Scott Tucker experiences paramount success with new car

The Level 5 team’s 2011 year has shown it a versatile, dominating team filled with expertise, skill and drive. Commanding the podium at the majority of the competitions it entered-including winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and podium at Imola and Sebring, among others-is proof that the Scott Tucker-owned, Microsoft Office-sponsored team found a winning method in its schedule, race strategy and drivers, including Tucker, Luis Diaz and Christophe Bouchut. While they began the last quarter of an already remarkable year with the ModSpace American Le Mans Monterey presented by Patron mid-September, all their ducks appeared to be in a row: their formula had been proven frequently as dependable for an effective winning effort. But this race contained one wild card, or wild car, as the case might be-the team would finally debut the HPD ARX-01g they had announced they were switching to mid-season.

The Level 5 team expected the vehicle to be a positive multiplier for their already winning equation, but as is the situation in racing, they also knew always to anticipate the unanticipated. For another team, the possibility and risk of entering completely new vehicle so close to the season’s most important races could screw up drivers and the team’s flow, but Level 5 is composed of drivers that have knowledge not just adapting to automobile changes but also in motorsports alone.

“Experience counts,” said Christophe Bouchut prior to the ModSpace race. “We’ve worked hard to prepare for this race, but it’s still brand new and there are still things to check.” The team opened the gearbox for examination, sitting out of a final practice time to familiarize themselves with the latest vehicle as much as possible before its very first run. Still, Bouchut was right: A car can be assessed as often as needed, and the race strategy can be cemented into the drivers’ minds, but there comes a time for drivers when lessons from old race knowledge gets control with a sort of gut instinct and sensibility that can’t be taught.

Tucker may be the least experienced driver on the Level 5 team, but what he lacks in years in the driver’s seat he makes up for with a fantastic learning curve that barely existed in the first place. A newbie in 2006 when he was 44, Tucker displayed natural skill and stunning skill in the Ferrari Challenge Series before he developed Level 5 Motorsports and began making a dream team of motorists. As the seasons evolved, Tucker began seeing his first major success. In 2009, he won the Sports Car Club of America National Championship. Later on, he was the very first American to drive one of Audi’s V-12 turbodiesels in a competition, during the 24 Hours of Le Mans. His passion for motorsports joined with an unrelenting pursuit of excellence-which has caused him to maintain an ultra-disciplined exercise schedule and also a hard, three-series race schedule-have catapulted his brief career into the territory of his counterparts, whose very first races weren’t too long after their first birthdays.

Christophe Bouchut, part of the Level 5 dream team, is just about the best endurance drivers on the earth. His wins have included the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. He has also won several Porsche Carrera Cup France championships, three FIA GT titles and a FFSA GT championship. He is the only triple FIA GT champion in history. Bouchut has been driving with Tucker’s Level 5 team since 2008, adding his experience to Tucker’s burgeoning motorsports empire and becoming a fundamental piece of the team’s success.

Luis Diaz drove in the Toyota Atlantic and Indy Lights Series from 1999 to 2003 before moving to the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car series in 2004 when he co-drove the No. 01 car with former Champ Car competitor Scott Pruett for Chip Ganassi Racing. A few years later, Diaz moved again, this time into the American Le Mans Series, driving an LMP2 Lola B06/43-Acura for Fernandez Racing, and won the class championship in 2009. Diaz was also titled Most Popular Driver that season. Diaz’s experience with Level 5 Motorsports is limited only to this year’s season, but his knowledge of the LMP2 cars has undoubtedly been critical to the ever-changing team.

Level 5 Motorsports continues to run on a near-perfect blend of expertise, eagerness, skill and experience. The cohesive combination of the drivers’ experience has established the team as dominant frontrunners in multiple series and allowed the 2011 momentum to carry on with the latest HPD ARX-01g car.

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