AFS/PR1 MATHIASEN MOTORSPORTS FINISH TOP LMP2 TEAM IN DETROIT →

Detroit, Michigan – June 4, 2018 – AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports finished their #52 Liger JS P217 in 8th place at the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic. The race around Belle Island was the second street circuit of the 2018 IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship and was the second race in a row that AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports finished as the top LMP2 entry.

What started as a shaky weekend ended up on a positive note thanks to all the hard work from the AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports team and drivers. Qualifying was smoother than the prior practice sessions, but the #52 still found itself starting back in 13th place on the grid. The crew of AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports worked overnight from qualifying to race day to make the car better for Sebastian Saavedra, who spent his birthday starting the race. Saavedra felt the improvement in the car immediately and gained several positions on the start.

Finding more of the pace and running off a good pit strategy, Saavedra ran all the way up to 4th place and was holding his spot amongst the competitive field. Time was lost when the drivers swapped over and found trouble getting a safety belt to cooperate. Gustavo Yacaman was pushed down to 10th as he made his way into the race, but that didn’t get in the way of AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports finding a way to gain some of those positions back. Knowing they were good on fuel for the remainder of the race, the engineers of AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports advised Yacaman to push the drivers ahead of him who had not pitted for extra fuel in the hopes they would exhaust their supply. Their efforts paid off and Yacaman was able to push himself into 8th place before crossing the finish line.

Next up for AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glenn at Watkins Glenn International. Roberto Gonzalez will rejoin Gustavo Yacaman and Sebastian Saavedra to fight for their first podium of the season on Sunday, July 1st.

Sebastian Saavedra - Driver

“We say goodbye to the streets of Detroit with a very positive 8th place finish. The weekend started with a car that was not very compatible with a street circuit, but we kept working at it together with my teammate, Gustavo, and Tim, my engineer. We found a path that we all followed together throughout the race weekend. We had a good start where we gained some positions and a great strategy from Bobby Oergel that got us ahead with fuel and put us in a good battle for the top positions. Unfortunately, a slow pit stop put us behind a little bit, but Gustavo ended really strong and earned us some important points for the Championship. We are focused on what is to come in Watkins Glen, which should be a more competitive event for us.”

Gustavo Yacaman - Driver

“It was a very tough weekend, which we kind of expected it to be. We lacked pace the whole weekend. We never quite figured the car out even though we made some improvements. We went from being three or four seconds off the pace to being around one or one and a half seconds off the pace. That leaves everything on a positive note and we have to remember that we are working really well as a team. Tim, our engineer has been learning more and more about the car and I think he feels pretty comfortable working around it, which will help us moving forward. The next couple of tracks should go well with the Liger so, for now, we will hope for the best and keep working.”

Gary Peterson - Team Principal

“We struggled most the weekend with our Ligier chassis, trying everything that we could possible to throw at the car since we didn't have the speed at first which was disappointing especially after being the quickest LMP2 at Mid-Ohio. With the efforts of Tim Lewis, our great engineer and Sebastian’s and Gustavo's feedback, we went for radical car changes that have not been tried by our team. We had a decent race car obtaining another top ten finish with an eighth place finish and again the best finish for an LMP2 car. The team is looking forward to Watkins Glen, a true road course where our car should be pretty quick."

Bobby Oergel - Team Principal

“I'm very proud of the work of the AFS/PR1 Mathiasen team. It was a difficult start to the weekend for us but everyone kept their cool and focused on improving the car and by the time we got to the race we were able to be in the fight once again. We've had almost no testing this season so we are definitely at a disadvantage but we've managed to show how strong we can be regardless.  Last year we were the fastest car at Watkins Glen so we are definitely looking forward to going back there and fighting for a podium!

BEST FINISH OF THE SEASON FOR AFS/PR1 MATHIASEN MOTORSPORTS AT MID-OHIO →

Lexington, Ohio - May 7, 2018 - AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports finished sixth this weekend at round four of the 2018 IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship, the Acura Sportscar Challenge at Mid-Ohio, marking it their best result of the season.

It took all three practice sessions to get the balance of the car where the drivers needed it in order to feel fully confident, but AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports hard work paid off with Gustavo Yacaman achieving their best qualifing effort of the year with the seventh starting position, and the best out of the LMP2 entries and only a few tenths off the top contenders. 

Yacaman started the two-hour and forty minute race with great momentum. With no yellow flags, the field was able to settle in and fight for pace. After completing half of the race as one of the quickest cars on track, Yacaman handed off the #52 Ligier JS P217 to his fellow Columbian teammate, Sebastian Saavedra. Saavedra maintained the pace set-up by Yacaman and took charge of the 2.4-mile circuit. 

In the final pit stop, the crew of AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports made the decision to keep Saavedra on used tires, which led him straight into a battle with the #99 JDC-Miller Motorsports Oreca LMP2 machine. Saavedra kept the fight alive for the remainder of the race and managed to hold off the #99 to finish in 6th place, AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports best result of the season. 

The fifth round of the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic, will be in Detroit, Michigan. The 100-minute race will take place on Saturday, June 2.

DRIVER - Gustavo Yacaman

“I’m pretty happy with how we have developed the car so far. We have made huge improvements, especially here at Mid-Ohio with how we started the weekend compared to how we finished. Very happy with the team and the crew. The car ran flawlessly all weekend and now I’m really looking forward to the rest of the year because we have a car we can race with."

DRIVER - Sebastian Saavedra

“Incredibly excited to have finished 6th. I think this is the first event of the season where we were able to put everything together. We had a huge evolution throughout the weekend from where we started with the car. We came in with a car that was not there, but we kept calm and AFS/PR1 Mathiasen did everything they could to make the car amazing to drive. It was really a delight to drive throughout the whole event. Kudos to everyone here on the team, and thank you to everyone for all the kind messages and good vibes. We are looking forward to Detroit."

TEAM OWNER- Gary Peterson

"I'm very proud of the AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports team, it was a very strong result and something that has been building during the whole season. It's a good feeling to know that we can be fighting with the the top guys up front and that even though we started at a disadvantage not being able to test at all, we are definItely catching up quickly. It was a flawless weekend for the team and drivers, everyone did a great job and I cant wait to keep this momentum up as we go into the rest of the season."

TEAM OWNER - Ray Mathiasen

"I wasn't able to attend the Mid Ohio race but did watch it on TV. It's a real challenge to compete against the manufacturer supported DPi's so I primarily focus on how the team is performing against the other P2s. To that end it was a great weekend with a strong qualifying effort with the ability to maintain and then improve on that position and eventually have our best finish so far in 2018. The team is improving every race. The competition between Saveedra and Simpson during the closing laps was fun to watch. I wish we were competing in a separate class for the P2s. Now that would greatly enhance our experience at the races!"

AFS/PR1 MATHIASEN MOTORSPORTS CLAIMS 11TH AT LONG BEACH →

Long Beach, California – April 17, 2018 - AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports finished 11th in the prototype class at the Bubba Burger Sports Car Grand Prix, which marked the third round of the 2018 IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship.

Gustavo Yacaman qualified 9th and had the quickest lap time of the of the LMP2 cars among the more dominant DPI machines. The start of the race looked promising off the line, but when Turn 3 came on the first lap, Yacaman was taken out by Kyle Masson of the #38 Performance Tech car who hit him in the back and spun him out. The Columbian fell to the back of the field but eventually climbed all the way back up into the top ten on the difficult 11-turn street circuit.

Sebastian Saavedra entered the #52 Ligier JS P217 during a full course yellow. After the race came back up to speed, Saavedra suffered an incident in Turn 9 resulting in an extra trip to the pits to repair some damage to the nose of the car. Despite the setback, Saavedra did his share of fighting back and held on to his damaged car to cross the finish line in 11th place in the prototype category. Next up, AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports will travel to Mid-Ohio where they are looking to claim their first top 10 result. 

DRIVER - Gustavo Yacaman

"In the end, it was a disappointing result. At least we keep showing that we are picking up the pace and race by race we are improving. We are finished with the hardest races for us - Daytona, Sebring, and Long Beach. Now we move on to more normal race tracks like Mid-Ohio, which I'm really looking forward to because I think we have a more competitive car there. We will keep our heads down and keep working and digging so we can bring a result soon."

DRIVER - Sebastian Saavedra

"It was a bittersweet weekend for us, we started strong developing the car even more, which has been our priority since we started the year so we can find the speed to be able to fight against everyone. From my side, I made a big mistake during the race and had contact with the wall, damaging the suspension and losing any chance we had to be competitive at the end of the race. Now we need to move on and keep focusing on developing our car. The team did a great job in pit stops and helped us gain positions, but the differences between the DPI's and the LMP2's are still too big so the series really needs to work on that to give us a fair shot at all these races.”

TEAM OWNER- Gary Peterson

"We made real gains with the car since the first race of the season. With our only testing coming at the roar and no additional testing, this season has been tough.  Gustavo's times were quick enough to claim quickest LMP2 car which put us ninth on the grid for start of the race. The car was not the best car in the race but we were gaining spots until the wall incident that Sebastian had in turn 9 damaged the car was too much and we had to coast home. Bobby Oergel, Tim Lewis our engineer, and his longtime AFS/PR1 Mathiasen crew did another great job."

TEAM OWNER - Bobby Oergel 

"I’m very proud of the team as a whole, Gustavo did a great job in quali being the quickest of the LMP2s and we had a realistic shot of a top-5 finish in view. Fighting hard on the streets of Long Beach is always a gamble, and this time unfortunately we lost that gamble with some wall contact.  But we know we have the potential to be up there and now we just need to keep working and show up in Mid-Ohio again looking for a strong result.

AFS/PR1 MATHIASEN MOTORSPORTS 11TH AT 12 HOURS OF SEBRING DESPITE SETBACKS →

Sebring, Florida – March 19, 2018 - AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports finished 11th at the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring presented by Advanced Auto Parts this past weekend. The new team showed promising speed despite multiple trips to the garage during their second race of the 2018 IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship.

Sebastian Saavedra started 13th on the grid, which resulted from a spin on his flying lap during qualifying where he showed promising speed. The Colombian quickly made up for it after the green flag, making his way up to ninth place. Saavedra found trouble in Turn 17 when his #52 Ligier JS P217 spun and made contact with another competitor. The first trip to the pits for repairs only cost the team one lap, which Saavedra gained back and drove right back into the fight.

On lap 117 an unfortunate electrical issue sent the car to the garage,  and the crew of AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports worked away to fully resolve the problems. The remaining six hours of the race built confidence in the driver and crew as they showed great strong pace – something previously struggled with at Daytona. Besides the result, the car showed it had speed and that AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports will be a strong contender for the rest of the 2018 IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship.

Sebastian Saavedra and Gustavo Yacaman will follow the crew of AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports west across the United States to Long Beach, California for the Bubba Burger Sport Car Grand Prix taking place on April 14th.

Sebastian Saavedra

Driver

“We semi-survived the 12 Hours of Sebring. It was quite an experience. First of all, I have to say thank you to AFS/PR1 Mathiasen for their work during the race and all the preparation beforehand. It was not an easy one for sure. We were incredibly strong and so quick, but I made a mistake in the beginning, which really hurt us. After that we started having a few issues with the alternator and the battery. The base was there, and the speed was there, but some of those unfortunate events were quite unpredictable which happens a lot in endurance racing. I’m looking forward to Long Beach.”

Roberto Gonzalez

Driver

“It was great to be back here again at Sebring after six years. It was a pretty eventful race. Sebastian had an accident in Turn 17 that caused some damage to the car, but we were able to gain the lap back and we were still in the fight. After two or three hours into the race we had electrical problems and had to spend a lot of time fixing that. From there on, it was a different race. We had fun and we enjoyed it, but it’s a shame we did not get the results we wanted.”

Gustavo Yacaman

Driver

“It was a pretty tough 12 Hours of Sebring for us. We had some alternator issues from a small incident at the beginning of the race and after that we just had to do damage control and try to learn something and bring it home. It is what it is, and other than the mistake at the beginning, Sebastian did an amazing job with his pace. I think the car is now something we can work with for sure. There was a huge improvement from Daytona to here and now I am more positive about what the season will bring.”