2008 Riley Mk XI Rum Bum Racing Prototype

This number 7 Rum Bum Racing Prototype has a Riley MK XI chassis and is powered by a Dinan BMW engine. It is driven by Matt Plumb of Newport, Rhode Island, and Gene Sigal of Los Angeles, California.

Plumb won the 2006 Grand-Am Koni Challenge manufacturer championship for Acura and finished second in points in the drivers' championship scoring two wins and seven podium finishes.

Sigal won the Rolex Series SGS class at Fontana in 2004 and multiple Karting titles. Growing up in Southern California, by his early teens Gene began to race go-karts competitively, winning numerous awards in regional and national kart series. This winning veteran has an extensive background as a driver with wins in Grand American Road Racing, Barber Dodge, Formula Russell, Ferrari Challenge, and Viper League and has won various events for Porsche, Mazda and Mitsubishi.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jun 2008

SIGALSPORT DINAN BMW

Started in early 2004 by American businessman and racecar driver Gene Sigal to operate his Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series racing program, Sigalsport Dinan BMW is poised to become one of the most flourishing sports car racing teams in North America.

In just their eighth Daytona Prototype start as a team, Sigalsport BMW Dinan Riley co-drivers Auberlen and Alhadeff scored their first career Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series overall victory in Grand Prix of Miami last year.

In less than three years, Sigalsport evolved from a newborn team to a Daytona Prototype championship contender in the Rolex Series. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, in a 30,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility, Sigalsport, the only BMW powered DP team in the series, is one of the fastest growing and most ambitious teams in the paddock.

Source - SIGALSPORT Racing

RUM BUM RACING BMW AT BIMMERFEST

The Rum Bum Racing Dinan BMW Riley Daytona Prototype currently racing in the 2008 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series that just finished fifth in last Sunday's Bosch Engineering 250 at Virginia International Raceway, will be on display at the 2008 Bimmerfest on Saturday.

The 9th annual Bimmerfest will be held in Santa Barbara, California on May 3, 2008 at the Earl Warren Showgrounds and will run from 9:00AM to 4:00PM.

Bimmerfest is the single largest BMW event held in North America today bringing thousands of enthusiasts together to enjoy all aspects of the BMW world. Whether you are a lifetime owner, first time owner, prospective owner or just a fan of great German engineering, Bimmerfest is an incredible event to experience! Bimmerfest is the celebration of being a BMW enthusiast, whether through ownership or admiration. Now in its 8th year, Bimmerfest attracts well over 2,000 BMWs, 5,000 total attendees, 40 automotive related vendors and coverage by 7 major magazines! It is an experience that enthusiasts look forward to from the first day they can register online for the event until arriving and enjoying the day.

Rum Bum Racing team owner and co-driver of the No. 7 Rum Bum Racing BMW Riley, Gene Sigal, and the Rum Bum Girls will be at Bimmerfest to sign autographs from 1:00 to 2:00 PM.

'This is an outstanding event for the Rum Bum Racing BMW team to be involved with' announced Emmanuel Lupe, Managing Director for Rum Bum Racing BMW.

'We are racing with BMW engines since November 2005 and our team went from racing M3s to now racing a Dinan V8 BMW powered car in the Rolex Series Daytona Prototype class. Bimmerfest offers a great opportunity to meet thousands of BMW owners and to increase awareness of Rumbum.com and the Rum Bum lifestyle as well as the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series' declared Lupe. 'Our goal is to invite Bimmerfest participants to join the Rum Bum Nation in two weeks and attend the Rumbum.com 250 at Laguna Seca Raceway on May 16-17, 2008. We are proud to carry the BMW colors in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and Gene Sigal looks forward to meeting the fans at Bimmerfest on May 3' added Lupe

Source - Sigal Sport Racing

ANOTHER TOP FIVE FINISH FOR RUM BUM RACING DRIVERS SIGAL AND PLUMB!

Rum Bum Racing drivers Gene Sigal and Matt Plumb scored another big result in last Sunday's Bosch Engineering 250 at Virginia International Raceway. The Rum Bum drivers finished fifth overall after what can be described as a very difficult week for the team that suffered major damage in the Mexico City race a week before.

The Rum Bum Racing crew started to work on the car early Thursday morning to make sure the car could be ready for the fourth round of the 2008 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. Right away the team found that the damage caused by the accident was more extensive than expected. Front nose, splitter, rear tail, engine cover, side pod, front and rear suspension, exhaust system, bell housing and gearbox damage needed to be repaired or replaced on the spot to make sure the car could return to a competitive mode for practice. On Saturday morning, it was time to start practicing to prepare for the race.

'We've been struggling with the car since the accident at Mexico City' declared Rum Bum Racing team owner and co-driver of the No. 7 Rum Bum Dinan BMW Riley, Gene Sigal. 'The guys did a great job putting the Rum Bum Dinan BMW Riley DP back together. That was our biggest task. The crew gave me a great car. I've been fighting a cold that he caught in Mexico, all week. On Sunday, I was just hoping to keep it clean and give it to Matt and hopefully, have him work for his pay.' announced Sigal after his stint.

Gene Sigal qualified 17th on Saturday afternoon but was not feeling very well. Despite his illness, Gene took a great start and, considering his physical condition, ran a studied first one hour stint and handed the car to Matt in the top ten. Matt started to pass cars right away after the pit stop. Thanks to a very good car put together by the Rum Bum Racing crew, Plumb was able to charge to the front and cross the finish line in fifth place, scoring the second top-five result in three races for Rum Bum Racing; a fantastic result that was totally unexpected after what happened to the team in the week prior to the race!

'I want to thank my team for a fantastic job. We came here with a car in 50 pieces after the Mexico City accident and we finished fifth! Gene did a great job despite the fact that he was sick and handed the car to me after an hour in a very competitive position. Thanks to another brilliant race strategy from our Rum Bum Racing engineer, Brian Ma, we pitted for tires and fuel at the right time. Our goal was a strong top ten to keep our top ten championship position. We just did that and are now ranked 9th.' added Plumb.

With this top five finish the Rum Bum Racing is now ranked ninth in the very competitive 2008 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series team point standings.

Source - Rum Bum Racing

SIGALSPORT DINAN BMW READY FOR ANOTHER ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA

The Sigalsport Dinan BMW racing returns to Daytona next week to participate in the first round of the 2008 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16, the grueling Rolex 24 at Daytona. For this event team owner Gene Sigal selected five drivers; Matt Plumb, Stephan Gregoire, Quentin Wahl, Michael Cullen and Paddy Shovlin. The Sigalsport Dinan BMW Riley, the only BMW powered DP car in the field, co-sponsored by HighCo, Cintas and Careco changed number this season and abandoned its traditional 05 for the 'Lucky' No. 7. This is the fourth Rolex 24 at Daytona for the California based team started in early 2004 by business entrepreneur Gene Sigal. Sigalsport raced in a full season last year and won its first ever Daytona Prototype race at the Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead Miami Speedway.

Matt Plumb will lead the group of five Sigalsport Dinan BMW drivers in this year's Rolex 24. Matt was hired to co-drive the No. 7 Sigalsport Dinan BMW last Fall and is racing in his first ever DP race. Following the Pirelli test Days last November and the early January 2008 test days at Daytona International Speedway, the No. 7 Sigalsport Dinan BMW Riley showed its potential by posting the 6th fastest time in November and the 7th fastest earlier this month.

Stephan Gregoire, a four time veteran of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, was hired to co drive the No. 7 Sigalsport Dinan BMW Riley last October. Gregoire came to the Únited States for the first time to race the 1993 Indianapolis 500. Stephan Gregoire's 2008 program includes racing at three of the most prestigious races in the world, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Stephan's 2008 Rolex 24 at Daytona is sponsored by HighCo, a European-based marketing solutions group. HighCo works for mass-market retailers and consumer goods manufacturers offering complementary services such as coupon issuing, sampling, point of sale advertising and coupon clearing. HighCo employs a staff of over 700 in France, Belgium, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands.

Quentin Wahl, who brings sponsorship from Cintas, the service professionals, has Skip Barber open wheel experience and already raced at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, co-driving a Fabcar DP in 2005. Michael Cullen and Paddy Shovlin both have extensive international Ferrari Challenge experience. Paddy and Michael are very successful business partners in their homeland of Ireland and this will be their first ever DP race and first experience with the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Cullen is the current 2007 European Ferrari Challenge Champion.

'This is our fourth participation in the Rolex 24 at Daytona' announces Sigalsport Dinan BMW team owner Gene Sigal. 'We had a fantastic showing last year and I am excited to be back. The Rolex 24 is definitely one the most exciting races in the world. I am so happy to be racing in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and even if I am not behind the wheel yet, our team is working towards that goal in the near future' added Sigal. 'Our crew did an exceptional job to prepare for Daytona and despite the unexpected financial challenge we have encountered since November, we were able to put a program together for the 24 hours. I want to thank all the people that helped us to do so and gave us a chance to get back on two feet, especially our dedicated crew members; Steve Dinan and his team, Suntrust; Riley; Michael Cullen, Paddy Shovlin and Quentin Wahl for signing a contract on New Year's Eve, Cintas, HighCo, the Grand American Series, and all our vendors, without them this effort will not have been possible' added Sigal.

SPEED and FOX Sports will combine to offer 17 hours of television coverage from the 46th Rolex 24 at Daytona Jan. 26-27. At 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 26, the Rolex Sports Car Series will hit the national FOX Sports airwaves for 90 minutes of coverage from the 'World Center of Racing.' In addition to the network coverage, the first 90 minutes of the event will be simulcast on the 1,400-square foot News Screen prominently located at One Times Square in New York! SPEED's coverage of the Rolex 24 will encompass two parts totaling 15.5 hours of coverage. Part 1 will air from 2:30 to 10 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 26, with programming returning to SPEED on the morning of Sunday, January 27 beginning at 6:00 a.m. ET and continuing through the checkered flag and post-race interviews.

Source - Rum Bum Racing

SIGALSPORT LED THE ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA AND FINISHED 14TH IN DP!

Sigalsport Dinan BMW team finished 14th in the DP class at the 2008 Rolex 24 at Daytona, the first round of the 2008 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car series and the most grueling endurance race in North America. With Matt Plumb at the wheel, the No. 7 HighCo / Cintas/ GRW.com.mx / Careco Sigalsport Dinan BMW Riley qualified 9th, proving once again the competitiveness of the team.

The No. 7 car co-driven by Matt Plumb, Stephan Gregoire, Quentin Wahl, Michael Cullen and Paddy Shovlin, led 16 laps during the first hour of the twice around the clock race! This was a remarkable performance from the Sigalsport team and its drivers who did not have a ride a week before due to problems encountered with Fortune Market.

'It was an outstanding performance that we finished the race and also that we led the race' declared Sigalsport team owner, Gene Sigal. 'Our crew did a phenomenal job in preparing the car for the race and knowing the budget we had to do it, this was a miracle' added Sigal. 'I had to step out of the car and sell my seat to one of our drivers because we had no budget to go racing after what happened with Fortune Market. Our drivers, Matt Plumb, Stephan Gregoire, Quentin Wahl, Paddy Shovlin and Michael Cullen formed a great driver roster and despite four accidents during the race and a gearbox problem that forced the team to change the XTRAC box after six hours, they were able to finish the race in 14th place in DP. We want to thank all the vendors (Dinan, Suntrust, Riley, XTRAC, EMCO, OMP, Guarneros, Dynamic Suspensions, Windrush Evolutions, MOTEC, etc.); our dedicated sponsors (HighCo, Careco and Cintas); our drivers, the friends of the team that financially helped too and our crew who scarified so much and stuck with us. Without all of them the team would not have been able to race at all' declared Sigal.

Matt Plumb and Stephan Gregoire did most of the driving at night and kept the car at the top of the speed chart at all times during their stints. They really helped the team climb back from 45th position after the first two accidents to 28th overall at the finish.

The Dinan BMW V8 engine that was in the car was extremely reliable, knowing that it was the same engine used for the January tests and the race. It really showed that Dinan BMW technicians developed a fantastic engine over the last two seasons and that they must be commended for their efforts. The new Dinan BMW engine will be used for the first time at Homestead by the Sigalsport team in the No. 7 car.

Sigalsport is now back in California to regroup and prepare for the next race. The team must find sponsorship quickly to be able to continue racing, but many discussions with potential sponsors took place over the last two weeks and the team remains optimistic of its chances to find a new title sponsor.

Source - Rum Bum Racing