MAPLE, Ontario (June 3, 2014) – David Ostella heads to the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship weekend June 6-7 at Kansas Speedway looking to end his spate of bad luck after his last two races ended in incidents.
But equally as important, Ostella also will begin at Kansas his quest to raise funds for a cure for breast cancer, kicking off his Dash from Breast Cancer campaign.
It has been two years since Ostella has raced on an oval – in Indy Lights – but only two weeks since he tested on Kansas Speedway’s six-turn, 2.37-mile road course, which uses nearly the entire 1.5-mile banked oval at the facility. Ostella hopes his previous experience, mixed with recent practice, will put his No. 38 car atop the Prototype Challenge field.
“The trick will be to stay as smooth as possible on the oval turns,” Ostella said. “You have to keep your momentum because it’s more of an oval than anything. The infield section, the road course part, is the only place where you can pass. It’s flat out at Kansas.”
Ostella’s focus will be on running a clean race, as this is the first time the Prototype Challenge cars of the TUDOR Championship will share the track with the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda, an IMSA Developmental Series. The United SportsCar race will be split into two 45-minute sprints without co-drivers, a format familiar to Ostella from his time in the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin series last season.
“It’ll be different to have the car to myself again,” Ostella said. “It’s more of a sprint race, which is more of what I’m used to, so hopefully that works to my advantage. Every driver should benefit from the race setup. There are no pit stops, there is one driver in the car, and all you have to focus on is driving.
“I’ll be thinking about bringing the car home and not letting the team down again. It’s in the back of my mind. Finishing the race is my goal.”
Ostella, from Maple, Ontario, also will take time at 10:30 a.m. (CT) Friday, June 6 to visit the oncology department at Lawrence (Kansas) Memorial Hospital to meet patients and hear their stories. A group of patients will join him as guests at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 7 at Kansas Speedway for a behind-the-scenes look at his team, Performance Tech Motorsports. The Lawrence Memorial guests then will watch Ostella race and cheer for him while sporting pink Ostella T-shirts.
“I’m very excited to kick off my campaign,” Ostella said. “I think it will make the project more meaningful to put more faces and stories behind the campaign. It’s the people who, you know, have fought and continued to be affected that are the reason we have to continue to raise awareness and funds. I hope that we can gain momentum that carries on to the next race.”
Close family friend and breast cancer survivor Anna Rossetti inspired Ostella to create Dash from Breast Cancer. The campaign will continue through the end of the race season in October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
In support of Dash from Breast Cancer, Ostella’s Performance Tech Motorsports team will wear pink clothing in the pits, host breast cancer survivors at each Prototype Challenge round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, and fans can visit a special page at Ostella’s website, www.davidostella.com/dash-from-breast-cancer, sponsored by Dash Neighborhoods that connects fans to a donation account for Wings of Hope, a charity organization to benefit breast cancer research started by Rossetti. At the end of October, Ostella will present a check to Rossetti and address the audience at the gala for Wings of Hope.
For more information on the Dash from Breast Cancer Campaign, visit davidostella.com/dash-from-breast-cancer/.
Ostella will be on track for practice at 4:35 p.m., 5:25 p.m. and 8:10 p.m. (CT) Friday, with qualifying at 10:45 p.m. Race 1 begins at 4:15 p.m. Saturday, June 7, with Race 2 beginning at 10:15 p.m.
Keep up with Ostella’s on track progress by following him on Twitter at @OstellaCorsa and Facebook. For personal updates from Ostella, follow him on Twitter at @davidostella.