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<body> <Table Width="550" border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" cellpadding="0"><TR><TD Width="35"><IMG SRC="//www.totalmotorsport.com/images/spacer.gif" WIDTH="35" HEIGHT="1"></td><td> <CENTER><Table border="0" width="100%"> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="5">AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">15/04/2001</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="4">Rowan Racing Pilbeam</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="3">Consecutive Successes</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><img border="1" src="Storage/beamConsAME.jpg"></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="1">  </FONT></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2"> There were a few raised eyebrows when sportscar newcomers Rowan Racing popped up on the Le Mans entry list but yesterday’s quick and reliable run to 7th overall in the ELMS round at Donington Park has silenced some of the critics of the decision to give the long time British F3 runners a crack at sportscar racing’s biggest crown.<BR> <BR> TotalMotorSport caught up with team boss Ray Rowan as he prepared the team’s scholarship F3 car at Snetterton. He was justly proud of the achievement and heaped praise on his drivers “The car’s good but my team’s great. Martin (O’Connell) and Warren (Carway) would be quick in anything”<BR> <BR> The beautifully presented Pilbeam ran at Donington with a 3 litre Nissan engine, albeit with a bigger restrictor than it is normally permitted to use in the FIASCC. Rowan said that there was much more to come “We’ll have a 3.4 for Le Mans and a carbon brake package too”.<BR> <BR> Lead driver Martin O’Connell was equally buoyed up by the car's pace at Donington – "When I heard that we’d had our entry accepted for Le Mans I thought 'Oh My God what have we got ourselves into?' This is the race that everyone wants to do." <BR> <BR> Birthday boy O’Connell (29 today) admits that he’s not got the foggiest idea what to expect of Le Mans. "I’ve never been but I’ve heard it’s a brilliant event." The team has so far only has five hours or so of sportscar racing under its belt, but all of it right on the pace.<BR> <BR> “We were delighted with the (only) six second difference in the lap times between our car and the Audis. Pilbeam have done some great work on the aerodynamics and I couldn’t believe the improvement from the FIASCC race at Barcelona.” <BR> <BR> "For Le Mans we’ll drive our own race, we’re going for a finish."<BR> <BR> The team’s plans now involve the Spa FIA race but they will miss the Monza round while preparing for Le Mans. They also hope to figure in the Estoril round of the ELMS before returning to the FIA championship for all races after Le Mans.<BR> </FONT></TD></TR> </TABLE><BR> </CENTER> <BR><CENTER><font size="1" color="#808080" face="Tahoma">Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport</font></CENTER> </td> </tr> </table> </body>