The Banner Racing Camaro GT.R with Oliver Gavin and Gunter Schaldach qualified third and finished second in class and 12th overall this past weekend in Rolex Series GT-class racing. The event at Barber Motorsports Park was round two of the 2011 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.

GM factory driver Olly Gavin commented, “The Camaro GT.R was fantastic for the whole weekend and I’m pleased with this second place. I’m really proud of the guys at Leighton Reese Performance Group as they worked very hard on the car since Homestead to make us comfortable.”

The Autohaus Motorsports Camaro GT.R driven by Bill Lester and Jordan Taylor captured a seventh-in-class finish after starting 10th in-class. The Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R driven by Jan Magnussen and Robin Liddell were ninth-in-class at the finish after qualifying second for the race.

In the Grand Sport class of the Continental Tire Challenge Series, the #6 Camaro GS.R of Mitchum Motorsports with drivers Jeff Bucknum and Robert Stout finished 10th in the GS class after starting fourth in-class. The second Mitchum entry, the #62 driven by Lawson Aschenbach and Joey Atterbury started sixth in-class, but fell to 19th in-class at the end.

The increasing presence of race-bred Camaros is also adding to the public’s awareness as teams like Stevenson and Mitchum continue to push the development envelope. By the end of last year, it seemed as though a Bowtie win was imminent, but everyone works hard in the off season to improve their game. That is the continual challenge and one that keeps everyone coming back for more racing action.

The next Grand Am get-together is May 13 and 14 at Virginia International Raceway, in Alton, VA.