Muscle Milk Pickett Racing unveiled the livery on its #5 Le Mans Prototype Challenge entry earlier today when it took to the track for the first day of the American Le Mans Series Winter Test at Sebring International Raceway.
The team’s LMPC car sports the Muscle Milk Pickett Racing colors of white, red and black that have become a trademark of the Benicia, CA-based team.
The design and layout of colors is also similar to what fans have become accustomed to seeing from the team since its return to the ALMS in 2009, but with a distinct look of its own.
The LMPC entry, led by drivers Memo Gidley and Mike Guasch, completed its first test day with its fellow LMPC competitors, having only taken part in private tests since taking reception of the car last fall.
The earlier pre-season testing paid off for the team as it came out on top of the morning session in what was a tight trio of Challenge cars. The top-three were only separated by 25 hundredths of a seconds.
Gidley and Guasch will be back on track Thursday morning for the second and final day of the ALMS Winter Test at Sebring International Raceway.
Muscle Milk Pickett Racing’s LMP1 drivers Klaus Graf, Lucas Luhr and Simon Pagenaud will be aboard the team’s new HPD ARX-03a, which made its first on track outing late Wednesday.
Muscle Milk Quotes
Memo Gidley, driver #5 Muscle Milk Molecule LMPC Oreca FLM09
“It’s nice to be here with Muscle Milk Pickett Racing. We’ve all been working hard to put this program together over the course of the last year and now we’re here at the first sanctioned test. It feels great.
“The pre-season testing worked out fine and we unloaded with a good setup. I didn’t do a lot of laps today but we all got laps in the car and it was a very productive day.
“For me, this car is just absolutely fantastic to drive. I love driving it, so every chance I get it’s been great. I’ve really enjoyed the experience so far.
“(About the livery) I think the car looks fantastic, it looks like a lot of the other Muscle Milk cars in the past, but also different. You definitely know it’s a Muscle Milk car and it stands out. I think it attracts a lot of attention, it compliments everything about this team, the car looks great.”
Mike Guasch, driver #5 Muscle Milk Molecule LMPC Oreca FLM09
“Today was our first ALMS open test with the Muscle Milk Pickett Racing LMPC car, we’ve been testing all off-season already and we felt like we had it somewhat sorted out. It was nice because we got here and pulled the car right off the truck and the setup was very, very good, very close. We were right on pace and fastest in the morning session.
“I think our pre-season testing got us in the right direction. We still need to work further and we have all day tomorrow to work on setup and get it a little bit closer but from everything we’ve done so far, the team has done a great job. We’re really happy and that’s the bottom line.
“(About the car’s livery) We spent a bit of time on the livery but I think it came out really nice. We took the artwork from the drawings for the team’s P1 car and we tried to adapt that as well as we could to the Challenge car and I think we did a good job and that everyone is going to be very pleased with the look of both Muscle Milk cars.”
About CytoSport
CytoSport, the maker of Muscle Milk®, is among the largest sport nutrition protein beverage companies in the U.S. and offers a complete line of protein-enhanced powders, shakes and bars. Muscle Milk® was recently named the 2008 Ready-to-Drink Beverage of the Year by bodybuilding.com, Best Functional Beverage and Beverage of the Year by BevNet and 2009 Company of the Year by Beverage Forum presented by Beverage Marketing Corporation and Beverage World. For more information on Muscle Milk or additional CytoSport products, visit: www.cytosport.com.