Archangel Motorsports Faces Challenges in Daytona Season Opener

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (January 24, 2020) - As the green flag waved for today’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season opener, Archangel Motorsports broke back into competition for the first time since 2003. The team was having a strong run at Daytona International Speedway, when a mysterious fault in the fuel capacity hampered their chances of a top ten during the final hour of the four-hour event.

After four rainy practice sessions, all odds seemed to be in favor of Alan Brynjolfsson and Trent Hindman’s No. 7 VOLT Lighting Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 MR. Unfortunately, that didn’t carry over to race day, as the Florida skies opened up, bringing the temperature as high as seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit, which doesn’t bode well for the Porsche.

Rising above the challenges of the heat, Hindman advanced from sixth to fifth in the first corner. The New Jersey native spent his first stint battling amongst the front of the GS pack before handing the Porsche off to Brynjolfsson in seventh place. From there, the crew plowed through five flawless pitstops while Brynjolfsson and Hindman each held a consistent pace, staying well within the top ten.

The VOLT Lighting Porsche was running seventh with one hour remaining, when Hindman dove into the pits for a scheduled stop, only to halt prematurely with an empty fuel tank. The Archangel Motorsports crew quickly sprung into action, pushing the car down the greater half of pitlane to be refueled. This set them back to twenty-third place, where Brynjolfsson ultimately saw the checkered flag.

While the fault in the fuel calculations still remains a mystery, the Archangel Motorsports team leaves Daytona with their heads held high. Round 1 from Daytona International Speedway will be broadcasted on NBCSN on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 1:00PM ET. The IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season will pick back up March 17-19 at Sebring International Raceway.

Comments:

Mike Johnson | Team Principal, Archangel Motorsports - “We had a really good start to the month. Today everything was going as we expected and we had a pretty solid top ten run going. We did a lot of work on our fuel mileage and calculations during the Roar and thought we had it dialed in to perfection. We could consistently get 64 liters out of the car, but this time it ran out at 58. We don't know where those other 6 liters went, but it’s really unfortunate because with the large amount of car is this year a bad day is a fifteenth, it’s twenty-third. We definitely have our work cut out for us for the rest the season, but I’m proud of Alan, Trent and the team.”

Alan Brynjolfsson | Driver, No. 7 VOLT Lighting Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 MR - “Of course I’m very disappointed with the result, but I’m also very happy with the effort that the Archangel Motorsports team put forth. There is really nothing that they could’ve done in a situation like that. Such is racing. We will move on to Sebring.”

Trent Hindman | Driver, No. 7 VOLT Lighting Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 MR - “It was tough from the get-go. We had a really well balanced car under breaking, through the infield and through the bus stop. That was great, but as soon as we hit the straights it was difficult to keep up and that’s something that’s completely out of the team’s control. Coming back for the first time in 16 years Archangel Motorsports really did a fantastic job. It looked like we may have had an issue with and our fuel rig because our strategy and numbers were on point, but we ran out of fuel prematurely. I just want to thank Mike, Chris and Alan for their support and I look forward to making improvements for Sebring."