Thursday, January 11, 2017 – Highlands, NJ – Frankie Montecalvo completed his first test with his new team Alex Job Racing and their brand new Audi R8 at the Roar Before the 24 at Daytona International Speedway. Montecalvo joins the renowned racing team for the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup races with co-drivers Pierre Kaffer, Bill Sweedler and Verizon IndyCar driver Townsend Bell.
“Alex Job Racing is such a top notch team. All of the guys are extremely professional. The team literally just got the car. We did not have the opportunity to run one lap in the Audi before it got to Daytona, but we were able to run very competitive times at the Roar. A huge thanks goes to Audi for building a car that can roll off the truck and be ready to run, and run aggressively,” explained Montecalvo.
“All of my teammates have been incredibly helpful. They’ve been in this platform [GTD] before coming from some of the Lamborghini programs. Pierre has a ton of laps in the Audi, so it’s been very beneficial to understand the car more with the help of my co-drivers.”
Montecalvo has raced a Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 for the past two years in the Pirelli World Challenge Series, winning first place in the GTA class championship in 2015 and third place in class in 2016. The Alex Job Racing Audi R8 is much smaller and lighter, requiring a completely different driving style than the Mercedes.
“Coming from the Mercedes, it’s definitely taken me a little while to understand exactly how to drive the car, but I think I’m getting accustomed to it, and I am getting quicker each session. I’ll be busy over the next two weeks karting and driving on the simulator in preparation for the Rolex 24, but I can’t wait to get back to the track and see what we can do when race day rolls around.”
Frankie returns to the track in two weeks for the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway. On track action begins on January 26 with the race starting at 2:30 PM EST on Saturday, January 28. Be sure to tune in to Fox at 2:00 PM EST for prerace coverage and the start of the 55th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Don’t forget to follow Frankie on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all of the racing updates and broadcast times throughout the weekend!