The best advertisement for the IMSA development series ladder system is the teams that advance up that ladder - and 2011 was an especially good year, as Anthony Nicolosi and Jon Bennett each moved from the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship into the LMPC class in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón

In this two-part story, we’ll look at their two teams – Performance Tech Motorsports and CORE autosport – and their path from the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship to the big show.

South Florida-based Performance Tech was founded 25 years ago by Brent O’Neill, who began campaigning Spec Racers and formula cars in the 70’s and 80’s on his way to two Formula Vee championships. O’Neill drove a factory Dodge in IMSA during the 1990’s before focusing his efforts on race preparation. When the Prototype Lites series came under the IMSA umbrella in 2006, O’Neill and Performance Tech joined forces with Joel Feinberg and Primetime Race Group, winning the Lites championship in 2009 while also fielding cars for Anthony Nicolosi and Jarrett Boon.

With the introduction of the LMPC cars into the ALMS races in 2010, it was logical for O’Neill and the Performance Tech team to move into the new spec class where they could apply their years of Lites and formula car experience.  Feinberg and Kyle Marcelli drove a Performance Tech-prepared ORECA at Sebring, with 2007 Lites champion Gerardo Bonilla taking Feinberg’s spot at Long Beach. A collision ended the LMPC season for the team, so for the rest of 2010 Performance Tech focused on the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites series, with Nicolosi winning the last Lites race of 2010 at Road Atlanta.

With Nicolosi’s steady advancement in Lites readily apparent, the team decided to return to LMPC full time in 2011 with Floridian Nicolosi and Phoenix resident Boon as the primary drivers. O’Neill acknowledges that Performance Tech has built its own in-house ladder system.

“It’s a perfect fit – the Lites series is like a one-design, with everyone driving the same car,” said Brent O’Neill, making a boat-racing-to-auto-racing analogy. “LMPC is going is the same direction, so we thought we’d be pretty good at it. There are some bigger budgets than ours but if you look at us last year, we could have won Long Beach but for some misfortune.

"Anthony was ready and he wanted to move up to the bigger show, so we decided it was time. Jarrett did some Lites stuff with us (fourteen races in 2008 and 2009) and came onboard this program, with Jan-Dirk Lueders coming in for the longer races. We also have a stable of five cars available for the Lites series - and most of those guys want to end up in ALMS. So it’s a natural.”

For Nicolosi, the time was right to make the move from Lites to LMPC. He’d spend three years in the Lites series, earning a victory, six podium finishes and two pole positions in the highly competitive Lites 1 class in 2010. But when he got in the team’s new ORECA FLM 09 at the end of the 2009 season, the decision to remain in Lites for a second year suddenly became much easier.

“When the new ORECA LMPC car first came over in late 2009, I was able to drive it for a few laps at Road Atlanta,” remembered Nicolosi. “It was an interesting car to drive, but I felt that I wasn’t yet up to speed in the Lites car so I decided to take one more year in Lites. So after doing well last year in Lites, winning races, poles and finishing well, I decided that since I’d gotten my head around that car, I could probably get my head around the LMPC car. And Brent can talk me into anything – he said ‘just go do it!’

“At that first test in 2009, the car felt like a lot to handle. It was a European set up, which didn’t suit me, but I knew I wasn’t ready to go into the bigger car when I hadn’t mastered the smaller car yet. Obviously, it’s bigger – it’s a bigger car, a bigger show, bigger money, more pressure. But the team alleviates a lot of that pressure, they make it easy for me to get into the car and give me the confidence to do it. When I tested at the end of 2010, it was completely different – we tested on a very smooth track, the set up was on, I felt immediately comfortable in the car and I knew I could handle it.”

What also makes things easier is the relationship between Nicolosi and O’Neill – since Nicolosi came up with the Performance Tech Lites team, he knew the crew guys and understood all the intangibles that seem to take longer to master than the myriad of technical aspects.

“This is the only team I’ve ever raced with – Brent’s a great guy and he runs a great team, so we gelled from day one. He knows what I need when I need it; we know what each other is thinking. It’s definitely easier, staying with the same team, especially when you trust somebody the way I trust this team. I only have three years of experience in racing and he’s got – a lot.”

Testing is one thing – racing is a whole other thing. Getting used to a new car and a new series takes time – and sometimes, time is the one thing you haven’t got. Especially when there’s an Audi bearing down on you.

“We got to Sebring, on all the bumps, and I thought ‘this is the car I remember from Road Atlanta!’” said Nicolosi. “But it’s just about going through the processes, giving the guys my feedback on the car and getting the car to make me as comfortable as I was in the Élan. It’s just like the Élan, where it’s a matter of learning what the car can do. Once you do, things just click, so I’m taking that experience and applying it here. I’m still behind, but I’m taking the proper steps to get where we need to be to become a front runner. It’s all a process.

“And here, the next level means racing around the Peugeots, the Ferraris, the Audis. These guys are the best of the best, and I’m out there with them. I need to be competitive and be in the right place at the right time. It was actually a little easier than I thought it would be. In Lites, with all the same cars out there, you’re not looking in your mirrors as much – you know there’s one guy behind you and that’s all you need to worry about. But now, you’re out there with the LMP cars and they just fly by you - you know somebody’s going to be passing you every lap, somewhere. So you look in your mirrors more, there’s a lot more communication with the team and there’s a lot more to think about. It’s hard, but I thought it would be a lot harder.”

For Nicolosi, as with all the Lites drivers who move up to LMPC, the background in the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship served him well – in addition to not having to get to know a new team, Nicolosi is competing on all the same tracks as the Lites series, in a car that bears more than a passing resemblance to his current ride. And like learning the Lites car three years ago, it’s all part of the process – like getting used to races that last 12 hours instead of 30 minutes.

“One of the things I didn’t get quickly in Lites was how to trust what the car could do. I remember last year, I was having trouble going over the bumps in turn one at Sebring before the first race of the year. I sat down with our coach, (former Lites champion) Gerardo Bonilla, and he told me to just go faster. I thought he was crazy! But the faster you go, with the downforce in the car, the smoother you go over the bumps. I did that and it really clicked in my mind how to trust the car. And that’s what I’m trying to do here. It’s a bigger car with a lot more horsepower, so to get that cornering speed down will take me a few more times, but it’s the same process. So once I feel comfortable, I know I’ll be up with the front guys again. The difference from Lites is the bigger car, more power, less grip at the moment and the paddle shifters – I love the paddle shifters! But really, it’s the same thing, it’s just a matter of getting it down.”

Performance Tech carved out ambitious plans for 2011, with the LMPC program running alongside a formidable Lites effort that that included Floridians Daniel Goldburg, Danny Mancini and Tristan Nunez and Irishman Patrick O’Neill. Goldburg and the 15-year-old Nunez flew out of the box in their first prototype event, with Goldburg taking the first race at Sebring and Nunez finishing second, with O’Neill adding podium finishes at Mid-Ohio and Monterey. On the LMPC side, the team had realistic expectations for the season, especially in light of Nicolosi’s crash at Long Beach that resulted in a broken foot. The team posted a fifth place finish in their first event at Sebring, with season highlights including a fourth place finish on the insanely tight 1.5 mile road course at Lime Rock. This is a learning year, but plans are already in place for 2012.

“We’ve got three very steady drivers in the LMPC car,” noted Brent O’Neill, “so I’d like to be a top three or four car this year, then make a run at the championship next year. It will take us this year to get the car around Anthony’s and Jarrett’s heads. But next year…”

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