Marcelli Proud of LAB’s Resilience After Sonoma Setback

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO

Kyle Marcelli said he’s proud of LAB Motorsport’s “resilience and determination” after its setback at Sonoma Raceway that forced the Canadian team to withdrawal from the pair of season-opening GT World Challenge America powered by AWS races.

Marcelli suffered an accident in qualifying at the Northern California circuit, ending his and co-driver Jean-Frederic Laberge’s effort for the weekend.

However, the GT Racing-run organization has rebuilt its Porsche 911 GT3 R in time for this weekend’s outing at Circuit of The Americas.

“There’s no question Sonoma was a disappointing start to our season,” said Marcelli.

“But I’m proud of the resilience and determination our team has shown to rebuild and move forward.

“I’m looking forward to COTA and the chance to claw back some valuable championship points.

“It will be JF’s first time here, so we’ll focus on getting him up to speed. Then we’ll work on dialing in the car. Personally, I enjoy racing here, but the race start can be a bit wild with everyone trying to take advantage of Turn 1.”

Laberge, who has committed a full season campaign in the SRO America-run series, said he’s looking forward to his first experience of the Texan circuit, home to the U.S. Formula 1 Grand Prix.

“I’m eager for our test day on Thursday,” he said. “The track looks challenging and fun.

“I train a lot on the simulator to learn the layout, but it’s not the same as actually driving it.

“We had great pace at Sonoma, I was among the fastest ‘Am’ drivers, and Kyle was one of the top ‘Pros’. I think our pairing is strong, and I can’t wait to finally show what we’re capable of.”

The LAB Motorsport Porsche, which is competing in the Pro-Am class, is one of 18 cars entered for this weekend’s action, which kicks off with a pair of test sessions on Thursday.