30.09.2003 SHANE LEWIS AND THE ACEMCO TEAM LOOKING FORWARD TO THE PETIT LE MANS AFTER A SOLID FINISH IN MIAMI
Shane Lewis started the ACEMCO Motorsports/Yokohama Tyres Ferrari 360 GT Modena in tenth-place in GT class and finished eighth at the Grand Prix Americas. Lewis, competing in round-eight of the 2003 American Le Mans Series (ALMS), charged as high as seventh through the tight confines of downtown Miami before handing the No. 63 Ferrari over to teammate Terry Borcheller.

Early in the event, the car had been struck from behind by a competitor damaging the rear diffuser (an aerodynamic aide that directs airflow under and out of the rear of the car). The damage did not impact the performance of the Ferrari but race officials required its repair forcing several additional pit stops. The driver duo dropped to eighth as a result. Lewis will compete in the ALMS season-ending Petit Le Mans, a qualifying event for the prestigious 24 Hours of Le
Mans, on October 18th. Lewis finished fifth in the ACEMCO Ferrari earlier this season at Road Atlanta and led Le Mans for the team in June. Both were landmark events for the Michigan-based race team.

"I felt really good and confident at Miami," reflected Lewis on his 48-minute stint behind the wheel of the Ferrari. "It all felt very good. The way I felt, I could have driven another six hours! We just needed a little more horsepower and we would have been right there at the front racing with the Porsches. Tough race, it seemed like a lot of guys wanted to play bumper-cars instead of race. Terry and I drove as a clean as anyone could and we had people beating on us. We just needed some better luck with the yellows at the end and we might have had a top-five. But that is why you race, to find out what happens, not what might happen. We got ACEMCO its first ALMS top-five at Road Atlanta earlier this year and an endurance race can make up for a lot. So, I am pretty eager to get to the Petit Le Mans in a few weeks."
Click here to open this image of the ACEMCO Motorsports Ferrari 360 Modena at Miami in high resolution. Photo: Juha Lievonen