8Star Motorsports will be hoping for strong results at Belle Isle Park as they welcome in new race engineer, Yves Touron.
Touron joins the 8Star team from a history in open-wheel racing, working with Panther/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and PKV Racing in the IndyCar Series. Touron was also an assistant race engineer with Team Cadillac/Protostar in 2002 and race engineer of a McLaren F1 GTR for Giroux Racing in the 1995-96 24 Hours of Le Mans. Touron played an integral part in 8Star’s test at Sebring in May.
“Bringing Yves on board is a big positive for 8Star Motorsports,” said Team Owner Enzo Potolicchio. “The whole team has been working really well together, from the mechanics to management, but we were lacking a little bit on the engineering side. Yves is the right guy. Nobody’s going to bring a magic wand but I feel he is headed in the right direction to give Stephane and Pedro a car to win races. I just want finish the season strong and put 8Star in a position as one of the best options for sponsors and drivers to join us.”
8Star has had an impressive debut in the Rolex Series, earning three top-five finishes in the first four races, with a best result of fourth at the Circuit of the Americas. Pedro Lamy became the team’s full time driver at Road Atlanta, replacing Potolicchio and joining Stephane Sarrazin in the #3 Corvette DP.
Neither Sarrazin or Lamy have ever raced at the street circuit, but Potolicchio took sixth place in last year’s event.
“8Star Motorsports has come a long way in a very short time,” concluded Potolicchio. “We are a small team but we have very good people who are working hard trying to make us better. And we have had great help working with Pratt & Miller, ECR Engines and everyone at Chevrolet. We had our first test session last week at Sebring and everything went very well. We still have a lot of work ahead but I think we’re getting closer to getting our first podium and, hopefully, if we have a few good things go our way, possibly a win before the year is out.”
