Finishing in the Top-10 of a SPEED Touring Car race is an accomplishment in itself, but for Paul Bonaccorsi to finish fifth and Chuck Hemmingson seventh driving their Mazda Proteges around the significant obstacles they faced at Sebring speaks highly of the OPM Motorsports drivers.

Team Manager Tom Fowler remarked, "Obviously we thought we had cars able to finish higher than we did, but we're real happy with the finishes we got. At the end of the race the windshield on Chuck's #19 car was so covered in gear oil from another competitor we could not see through it to drive the car back to the pits. Bonaccorsi's #18 car had a slight lean engine miss from the first lap of the race that kept him from a btter finish."

Bonaccorsi attributes his fifth place qualifying and finishing positions to great teamwork and a great handling car. "The first event of the season did not go without some challenges - a fuel pick-up problem plagued us throughout the week," said Bonaccorsi. "The crew chased the fuel issues in the paddock, and on the track I concentrated on car balance, knowing the experienced OPM team would resolve the fuel issue. For qualifying day, the balance and power came together for a fifth place qualifying - a three second improvement from the practice sessions. On race day, we were confident that we had a podium car. Unfortunately, the fuel issue came back on the second lap. I adjusted my driving style and drove around it since we had practiced with the issue all week. Even with mechanical problems, I was able to pull away from the sixth place car, and we maintained our fifth place position for the best possible result, a top-five finish for the season opener."

At the other end of the spectrum, Hemmingson's Protege ran great, but he was frustrated at not being able to get a handle on the car all week. "We never found a good balance on the car event though we made numerous suspension adjustments trying to get rid of an understeering condition," explained Hemmingson. Handling woes wouldn't be the only challenge he would face during Friday's race.

From the eighth starting position Chuck found himself tucked in behind the Mazda of Espenlaub soon after the start of the race and as a result, had the opportunity to showcase his braille driving ability. A cracked transaxle case on Espenlaub's car allowed a good deal of its contents to be deposited on Chuck's windshield and seriously obscured his view. "It wasn't such a big factor in the beginning, but near the end I was hoping the race would end soon. It was pretty difficult to see, but I had already felt my way around the track for a while and knew what I needed to look at everywhere so it wasn't super terrible and the Top-10 finish was fine. I think if we would have had the handling right, we would have been on the podium almost no questions asked."

The next race on the World Challenge schedule will see the team crossing the border to Mosport, Canada the weekend of May 16-18.

Based in Cumming, GA, OPM Motorsports is sponsored by Mazda, The Benefit Planning Group, Red Line Oil, Crocotile and SpeedArena.com. For more information, please visit the team's website at www.opmmotorsports.com.

Source: OPM Motorsports