04.08.2003  AN EXCLUSION SEES ACEMCO MOTORSPORTS FERRARI 360 MODENA MOVE UP TO THE GT PODIUM AT TROIS-RIVIERES 

The improvement came when the International Motorsports Sports Association (IMSA), the sanctioning body for the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), released the official race results following post-race technical inspection of all the cars participating in the three-hour event. 

Lewis and co-driver Terry Borcheller had set the team’s highest ALMS finish with the fourth-place in the unofficial standings when the provisional third place entry was excluded for a yet announced technical violation. Lewis’ career-high finish in the series came in 2001 with a second in GTS class at Portland International Raceway. This podium adds to previous GT Class podiums earned at Silverstone and the Nurburgring.

“I have to admit I was pretty surprised when I heard the news this morning,” offered Lewis. “This isn’t exactly the way you want to get it but we were competitive all race long so I don’t feel too bad. I’m thrilled to have helped ACEMCO earn its first ALMS podium. The ACEMCO guys were the ones that made all this happen. They gave Terry and me a great car and were awesome in the pits. Everyone has earned this together. It took awhile to get two Ferrari 360 GTs on the podium in ALMS but we’ll keep working to make sure this isn’t the last time. It’s disappointing not to celebrate up on the podium with the whole crew. We’ll have to make sure to get up there again soon so that we can all celebrate together.”

Yesterday Shane Lewis had started the ACEMCO Automotive Ferrari 360 GT Modena 12th on the GT grid and charged the car up to the top-five in class before handing the driving chores over to Terry Borcheller at the midpoint of the three-hour race. The fourth-place, which today has become third, marked the second top-five finish for ACEMCO in ALMS competition. Lewis led the team to its first high-finish mark, a fifth, at Road Atlanta in June. 

“We’ll take this fourth-place any day,” commented Lewis yesterday after the race. “This is a very tough track and we learned a lot about the Ferrari 360 GT Modena this weekend. We had some good luck today where a couple of the leaders didn’t and that helped us but, you know, that’s racing. It all comes around. We’ve had our share of bad luck at Sebring and Le Mans and even last weekend at Sonoma. It’s another ALMS finish for the ACEMCO crew and that is awesome. Every race this team just keeps getting stronger and stronger. All the hard work is coming together for the ACEMCO crew. 

"Jeff Giangrande and the team have given Terry and me a car that, so far, is almost bullet-proof. Terry and I are driving together as well as any team mate that I have ever raced with. Thomas Blam has trained this crew to be just killer with the pit stops and he has called some great pit strategy. On top of that Jim Bell has given us a good handling race car since coming on board just before Sonoma. I’m looking forward to getting to Mosport to see if we can’t move it up a spot or two. We’re coming into our own, maybe not as fast as we would all like but two top-five finishes in the ALMS this year and the lead at Le Mans really shows how far this team has come and how good it can be.” 

FULL RESULT FROM TROIS-RIVERIES