Michele Abbate debuts her race spec Scion Racing FR-S
United States Touring Car Championship series at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
June 28th and 29th 2014 marked round 4 of the United States Touring Car Championship series that was held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with Competent Motorsports and the Pirelli GT3 Cup Series. This was Michele Abbate’s debut race in her brand new Scion FR-S; the first Scion and FT86 chassis to ever compete in the series.
New to the series, track, and race car, there was a lot to be learned during the weekend. Crew Chief Mike Abbate and Crew team members Anthony Philleo and Jason Philleo assisted Michele during her weekend. In addition, special thanks to Bill Knose of Delicious Tuning, as well as Gary Lui and Michelle Tang of AST /Mann Engineering who also provided track side support.
With rapid lap time improvements after each session on track, Abbate qualified P9 and finished P7 in the race. Crew Chief Mike stated, “Any time you finish higher than you qualify is a major achievementâ€. Philleo agreed while mentioning, “…it has been a year of emotions and this was a very satisfying result for the weekend. We have some work to do before the next one, but with more power and a little less weight we will be running up frontâ€.
Abbate’s FR-S is still on the heavy side, although it is fully gutted to spec. The team will shave weight wherever possible, and also plan to put some work into the engine before the next round of USTCC at Miller Motorsports Park with NASCAR K&N West Series and Pirelli World Challenge at the Utah Grand Prix, September 13 & 14, 2014. As Abbate’s chassis currently sits, she can add up to 30 more hp (which shows the potential of competition she will soon have), and plans to do so with the help of sponsors.
Abbate states, “I am so proud to be the first to represent Scion in collaboration with this amazing chassis to the USTCC professional series. Our car has great potential on track, and this is only the beginningâ€. Michele and the Abbate race team won two awards after their performance at Laguna Seca – the Race Ramps award as well as the Specialty Products Company Award. Abbate stands 10th in points and there are 3 more races for the season – September 13th & 14th at Miller Motorsports Park in Toole, UT and Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA on November 15th & 16th.
Check out the video of the race weekend highlights. Be sure to follow Michele Abbate on facebook, twitter, and instagram! You may use any of the included photos in this press release, please allow credit for: Richard Pochop. In addition, we are excited to announce that our FR-S will be available for the dates of the SEMA show in Las Vegas (November 4-7, 2014). If any of our current sponsors are interested in having our FR-S for display, please respond to abbate30@gmail.com about inquiries.
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