Rum Bum Racing, winners of the 2012 Grand Am Continental Tiere Sports car Challenge championship, is stepping up to the Rolex Sports Car Series GT class for the 2013 Rolex 24 at Daytona, driving an Audi R8 Grand Am.
Driving Rum Bum’s new Audi will be team manger Matt Plumb along with Audi Sport drivers Frank Biela, Christopher Haase and GT1 World Champion Markus Winkelhock. Audi Sport is also supplying technical support and spare parts, in an effort to get its first Grand Am win with the R8.
Rum Bum Racing, founded by Bacardi rum scion Luis Bacardi, has had success with BMWs and Porsches in CTCC. Teaming up with Audi Sport only increases the new GT team’s chances of success.
“Mr. Bacardi and the rest of the Rum Bum Racing team are thrilled to be entering Rolex Series GT competition with a winning brand like Audi,” said Plumb in a press release. “They are globally recognized for excellence on and off the track and clearly know what it takes to win.
“Audi Sport customer racing has been a pleasure to deal with and has gone out of their way to ensure we have everything that we need to be competitive,” Plumb continued. “They gave me the opportunity to get some laps in the car, and I was very impressed.”
Rum Bum’s new ride will be one of four Audis in the Rolex, all supported by Audi Sport—obviously the German manufacturer is hungry for success in the Rolex series, one of the few where it cannot claim a race win.
The 51st Grand Am Rolex 24 at Daytona takes the green flag on Saturday Jan. 26. Tickets are available through Grand-Am.com.
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