Ruby Tuesday Racing pairing Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand will hope to make the most of new bodywork fitted to the #23 Porsche Crawford as the Grand Am Rolex Series heads to Watkins Glen this weekend for the latest round of the season.
The team has been waiting to receive the updated bodywork in an effort to improve its performance this season, with the pair now set to put it to the test on the challenging Watkins Glen International circuit.
"This is what we've been waiting for," Auberlen said. "I hope it is as good as they say it is because this is the 'golden goose' that is supposed to make us go to the front and start winning races.
"Other teams have had their new bodywork all year long. We are one of the only cars that has the old body and old spec stuff. I cannot wait to sit in that car for Watkins Glen. I am praying to the car gods that it is what they say it's going to be."
Team owner Alex Job agreed with his driver that the new update should help bring the team onto the pace of some of its rival teams on the grid.
"We are very excited about the new bodywork," he said. "This new update should help make us more competitive by giving us more downforce and less drag than we've had in the past. In terms of looks, it [the new bodywork] is quite a change from the older body style we've run for the past two and a half seasons.
"I can't think of a better place to put our car to the test than during a six hour race at Watkins Glen. Hopefully we can come away with a win in this new bodywork's inaugural run. If nothing else, we should come away from the weekend with a lot of data that will help us develop and improve the car moving forward."
Auberlen and Hand are not strangers to victory circle at Watkins Glen. Indeed, both drivers won with the same co-driver in 2004. Auberlen won with NASCAR driver Boris Said in a PTG BMW M3 during the June race, while Hand won with Said in the sister PTG BMW M3 during the September race.
"I like that track," Hand said. "That is where I drove in my first [Daytona] prototype race. I led a little bit of the race last year and I was second for most of my stint. I drove three hours of the six hour race. I have a good record there. Boris Said and I won there in 2004 in a
BMW. It is a good driver's track. It's another one of those 'American' racetracks that you love to be at as a driver. Bill and I are really good there."
![Auberlen/Hand/Wallace/Long - Alex Job/Ruby Tuesday Crawford-Porsche [pic credit: grand-am.com]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/404264.jpg)
