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Established in 1995, AIM Autosport operates multi-car teams competing in the Rolex Sports Cars Series and the Star Mazda Series. The company has a mandate to identify, train and manage emerging motorsport talent.
AIM has provided many young drivers with a solid foundation on which to build a career in professional open-wheel racing. The success of the AIM driver development programs has been achieved through the dedication of our employees and the ongoing support of our commercial and technical partners.
Away from the track, AIM Autosport serves the needs of the racing community with a purpose-built preparation shop situated in the Toronto suburb of Woodbridge, Ontario.
The facility features a fully equipped machine shop and provides a full range of customer-car services including chassis repairs and restorations, gearbox blueprinting, and custom fabrication work. Through its sales division, AIM Autosport is also a factory authorized distributor/retailer of several industry leading racing products including:
- Hewland (transmission and gearbox components)
- MK Technologies (alignment platforms and gauges)
On or off the track AIM Autosport is a business driven by competition, the spirit of teamwork, and the pursuit of excellence in professional motorsport.Source - AIM Autosport
AIM has provided many young drivers with a solid foundation on which to build a career in professional open-wheel racing. The success of the AIM driver development programs has been achieved through the dedication of our employees and the ongoing support of our commercial and technical partners.
Away from the track, AIM Autosport serves the needs of the racing community with a purpose-built preparation shop situated in the Toronto suburb of Woodbridge, Ontario.
The facility features a fully equipped machine shop and provides a full range of customer-car services including chassis repairs and restorations, gearbox blueprinting, and custom fabrication work. Through its sales division, AIM Autosport is also a factory authorized distributor/retailer of several industry leading racing products including:
- Hewland (transmission and gearbox components)
- MK Technologies (alignment platforms and gauges)
On or off the track AIM Autosport is a business driven by competition, the spirit of teamwork, and the pursuit of excellence in professional motorsport.Source - AIM Autosport
AIM Autosport records best Grand Am resultExchange Traded Gold No. 61 Ford Riley is fourth at Mid-Ohio
It's hard to call a race that ran almost half the time under caution exciting, but in the end, with some daring passes on a wet track, The AIM Autosport Exchange Traded Gold No. 61 Ford Riley would come across the finish line fourth, the best result so far this season for the team. It has moved the team up in the overall series championship to seventh.
Mark Wilkins would start the car from the inside of row two and as the cars came to the grid, dark clouds moved in. Mark would fall from third to fifth at the start when the pole sitter did not get a good start which allowed the outside line of cars to get ahead in the first two corners. Mark would make a charge and on lap five, set fastest lap of the race at 1:21.426 moving to fourth. Two laps later heavy rain started to fall and the first of eight full course cautions brought the field to a virtual standstill. Mark brought the car in for the mandatory stop to switch to rain tires and top up the fuel.
This caution would last thirteen laps with cars - including the race leader, continuing to spin off course behind the safety car delaying the restart. With heavy rain still falling and the field bunched up, Mark would have a brief off-course excursion while challenging the No. 10 Sun Trust car for second place off the difficult left-hand turn leading to The Carousel. Getting the car pointed in the right direction, Mark would fight back for position and turn some very fast race laps in the wet. After an hour and a half of some intense driving punctuated by a series of yellow flag periods caused by cars spinning off or crashing, Mark would pit the #61 Ford Riley from fourth to take on fuel and hand the wheel over to Brian Frisselle.
Brian would come back on track tenth in class with a few GT cars to get around. The rain and the cautions had mixed up the field and the #61 was actually seventeenth overall. It did not take Brian long to clear the GT traffic and he had good track position in DP. He would soon be sitting sixth in class and closing on the cars ahead. While there appeared to be a dry line forming in some areas, it was still pretty wet around most of the circuit. Choosing the right line worked to Brian's advantage and helped save the tires while picking up time on the leaders.
The last hour of the race saw a bit more rain, plenty of cautions and Brian moving forward setting a very quick pace. With eighteen minutes to go, Brian made an exciting pass up the inside of the 60 car at turn thirteen to take fourth place. He was closing in on the last podium spot at almost a second a lap and would soon pass the 10 car, powering past him down the front straight into turn one. By now though, the track had a discernible dry line and tire management was becoming an issue. He was closing on second place when he got caught out in a traffic jam of six GT cars. The Brumos cars with smaller displacement engines and less torque certainly had better tires at the end of the race and were closing fast. The 58 car would slide past Brian in the traffic and take away the spot. Almost immediately, the last caution of the day flew for an accident on the front straight. The race ended under the yellow at the two hour, forty-five minute time limit. The AIM Autosport Exchange Traded Gold No. 61 Ford Riley would record its best finish in two years of the Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16. The team would also be credited with the fastest race lap. Brian would also make the SPEED TV replay highlights with some of his exciting passes in some unlikely spots.
At the end of the day, everyone on the crew was happy with the result and are now convinced, more than ever, that the podium they desire is attainable. The drivers and managers had this to say after the race:
Mark Wilkins: 'We proved again that the Ford Riley is fast off the trailer. We lead the practice sessions in the dry and certainly had the speed in the wet. It was a bit hairy being on slicks when the rains came and even on the wets. There were some spots that if you put the power down too quickly, you were going for a ride in the grass. Just don't ask me how I know that.' He continued, 'Brian did a great job to keep us in it and I felt pretty good about handing him the car in fourth place. This is a great result for the team and we are moving forward each race.'
Brian Frisselle: 'What a great result in a difficult race. The rain tires were becoming quite a handful at the end and it was a lot of work to keep the car from coming around on me. But we kept it on track and had some battles going on toward the end. Had a bit of a moment when my brother tried to pass me, but we were having none of that. The AIM Autosport crew did a great job and Ian (Willis) and Jim (Malicki) made the right calls on strategy. We'll be really pumped for the next race at Daytona after this weekend.'
Ian Willis: 'The boys did a terrific job staying out of trouble and dealing with the vastly changing conditions. At the same time they both showed maturity and speed by being one of the fastest cars in any conditions. They deserve a huge amount of credit for our best series finish to date.'Source - AIM Autosport
It's hard to call a race that ran almost half the time under caution exciting, but in the end, with some daring passes on a wet track, The AIM Autosport Exchange Traded Gold No. 61 Ford Riley would come across the finish line fourth, the best result so far this season for the team. It has moved the team up in the overall series championship to seventh.
Mark Wilkins would start the car from the inside of row two and as the cars came to the grid, dark clouds moved in. Mark would fall from third to fifth at the start when the pole sitter did not get a good start which allowed the outside line of cars to get ahead in the first two corners. Mark would make a charge and on lap five, set fastest lap of the race at 1:21.426 moving to fourth. Two laps later heavy rain started to fall and the first of eight full course cautions brought the field to a virtual standstill. Mark brought the car in for the mandatory stop to switch to rain tires and top up the fuel.
This caution would last thirteen laps with cars - including the race leader, continuing to spin off course behind the safety car delaying the restart. With heavy rain still falling and the field bunched up, Mark would have a brief off-course excursion while challenging the No. 10 Sun Trust car for second place off the difficult left-hand turn leading to The Carousel. Getting the car pointed in the right direction, Mark would fight back for position and turn some very fast race laps in the wet. After an hour and a half of some intense driving punctuated by a series of yellow flag periods caused by cars spinning off or crashing, Mark would pit the #61 Ford Riley from fourth to take on fuel and hand the wheel over to Brian Frisselle.
Brian would come back on track tenth in class with a few GT cars to get around. The rain and the cautions had mixed up the field and the #61 was actually seventeenth overall. It did not take Brian long to clear the GT traffic and he had good track position in DP. He would soon be sitting sixth in class and closing on the cars ahead. While there appeared to be a dry line forming in some areas, it was still pretty wet around most of the circuit. Choosing the right line worked to Brian's advantage and helped save the tires while picking up time on the leaders.
The last hour of the race saw a bit more rain, plenty of cautions and Brian moving forward setting a very quick pace. With eighteen minutes to go, Brian made an exciting pass up the inside of the 60 car at turn thirteen to take fourth place. He was closing in on the last podium spot at almost a second a lap and would soon pass the 10 car, powering past him down the front straight into turn one. By now though, the track had a discernible dry line and tire management was becoming an issue. He was closing on second place when he got caught out in a traffic jam of six GT cars. The Brumos cars with smaller displacement engines and less torque certainly had better tires at the end of the race and were closing fast. The 58 car would slide past Brian in the traffic and take away the spot. Almost immediately, the last caution of the day flew for an accident on the front straight. The race ended under the yellow at the two hour, forty-five minute time limit. The AIM Autosport Exchange Traded Gold No. 61 Ford Riley would record its best finish in two years of the Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16. The team would also be credited with the fastest race lap. Brian would also make the SPEED TV replay highlights with some of his exciting passes in some unlikely spots.
At the end of the day, everyone on the crew was happy with the result and are now convinced, more than ever, that the podium they desire is attainable. The drivers and managers had this to say after the race:
Mark Wilkins: 'We proved again that the Ford Riley is fast off the trailer. We lead the practice sessions in the dry and certainly had the speed in the wet. It was a bit hairy being on slicks when the rains came and even on the wets. There were some spots that if you put the power down too quickly, you were going for a ride in the grass. Just don't ask me how I know that.' He continued, 'Brian did a great job to keep us in it and I felt pretty good about handing him the car in fourth place. This is a great result for the team and we are moving forward each race.'
Brian Frisselle: 'What a great result in a difficult race. The rain tires were becoming quite a handful at the end and it was a lot of work to keep the car from coming around on me. But we kept it on track and had some battles going on toward the end. Had a bit of a moment when my brother tried to pass me, but we were having none of that. The AIM Autosport crew did a great job and Ian (Willis) and Jim (Malicki) made the right calls on strategy. We'll be really pumped for the next race at Daytona after this weekend.'
Ian Willis: 'The boys did a terrific job staying out of trouble and dealing with the vastly changing conditions. At the same time they both showed maturity and speed by being one of the fastest cars in any conditions. They deserve a huge amount of credit for our best series finish to date.'Source - AIM Autosport
| Grand-Am Daytona PrototypesThe Grand American Road Racing Association was established in 1999 to return stability to major league sports car road racing in North America. As the organization begins its ninth season of competition in 2008, Grand-Am is universally regarded as one of the world's most competitive road racing organizations. Grand-Am is located in Daytona Beach, Fla. on the same corporate campus that is also home to NASCAR, International Speedway Corporation (ISC) and Daytona International Speedway, but operates as its own stand-alone corporation with a group of independent investors and its own board of advisors. Among the company's investors are several of the key people behind NASCAR's success, but Grand-Am offers an entirely different product that features extremely competitive sports car racing on historic road and street circuits and in major market speedways throughout North America. Sports car racing in North America endured tough and uncertain times for the majority of the 1990s, a far cry from the successful IMSA series of the 1970s and '80s. As is often the case in motor racing, sports car racing's decline during this period could basically be traced to uncontrolled technology and its related costs. Grand-Am has addressed this with sensible and affordable rules that are competition driven but grounded in common sense and stability with a firm commitment to a level playing field. Grand-Am's top-tier Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask #16--which begins its ninth season of competition in 2008--has established itself as the most competitive professional road racing championship in North America. The Rolex Series Daytona Prototype category has attracted the attention of superstar drivers and universally-recognized teams through its extremely raceable and relatively affordable format, and has revolutionized sports car racing with plentiful battles at the front of the field and close finishes in virtually every race. Grand-Am races at some of the world's most prestigious venues--Daytona, Montreal, Mexico City and Watkins Glen--and has taken the role of a top annual attraction at some of the newest venues in the industry such as Miller Motorsports Park, Barber Motorsports Park and Virginia International Raceway. Grand-Am is also making a standard out of the newest form of circuit racing--'Stadium Road Racing'--on the road course layouts at tracks like Homestead-Miami Speedway. |
2008 Riley Mk XI AIM Autosport Prototype |
|
| Year | 2008 |
| Make | Riley |
| Model | Mk XI AIM Autosport Prototype |
| Engine Location | Rear |
| Drive Type | Rear Wheel |
| Body / Chassis | Hybrid Steel-Aluminum Chassis |
| Weight | 2275 lbs | 1031.9 kg |
| Combined MPG | 0.00 |
| Engine | |
| Engine Builder | Ford |
| Engine Configuration | V |
| Cylinders | 8 |
| Aspiration/Induction | Normal |
| Displacement | 5.00 L | 305.1 cu in. | 5000.6 cc. |
| Horsepower | 500.00 HP (368 KW) |
| HP to Weight Ratio | 4.6 LB / HP (Vehicles with similar ratio) |
| HP / Liter | 100.0 BHP / Liter |
| Fuel Feed | Fuel Injected |
| Vehicles with similar horsepower and weight | |
| Dimensions | |
| Standard Payload | 0.00 |
| Fuel Capacity | 24.0 Gal |
| Seating Capacity | 1 |
| Doors | 1 |
| Exterior | |
| Length | 177.501 in | 4508.5 mm. |
| Width | 78.501 in | 1993.9 mm. |
| Height | 43.101 in | 1094.8 mm. |
| Wheelbase | 110.001 in | 2794 mm. |
| Front Track | 31.501 in | 800.1 mm. |
| Rear Track | 33.751 in | 857.3 mm. |
| Vehicles with similar dimensions | |
| Suspension | |
| Suspension | Twin wishbones and pushrods |
| Steering | |
| Rack and Pinion with Power Assist | |
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| EMCO Gears Classic at Mid-Ohio |
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| EMCO Gears Classic Official Website |
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Automobile information, history, and statistics from concept to production. | © 1998-2008 Conceptcarz.com
Automobile information, history, and statistics from concept to production. | © 1998-2008 Conceptcarz.com