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 Racing : RealTime Racing Opens Assault on 2004 SPEED World Challenge
RealTime Racing will begin its quest for a ninth Manufacturers
Championship, with a four-car lineup of A-SPEC
equipped Acuras in the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED Touring Car
Championship.
The season opens Friday, March 19 at Sebring International Raceway in Florida.
RealTime Racing, the most successful team in the history of the World Challenge
series has entered two of its Acura RSX sports cars and today announced the
world racing debut of Acuras newest performance four-door sedan, the Acura TSX.
The teams driver lineup is led by three-time Touring Car Drivers Champion
Pierre Kleinubing, 2003 Rookie-of-the-year titlist Matt
Plumb, and 2004 top-rookie candidate Victor Gonzalez Jr.
The teams fourth driver will be announced.
Kleinubing has finished first or second in Touring Car championship points every
year since his 1997 debut with RealTime Racing. He won the championship in his
rookie year, and repeated in 2000 and 2001.
In 2003, the first full season for the Acura RSX, Kleinubing won races at
Mosport, Lime Rock and Road Atlanta, was on the podium five times, and had one
pole position.
Plumbs first year in Touring Cars was highlighted by a second place at Lime
Rock, following four seasons in Formula Dodge and Barber Pro Series
open-wheelers.
I needed to be with a team like RealTime, Plumb said, one that was truly run
as a business, with a proven championship-winning record, and could put me in a
competitive car race after race.
Gonzalez, of Puerto Rico, has an extensive racing background in the Caribbean
area, and has been a consistent front-runner in Barber-Dodge and regional
touring car racing.
The World Challenge series is getting better every year, he said. I love
racing touring cars, and wanted to compete with a really good team in the World
Challenge. I tested the RealTime cars and was amazed at how well-built they
were, how strong the engines were, and how professional the entire team was.
This is a great opportunity for me.
Both the RSX and the TSX benefit from Acuras i-VTEC technology, said
Andy Kanehl, who builds the race-winning engines for RealTime
Racing. The only physical difference is the RSX engine is two liters, and the
TSX has a 2.4.
What has impressed us over the winter is the higher torque curve with the TSX
engine, he added, but the two should be pretty equal on the race tracks
because the RSX starts the season at 2,500 pounds and the TSX carries another 50
pounds.
The 2004 SPEED World Challenge Touring Car series takes the green flag at
Sebring on March 19 at 1:15 p.m. for a 50-minute race.
The race will be televised on the SPEED Channel Sunday, March 28 at Noon (EST).
The RealTime Racing Touring Cars are sponsored by the Acura Division
of American Honda, Red Line Oil, Eibach
Springs, BOSCH, Sparco,
Hella, Brembo, Gemini Technologies,
Goodridge, Hawk Performance, and Acura Genuine Parts
By The_News_Guy on Monday, March 22 2004
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