CUMMING, GA – After winning the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International Raceway on June 3rd, Tafel Racing’s Wolf Henzler and Robin Liddell are ready to take on their next challenge in round nine of the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve.  The duo will be driving the # 72 Tafel Racing NEC Porsche GT3 Cup in the EMCO Gears Classic Grand American Rolex Series presented by Key Bank at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio on June 23rd.

Henzler and Liddell hope to use their combined experience and skill to produce another podium finish. Both drivers have had success at the 13-turn, 2.25 mile track. “It is a tricky circuit with a lot of change of direction and some elevation change, but quite fun to drive,” said Liddell. “It is a circuit which you really need to find a rhythm on; you can't simply force the speed. In particular, the esses following the back straight have a number of second and third gear turns all leading from one into the next."  Henzler competed at Mid-Ohio for the first time last year in the Speed World Challenge GT series and won that race.  He also won at Mid-Ohio last month with the Flying Lizard team in the GT2 class in the American Le Mans Series. “I like Mid-Ohio very much because it is a tricky course,” said Henzler “and since they resurfaced the whole racetrack, everything is very smooth. Unfortunately it also seems it is not such a good race track for passing, even though a car might be one second faster than another one.”

Liddell’s history at the track has been mixed. "I have certainly had some ups and downs at Mid Ohio. On my first visit, I drove an LMP Lola with Intersport racing for the first time and promptly won, taking the fastest lap in the process. That was in 2004, but when I returned last year I had a reasonably miserable time, finished 4th in the ALMS race aboard the Panoz Esperante, and then being taken out in the Speed GT race and finishing someway down the order. So this year I'm hoping my fortunes will return!" 

With the # 72 in second place in team points, they are determined not to let the pressure hurt their performance this weekend. For Wolf it is always about the competition. “Every time out I force the best performance from myself and for sure Robin and the NEC Tafel Racing Team do the same, otherwise we would not be second in the championship. Only our Team can fight against the Pontiacs for a Podium, and that speaks volumes for us as a team.  Robin echoes his teammate’s sentiments.  "For me at this stage I am not thinking too much about the championship,” he said recently. “Championships tend to take care of themselves through consistent high finishes, but as we are still a little behind (10 points) we are not in a position to protect an advantage yet, so, we must go out to race and score higher than our competition. Having said that we are the only car to have finished in the top six at every race this season so far, so it proves that we are right there all the time, and have a reliable package. Sometimes there is more pressure on you when you are leading a championship, as you technically have more to lose, whereas the guys behind can be a little more aggressive. We will be aiming to maximize our score here of course, and whilst we are not expecting to be the fastest car out there, we will be putting as much pressure as possible on our rivals to force an error."

The # 73 NEC Porsche GT3 Cup driven by Andrew Davis of Bogart, GA and team owner Jim Tafel of Alpharetta, GA is in 8th place. “Our team’s victory at Watkins Glen, “ said Tafel, “puts us much closer to achieving the goal we set for ourselves last fall, which was to win a championship. We know that it definitely can be done. We certainly appreciate the support NEC and Rembrandt Charms have given us.”  
In the # 74 Rembrandt Charms Porsche GT3 Cup, which is in 6th place in points, Eric Lux will share driving duties this weekend with Ian James rather than Charles Espenlaub, who has a commitment with another series. James, who will be arriving at Mid-Ohio straight from Le Mans is excited to be racing with Tafel.  "I am looking forward to joining Tafel as they have proved to be one of the best teams in the Rolex series, with a level of professionalism second to none and I’m glad to be joining Jim's team after being friends with him and watching his team grow over the last couple of years," Technical Director Tony Dowe believes Ian has a lot to bring to the team. “For a long time I have really looked forward to having Ian on a team so I could work with him rather than competing against him.  The experience he brings will be a great help to us this weekend because he is a fierce competitor.”