David Ostella hopes for a podium at VIR

 David Ostella is looking for clean, green racing and a podium finish at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) when he travels with Performance Tech Motorsports to compete in the Oak Tree Grand Prix on Aug. 22-24. 
After Road America’s Road Race Showcase was plagued with caution flags Aug. 10, Ostella had little time to charge to the front, settling for sixth. It was a tough finish when he knows his No. 38 Prototype Challenge car is capable of more.
 
VIR presents the opportunity to show the true performance potential of Ostella and the car.
“I enjoy tracks like VIR,” Ostella said. “I haven’t been there since Pro Mazda in 2010, but I know there is a lot of elevation changes similar to Road America and Mosport, and those are places I really enjoy racing at. It is also a fairly long track with a variety of different corners, so I am looking forward to going back. I’ll give it my all, we all want the podium.
 
“Our focus all year has been race setup. We will only focus on that this coming weekend at VIR. That will most certainly help for the future since this is a track we will visit in 2015. One thing that is almost there is my qualifying. I believe I’m getting better, as I was not too far off at Road America. I believe that this is our shot for it to all come together.”
 
This is the second event of the season in which Ostella will share the track with his Performance Tech teammates in the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda, an IMSA Development Series. The two types of cars ran in June at Kansas Speedway, but Ostella knows the blending of the different series could create unique challenges at VIR.
 
“There are more turns at VIR than the last time at Kansas,” Ostella said. “It will be difficult to race with them, as it isn’t wide open. The big thing is going to be getting through traffic, and who does it better will be very important for both the PC and Lites guys.”

The weekend will consist of a two-day, two-part event for the PC class. The first 45-minute segment takes place at 5:25 p.m. (ET) Saturday, Aug. 23, with the final segment taking place at 10:45 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 24. On-track activity will begin for Ostella with the first practice session at 2:40 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22.  

For more information or to donate to Dash from Breast Cancer, click the following link: davidostella.com/dash-from-breast-cancer/

Adam Sinclair