SANTA MONICA, Calif., August 6, 2012 – Shea Holbrook piloted her No. 67 TrueCar/Virgin Honda Civic Si to her ninth top-10 finish of the season despite challenging conditions both on and off the racetrack. In this past weekend’s doubleheader Pirelli World Challenge at Mid Ohio Sportscar Course, Holbrook overcame mechanical difficulties in qualifying as well as a slick race track in round 2 to come away with one top-ten finish and maintain her fourth place points in the Championship.
“Mid Ohio is one of those races you never know what to expect. Track conditions constantly change and weather is unpredictable,” said Holbrook.
After finishing on the podium twice at her previous race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, the 22-year old TrueCar Racing Women Empowered initiative driver was hoping to continue that momentum into rounds ten and eleven at Mid Ohio.
During qualifying for race one Holbrook had an incident on the exit of turn seven which damaged the car beyond repair forcing the Team to prepare the back-up car.
“After qualifying we deemed our primary car un-drivable,” said Holbrook. “However, thanks to the relentless efforts of our crew they were able to prepare our backup car for the rest of the weekend.”
Because of the new car entry Holbrook was forced to start from the back of the field (15th) on Saturday. Saturday’s race was dry and humid and Holbrook looked to be very comfortable in the backup car as she charged through the field finishing sixth. “Every time we go on track the crew amazes me. We’ve really come a long way,” Holbrook said with arms around her team.
Forecast showed rain for Sunday’s race and as predicted the rain came. Based off her fastest lap time of race one Holbrook started fifth on the grid. “Track conditions were extremely tough and even the rain line had very limited grip. I was actually pleased with our performance in the rain as we had implemented overtaking strategies in very wet conditions. But to win that race we needed to stay on track.” Towards the end of the race Holbrook went off in turn eleven and when reentering the track she found herself caught in the GTS field making the situation hard to catch the TC field. Holbrook finished eleventh in the rain.
“This weekend was a learning experience for all of us. We faced our challenges and ended up with one top-ten and maintaining our position in the Championship. I’m proud of the entire TrueCar Team because we can walk away knowing we all gave 100% and gained additional on-track experience. We are confident that as we continue to gain on-track experience we will continue to improve. But Mid Ohio sure does have true love for TrueCar, thank you race fans!”
Holbrook currently sits fourth in the Touring Car Championship with 881 points. Watch the Pirelli World Challenge races from Mid Ohio on NBC Sports, Saturday, August 25th at 1:30-3PM eastern.
The season comes to an end with an exciting tripleheader weekend at Sonoma Raceway August 24-26, 2012 alongside the IZOD IndyCar Series.
Continue watching Shea Holbrook’s live in-car video during all race weekends and revisit Mid Ohio right from her cockpit on Livestream.com.
Special thanks to the fans, TrueCar, Virgin, Lucas Oil, Premier Capital, HPD/Honda Racing, Shea Racing, Compass360 Racing, Eibach Springs, Bell Helmets, K&N Filters, Penta Water, and Cool Shirt.
Shea’s passion for driving started when she was 16 with a “Richard Petty Experience.” Shea quickly began excelling in the motorsports world through high performance driving events all throughout Florida. She then went on to obtain her SCCA license and since then Shea has been road racing competitively all over the nation with many organizations, from sprint races to 25 hour enduros. Shea debuted her first professional race season with SCCA World Challenge Pro Racing in 2010 finishing 6th in the championship. Shea became the first women to ever win a Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car race in 2011 winning the Long Beach Grand Prix along with winning Best Standing Start and the Hard Charger Award. Shea received her Bachelor’s Degree in Interpersonal and Organizational Communications/Marketing from the University of Central Florida in May of 2012. Something you may not know about Shea is that she is an accomplished national competitive water skier holding numerous state, regional and national titles. Shea received the “Living Legend Honoree Award” for her on and off track efforts, has been honored in the “Women in Motorsports” SuperCars Super Show Exhibit and was featured in Teen Vogue. In 2008, Shea became a “Women in the Winners Circle” graduate of the Lyn St. James program. “Fear is a state of mind, will is an action taken.” Shea lives this quote and believes through commitment and determination anything is possible. Helping others is another love of Shea’s. Shea Racing partnered up with Frito Lay Corp., in 2008 to raise $12,500 for the Susan G. Komen “For the Cure.” She has also raised thousands of dollars and awareness for her charity of choice, Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD.) PPMD benefits Duchenne muscular dystrophy which affects her own family. Shea is a member of the TrueCar Racing “Women Empowered” initiative and will be competing in Pirelli World Challenge in 2012 and 2013.
You can follow Shea on Twitter (@SheaRacing) become a fan on Facebook, watch her video’s on YouTube and watch live on Livestream.
TrueCar Racing was created to support top female race car drivers in premier racing series, along with young rising stars across several developmental racing series. TrueCar Racing is empowering high-potential women who aspire to become championship race car drivers by providing full sponsorship support, professional coaching and training, marketing exposure, and top-tier racing team opportunities throughout the U.S. TrueCar Racing currently sponsors women in the following race series: IndyCar, Star Mazda, USF2000, World Challenge, Mazda MX-5 Cup and Rally America.
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