Drivers

In his second consecutive season in LMP2, Scott Tucker and his Level 5 Motorsports organization will be aiming for a hat-trick of American Le Mans Series championships in 2012. The team won its third-consecutive 12 Hours of Sebring to kick off the season and will also mount a repeat attack on the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.

In 2011, Tucker notched his fourth and fifth national driving championships, earning the ALMS LMP2 title with Christophe Bouchut and claiming his third consecutive SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Road America.

Tucker’s travels took him around the world, competing in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron, Ferrari Challenge, GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama, Cooper Tires Prototype Lites, SPEED EuroSeries, SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am and SCCA National Championship events.

Wins in the ALMS races at Sebring, Long Beach, Road America, Laguna Seca and Road Atlanta highlighted one of Tucker’s most successful seasons to date. He also achieved historic podium finishes in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Six Hours of Imola ILMC events and was the highest-placed American driver in both races.

Tucker notched his 65th career victory at the Petit Le Mans in October, which capped off a remarkable record in three of the world’s major endurance races in 2011 (Sebring, win; 24 Hours of Le Mans, third). Adding his third place finish in the 2010 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, Tucker has become one of only a few drivers to have achieved podiums in those four elite races.

The 2010 season saw Tucker earn the ALMS Le Mans Prototype Challenge championship in his rookie season, while also scoring a podium finish in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the SCCA National Championship for the second consecutive year. In 2009, Tucker, scored a single-season record of ten victories in Ferrari Challenge and won the Ferrari Challenge Dealership Championship for Boardwalk Ferrari. He also earned his first SCCA National Championship.

Additionally, Tucker served as a test driver for Ferrari’s new 599XX super car and became the first American to drive Audi’s R10 TDI when he took part in the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans with Team Kolles.

Along with the championships and other accolades, Tucker was the subject of a feature-length documentary film, “Daytona Dream” and was profiled by The Wall Street Journal in 2010.

One of the most successful endurance drivers in the world, Christophe Bouchut is a past winner of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Spa. He has also won three Porsche Carrera Cup France championships, a FFSA GT championship and a remarkable three FIA GT Championship titles.

Bouchut has been a regular co-driver with Scott Tucker since the 2008 season and was an integral part of the team’s success. During the 2010 season, Bouchut earned his 100th career victory en route to the American Le Mans Series LMPC Teams’ Championship with Level 5.

Celebrating his 30th year of racing in 2011, Bouchut collected American Le Mans Series victories at Long Beach, Road America, Laguna Seca and Road Atlanta, as well as sharing his first ALMS LMP2 drivers’ championship with Tucker. In his 18th start in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Bouchut made his fourth appearance podium appearance in the famed French endurance classic.

In addition to being part of the Level 5 Motorsports family, Bouchut is also an official driver for the Stephane Ratel Organization, which organizes the FIA GT1 World Championship, FIA GT3 European Championship and other GT series.

Having started racing at the age of 11, Joao Barbosa has been around motorsports for nearly his entire life. The Portuguese native earned back-to-back karting championships in 1988-89 before moving up to the Portuguese Formula Ford Championship in 1994 and the Italian Formula Alfa Boxter Championship just one year later.

After competing in the Toyota Atlantic Championship in 1997, Barbosa transitioned to sports car racing. It was there where he caught the eye of British GT team owner/driver Martin Short, who helped him move from the GT ranks to prototype racing in Europe. He racked up six starts at the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 2004-2009

Barbosa also competed in select GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series races, earning a class victory in the 2003 Rolex 24 at Daytona before joining the series full-time with Brumos Racing in 2008. In his first race with Action Express Racing, Barbosa claimed overall victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2010.

After making occasional starts in the American Le Mans Series and European-based Le Mans Series, Barbosa joined Level 5 Motorsports in 2011 to compete in the team’s Intercontinental Le Mans Cup program. Barbosa was part of Level 5’s debut podium finish at Le Mans and capped off the season with a class victory at the Petit Le Mans, also with team owner Scott Tucker and Christophe Bouchut.

During the 2011 season, Barbosa also took part in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series for Action Express Racing, finishing ninth in the championship with a victory at Virginia International Raceway to his credit.

Known for being one of the most successful drivers to hail from Mexico, Luis Diaz got his start in go-karts at age 12 before winning numerous national karting championships. He earned Rookie of the Year honors in the 1997 Mexican Formula 3 championship before eventually moving onto Indy Lights and Toyota Atlantic.

Diaz made the transition to sports cars in 2004, spending three seasons with Chip Ganassi Racing in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, winning the 2006 Teams’ Championship and placing second in the Drivers’ Championship that year. He jumped into the American Le Mans in 2007 with countryman Adrian Fernandez, culminating with the LMP2 Drivers’ Championship in 2009.

After a season of ALMS GTC and LMPC competition, Diaz made his Level 5 Motorsports debut at the 2011 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, before going onto win the Twelve Hours of Sebring with team owner Scott Tucker and Ryan Hunter-Reay. Diaz notched additional ALMS victories at Road America and Laguna Seca and claimed pole position at the Petit Le Mans.

In addition, Diaz is a two-time American Le Mans Series “Most Popular Driver” award winner and is nicknamed “Chapulin”, meaning grasshopper in Spanish.

Ryan Hunter-Reay is a regular on the IZOD IndyCar Series for Andretti Autosport where he scored won the Indy 225 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
in August 2011. It was his fifth career victory in the series after being named the Bombardier Learjet IZOD IndyCar Series Rookie of Year in 2007.Hunter-Reay was part of Level 5′s 2011 LMP2-winning effort in the 12 Hours of Sebring and he helped the No. 95 Level 5 Motorsports BMW Riley to a third-place finish in the 2010 Rolex 24 At Daytona, a race in which he finished eighth in 2008. Hunter-Reay also owns a victory in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, at Miller Motorsports Park, in 2007.