MAPLE, Ontario (Sept. 30, 2014) – David Ostella will finish his rookie TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season and his first Petit Le Mans Powered by Mazda on Oct. 4 in the No. 38 Dash Neighborhoods/ Phillips 66 Prototype Challenge car .
The month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Throughout the season, Ostella has worked on his racecraft and also on raising awareness and funding for the Wings of Hope Foundation, a foundation that supports breast cancer patients and survivors.
Ostella will compile and execute all of his lessons learned this year during Petit Le Mans on the 12-turn, 2.54-mile Road Atlanta circuit. He’s prepared to help lead new Performance Tech Motorsports teammate Jerome Mee during his debut with the team in the 10-hour race and finish the season with James French.
“With this race, we have 10 hours to get things done,” Ostella said. “Long races allow you to make up for little mistakes, and I think they like my driving style because it’s all about consistency. I usually am good about keeping my tires in good shape, and things like that in an endurance race make a big difference.
“I’ve been working on my qualifying effort a lot this year. In these races, it isn’t necessarily as big of a deal, but I think having a good position to start can help keep you out of trouble at the beginning of a race.
“I also look forward to having Jerry in the car with me. I just met him at COTA. He did some testing with the team and did a really good job. He’s someone that can focus and keep the car clean. Being that it’s his first endurance race, I’ll be there to try and help him out and keep him in the right mindset to do well and I know James will also.”
Ostella’s race season ends at Road Atlanta, but his Dash from Breast Cancer campaign continues.
As part of his effort, Ostella will promote a Pink Out Petit campaign. Any fan who wears pink will receive a tour that includes a private driver autograph session, tech talk and Wings of Hope key chain at the Performance Tech Motorsports paddock. The times for the private tours will be 5 p.m. (ET) Thursday, Oct. 2 and 11:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 3.
Fans also are encouraged to wear pink on race day, Saturday, Oct. 4. Ostella is selling Dash from Breast Cancer T-shirts at the Performance Tech paddock throughout the week. To follow along on social media fans can use the hashtag #PinkOutPetit.
“I would love to see everyone out at the track in pink,” Ostella said. “I’m excited to see what the team does to the car. I know they’re adding a lot of pink, so it should give it a brand-new look. We’ll have T-shirts for sale for $20, and 100 percent of those proceeds will go to Wings of Hope. We’ll also have free key chains, so everyone at track can sport a little bit of pink.
“This campaign has been about raising awareness all along. With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month and this being my last race of the season, it’s the last shot I get to make a big impact on raising awareness. Being able to raise funding is an added bonus.”
Ostella’s Petit Le Mans weekend begins at 10:10 a.m. (ET) Thursday, Oct. 2 with the first of four practice sessions. Qualifying for the PC class begins at 5:05 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3. The final green flag of the United SportsCar Championship season drops at 11:15 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, and the race is scheduled to finish at 9:15 p.m. The race will be broadcast on FOX; check local listings for details.