Essex Racing 4th Place in Mosport

August 18, 2003 Bowmanville, Ontario: Melanie Paterson, Jason Workman and the Essex Racing team drove to a fourth place finish in the LMP 675 Class this weekend at the Toronto Grand Prix of Mosport. The #18 Imation Lola/Nissan P675 finished the 2 hour, 45 minute race a mere 2 laps behind the third place Dyson Lola/MG.

The race was broadcast live on NBC. The live race commentary was also broadcast on American Le Mans Radio Web from the American Le Mans website.

I was pleased with our performance today at Mosport, said Paterson. The team did a great job all weekend, the car was handling well and was reliable as usual. Jason and I drove well in the race and got the most out of the car I was happy.

The Essex Racing Lola was actually running in third place at one point midway through the race. When Melanie pitted for fuel and the driver change, however, the crew noticed that the rear wing had become separated from the wing support. The short pit stop turned into a long one while the Essex team replaced the rear wing. Unfortunately, the car exited the pits in fourth position.

I was bumped in corner 5 by a Porsche, which probably caused this to happen, Paterson said. What normally takes us one minute for fuel and driver took about ten minutes.

The Essex Racing team moves south to Elkhart Lake for next weekends race at Road America. Melanie, unable to secure sponsorship for the next three races, will rejoin the team at the season finale in Road Atlanta - Petit Le Mans.

Melanie s corporate partners are technology leader Imation Canada Inc. and Cartech of San Antonio, Texas, a manufacturer of forced induction and high performance automotive components. Melanie s other corporate partners include Maraca Canada, Driving Unlimited, GeoGraphics Motorsports Graphics and Digital North Media.

For more information and photos, visit http://www.melaniepaterson.com.