BRASELTON, GEORGIA (September 20, 2010) -- With a victory and a third place finish in Rounds 12 and 13 of the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship at Mosport, Charlie Shears clinched both the Lites 1 class overall championship and the Masters Class Championship with a race weekend to spare.

Shears, driving the #21 CORE autosport/US Builders Élan DP02, won the first race of the season in Sebring and never looked back, winning three races and earning a podium spot in nine out of 13 races coming into Road Atlanta. 

 “When we won the first race of the season at Sebring, there was no question in my mind that we could make a run at the championship,” said Shears.  “I knew that I was going head to head with some younger, very talented drivers, so to win like that on that racetrack, with the high speed turns, was a huge boost to our confidence.  I just told myself, let’s stay focused and keep cool out on the track and that little bit of experience really came into play – I never made any moves on the track that would risk the car. “

Shears points to his two second-place finishes at Road America as the pivotal point of the season.

 

“We knew we would have our hands full with the Downs boys, since that was their home track, and they’d been nibbling at us all season.  With their knowledge of the track and their expertise there, we knew we were going to have a hard time of it.  To take two second place finishes that weekend was a big coup for us.”

But Shears believes his first good move of the season was switching back to his old team, Inspire Motorsports, which became CORE autosport following the sale of the team to Jonathan Bennett. 

“I had been with Inspire two years ago and saw the way they matured as a race team with Gary Gibson, so I decided I needed to go back.  I talked to (then owner) Kerry Jacobsen a year ago about some ideas and before we knew it, I was back at Inspire – and they really talked me into buying a DP02.

“Kerry told me they were in the process of selling Inspire and I was a little reluctant, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised.  CORE has upped the ante as far as presentation and equipment and attention to detail, more like what you would find in an ALMS team.”

Shears has tentative plans to return to the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship next year to defend his title – unless his stellar season garners some interest from one of the ALMS teams.  After four years in the series, he knows the tracks and he believes the experience in the Lites 1 car is pretty applicable.  Shears will have a chance to see that play out at Petit Le Mans, as the Downs brothers will have their first start in the LMPC class.

“I’d love to be in the big show - I feel as though we’ve earned our stripes, but the question is if there’s a team that will give us the opportunity.  The wonderful thing about the Lites series is this car is as fast on some of the tracks as the GT or LMPC cars.  I was talking to one of the GT teams and asked how many G’s they were pulling and he said “1.8 in turn eight.”  We pulled 2.7 Gs in turn eight.  In that car, to be that responsive in the turns, I think the top five drivers in Lites would have a good run in the big show. 

“Would I like to be in it?  Absolutely.  But if not, I’ll keep on racing the Prototype Lites – it’s a great car and I like the guys that I race with so we’ll see what the future holds.”

The Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship features racing between two sports racer prototype classes, Lites 1 and Lites 2, presenting a dimension of competition as drivers must be aware of classes with distinctly different speeds as they navigate the race track.  This is the same challenge faced by the drivers of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón.

The Championship concludes with Rounds 14 and 15 at the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, September 29 through October 2.  Follow along on the race weekend at www.litestiming.com, on Facebook and Twitter and visit www.prototypelites.com for the latest schedule and updates.

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