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Photo Caption: Steve Welk on track at Road Atlanta in the UMW Motorwerks Mazda MX-5 Cup car. (Photo Courtesy Jacques-O-Lot Photography)
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"UMW Motorwerks Makes their MX-5 Cup Debut at Road Atlanta"
"Steve Welk to drive for newly-restructured team"
Braselton, Georgia - UMW Motorwerks and driver Steve Welk made their Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup debut this past weekend at the famed Road Atlanta circuit in Braselton, Georgia. Running in conjunction with Historic Sportscar Racing's "The Mitty," Welk scored a 17th place finish in the field of 32 cars. While the result was not what the UMW team had hoped for at the start of the weekend, a lot of valuable information was gathered for the rest of the season.
Clear and warm conditions greeted the UWM Motorwerks team for Thursday's test day. While Welk had been to the track several times in the FF2000 Championship, the UMW driver had not been to the track since 2004. While getting re-acclimated with the 2.5 mile circuit, Welk and the UMW team tried several different setups on the number 57 car. At the end of the day Welk posted the 14th quickest time on the sheets.
Going into Friday's qualifying session the UMW Motorwerks squad was confident the car and driver combination would be further up the grid. However, it was not meant to be, as a higher track temperature on Friday had an adverse effect on the cars balance. Still improving the lap time over the previous days test, Welk would line up 15th on the grid for the karting veteran's first MX-5 Cup start.
On race day, the UMW Motorwerks' team tweaked the setup on the McLaren-orange Mazda MX-5 and was anxious to see if the changes would help the balance of the car. Unfortunately, a rain shower in the morning would throw a wrench into their plan for the race. Rolling the dice, Welk and the UMW crew decided to start the race on rain tires on the drying Road Atlanta track. After a superb first lap that saw Welk move from 15th to eighth the rain tires quickly started to go away along with the car's handling. Scraping for every position Welk eventually faded to 17th place at the finish.
"This is definitely a disappointing result for us. We thought we could have gone much better this weekend," UMW driver Steve Welk said after the race. "We were starting to get a handle on the car for the race and we just flat out made the wrong decision. Its very unfortunate for our guys, they have put in a lot of effort just to get to the grid for the race. We learned a lot about the car this weekend though, we know where we stand right now and will look to go better at Mosport in two weeks."
UMW Motorwerks and driver Steve Welk will head north of the border for the first time this year to the historic Mosport Raceway in Mosport, Ontario. The team will look to build on its experience at Road Atlanta and score their first top-ten of the season.
Established in 2008, UMW Motorwerks is the combination of two racing families; the Dresang family's UEMSI Motorwerks and the Welk family's Welk Motorsports. UMW Motorwerks will compete in the extremely competitive SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup Championship. Driver Steve Welk will campaign the team's vividly-painted McLaren-orange #57 car as the championship crosses North America.
UMW Motorwerks aims to establish itself as a successful pro-racing organization as it strives to win races and fans alike on the Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup Championship series tour. www.uemsimotorwerks.com
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