racing and he relaunched US RaceTronics to compete in the 2016 LBSTNA Series. The team has won multiple North American and World Championships and expects to add to their success as they enter their eighth season in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North American Series. The team also competed in 2023 with one car each in the IMSA WeatherTech GTD Championship and the IMSA VP Challenge and will be expanding their entries in 2024.
For more information on how to become a driver with US RaceTronics, learn more about the Series, or attend a race, visit www.usracetronics.com.
About O’Gara Motorsport
O’Gara Motorsport was founded in 2014 by owner Tom O’Gara and celebrated winning the 2015 North American Lamborghini Super Trofeo driver and team Championships. The team goal is to achieve victories in the Series as well as showcasing the brands of their sponsors both on and off the track. With a vertically integrated platform that starts at the dealership and accelerates to the top levels of professional sports car racing, everyone at O’Gara is dedicated to providing a comprehensive program for anyone, from the casually curious to the dedicated racer.
About Change Racing
Founded by Lamborghini Charlotte CEO and long time real estate developer, John E. Littlefield, Change Racing is the premier championship winning team. Claiming 18 titles in various classes; Change Racing has competed in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Series since its inception in 2013.
Most recently claiming the 2021 Amateur World Championship in Misano, Italy. Change Racing also claimed all SIX 2020 North American Championships, including the Pro, Pro-Am, Am and LB Cup class championships as well as the Team and Owner championships.
