The other day, Scott Tucker-owned Level 5 Motorsports announced the addition of Marino Franchitti to its driver lineup just in time for this weekend’s Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta. Franchitti will join Tucker and fellow driver Luis Diaz in driving the No. 55 Microsoft Office-sponsored entry for the enduro, a 1,000-mile/10-hour race.
Franchitti is the latest addition to Tucker’s superteam of motorsports competitors, that has been established throughout the Level 5 Motorsports team’s 3 years of existence. Franchitti will be especially handy in driving the latest Level 5 entry, a LMP2-class Honda Performance Development prototype urban in conjunction with Wirth Research. Prior to joining Level 5, Franchitti had raced essentially every iteration of HPD prototypes, such as the original ARX-01a with Andretti Green Racing in 2007 and Highcroft’s 2010 ALMS championship winner ARX-01c as well as its ARX-01e, which took second place overall in the 12 Hours of Sebring earlier this year. Franchitti this year will doubtless be seeking his 3rd straight Petit Le Mans class victory.
The elite Level 5 team started when Tucker came into the industry of qualified motorsports in 2006 at age 44. What he lacked in experience he made up for in natural ability, rapidly ascending the motorsports rankings. In early stages, he joined up with Christophe Bouchut, an endurance racing expert, who acted as his coach and co-driver. Bouchut is one of the best endurance drivers around the world and a past champion of the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. He has also won three Porsche Carrera Cup France championships, three FIA GT titles and an FFSA GT championship. He’s the only triple FIA GT champion in history. Since the Level 5 Motorsports team started in 2008, Bouchut has co-driven with Tucker and been integral in the team’s success. With his wealth of experience and skill in controlled speed, Bouchut’s role as lead driver has allowed Tucker to develop his own skills, increasing the depth of the Level 5 racing team. In the 2010 season, Bouchut earned his 100th career win.
Joao Barbosa, another Level 5 Motorsports standout started his racing career in his native Porto, Portugal nearly Thirty years ago. He won back-to-back kart championships in 1988-1989 and continued to win the Portuguese Formula Ford championship in 1994 and the Italian Formula Alfa Boxter Championship in 1995. In 2001, he joined the Grand-Am Sports Car Run and competed in the GT class until he joined the Brumos Racing team in a Daytona prototype in 2006. After four seasons there, he joined Action Express Racing and won the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2010. In 2010, he also made seven starts in the ALMS for Extreme Speed Motorsports in the GT2 class.
Luis Diaz, the third part to this weekend’s Petit Le Mans bid, hails from Mexico City, Mexico. He ran in the Toyota Atlantic and Indy Illumination Run from 1999-2003 prior to making the go to Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Run in 2004 when he co-gaggle the No. 1 car with former Champ Car competitor Scott Pruett for Chip Ganassi Racing. In 2007, he stirred into the ALMS, driving an LMP2 Lola B06/43-Acura for Fernandez Racing. The pairing finished sixth in the LMP2 standings that year and won the class championship in 2009. Diaz made his Level 5 debut this year at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, a very excellent start to the season, and his LMP2 experience might be a must have at Petit Le Mans using the new car.
Ryan Hunter-Reay has been off of the grid for the margin of the 2011 season as Tucker and crew have been centered on the ALMS and LMP2 class, but he has been an vital contributor to the Level 5 team’s overall success. He will be a regular in the IZOD IndyCar Run for Andretti Autosport, where he nabbed his second win at Iowa Speedway last year. Hunter-Reay helped the No. 95 Level 5 Motorsports BMW Riley to a third-place end in the 2010 Rolex 24 at Daytona.
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