WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 29, 2014) – Canadian David Ostella started sixth in the No. 38 Dash Neighborhood/Phillips 66 Prototype Challenge (PC) car for today’s round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship at Watkins Glen International.
He and teammate Mike Hedlund were confident they could chase down a podium finish in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.
Hedlund took the green flag first and focused on consistent laps in his first race in a PC car. He brought the car back on the lead lap for Ostella to take his shot at the field.
Like the ‘mechanical bull’ he’s been called before, Ostella steadily marched his way from ninth to second during his nearly two-hour stint.
“The race started out great for us,” Ostella said. “Mike (Hedlund) did a great job keeping the car out of trouble and getting himself comfortable with race pace. We knew we had a shot at the leaders, so I put my head down and focused on laying down perfect laps.”
Hedlund swapped seats with Ostella at the three-hour mark. He dug in and kept pace with the leaders, ultimately pitting while first in class. Ostella took the reins for a late race charge, but not before obliging race officials for a violation Hedlund received during the stop.
“It was unfortunate to have to serve the penalty,” Ostella said. “But we should have still easily had a shot at a podium.”
Ostella continued his diligent march, reaching as high as fourth before a power steering failure left him with the task of fighting against a system designed to assist.
“The power steering failure really made the car difficult to drive in the last hour,” Ostella said. “Jonatan (Jorge) was giving me as much encouragement as possible to help me keep my head in the game and fight to hold position. We were up to third during the final caution, but had to settle with a solid fourth-place finish. I just can’t thank the guys enough. The car was great the whole weekend. I am really looking forward to see what else we can do this year. I know we are capable of winning as a team.”
Ostella and his Performance Tech crew will get their next chance at one of the former open-wheeler’s favorite places, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, for the Brickyard Grand Prix July 24-25.
For more information or to donate to Dash from Breast Cancer, click the following link: davidostella.com/dash-from-breast-cancer/. 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.