Action Express Racing has spoken of their delight in claiming their second championship in a row as they fought through rain of biblical promotions at Petit Le Mans to take the crown.
Christian Fittipaldi and João Barbosa with assistance from North American Endurance Cup driver Sebastien Bourdais kept their Chevrolet Corvette DP on the track to claim the title by only three points ahead of Michael Valiante and Richard Westbrook in the VisitFlorida.com Racing Corvette.
The Action Express crew actually came into the last round trailing the VisitFlorida.com team but their steady racing when the rain really came down helped them gain the valuable points needed to claim their second TUDOR United SportsCar Championship crown.
As well as claiming the crown, Dane Cameron and Eric Curran in the second Whelen backed Corvette DP finished in third place – rounding off a great season for the North Carolina team.
“This was a team win in every way possible,” said team manager Gary Nelson. “Throughout the race both of our cars were in position to win the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and that’s a testament to everyone who works at Action Express Racing. We had a major challenge entering the race but as a team we kept our heads down and did all of the small things which in-turn add up to the big thing and that was winning the race and both championships.”
For Brazilian Fittipaldi, this championship was a lot harder to claim – last year all he had to do was start and the title was his, this year he had to survive floods, driving rain and long stoppages as well as the VisitFlorida.com squad to claim the title.
“Obviously winning the championship the way we did was very exciting for the fans and for the series,” said Fittipaldi. “But to tell you the truth, I preferred the way we did it last year. The competition was much stronger this season and we had what we had for the championship fight.”
Team mate João Barbosa praised the fight they had with team mates Cameron and Curran, predicting that the battle will be even more fierce in 2016: “We had another great season. As a team we won four races, two for the Mustang Sampling Corvette DP and two for the Whelen Engineering Corvette DP. It was great having a second car full-time this season with Dane and Eric; they’ve helped to elevate the program because they are both championship caliber drivers and I imagine that Christian and I will be racing them down the wire again next season. It’s very exciting to complete another championship sweep. Thanks to TUDOR, Tequila Patrón, Continental Tire and all of the sponsors who support IMSA.”
Eric Curran himself has praised how well the entire entry has done in 2015, considering they had only all come together at the start of the season: “Winning two races and challenge for the championship all the way to the closing minutes of the season was a major accomplishment for Dane and myself in our first season with Action Express Racing. This was a completely new group at the beginning of the season and we just grew together throughout the year. We’re already counting down to Daytona and ready to get out of the box strong and go for the championship again next season.
“We couldn’t have done this without Sonny Whelen. Sonny has done so much for my career and he does so much to support racing all over the world. This was a great season, but the best is yet to come. I couldn’t be any happier to be part of Whelen Engineering and Action Express Racing.”
