One of the most successful professional racers, Mark Wilkins, will be seen sharing the steering wheel of the No. 61 AIM Autosport Ford Riley with Burt Frisselle during the 2010 Rolex Daytona Prototype Series. This will be the fourth Rolex Daytona series of his career. The racer will also be rejoining Michael Shank for the Rolex 24 At Daytona while driving the No. 60 Ford Riley, together with team mates John Pew and Ozz Negri. At present, the racer drives the Rolex Daytona Prototype for AIM Autosport.

The Canadian racer has long been associated with Rolex Sports Car Racing as well as with the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The year 2008 witnessed him deliver one of the most breakthrough performances of his career during the Grand Am Rolex Series with his co-driver Burt Frisselle. The duo registered back-to-back top ten finishes between round four to seven followed by being victorious in the ninth round at Barber. While just twenty minutes remained for the championship to end and they were leading, fate intervened, and the engine of their car gave up. This became one of the most memorable final lap defeats in the history of the event.

Before his stint at Grand Am Racing, Mark Wilkins had proved his worth in a number of sports car racing events, including the North American Fran Am 2000 Pro Championship in 2004 where the performer bagged the fourth position. From there, Mark Wilkins made his way into the Star Mazda Series for the next two seasons. In the meantime, the racer also raced in the Grand Am series occasionally.

For many years Rolex has been tirelessly providing its support to the field of sports and especially sports car
racing. The main onus of several of its racing initiatives has been to provide a global platform to talented racers from across the world where they could display their excellence in their respective fields. Through these racing championships Rolex brings across the pursuit of excellence among the talented league of racers, which is also reflected by the timeless Rolex master pieces. The long list of noted championships sponsored by Rolex includes the likes of the Rolex Sports Car Series and the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

The Rolex Sports Car Series is one of the most awaited series in the world of motor sports. It is organised by the Grand American Road Racing Association.

Rolex 24 at Daytona was earlier known as the 24 Hours of Daytona. As the name suggests, the racing championship features a 24-hour endurance race which is held on an annual basis. The event is held at the Daytona International Speedway located in Daytona Beach, Florida. The racing championship was initiated in the year 1966 as a 12-hour race, which was later extended to 24 hours in the following years due to its increasing popularity. The racing event takes place during January’s last weekend or February’s first weekend on a yearly basis as a part of the Speedweeks. The winners of the championship are rewarded with a timeless model of the Rolex Daytona.

The 58th annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida kicked off on March 20, Saturday at about 10:30 a.m. This American Le Mans Series season race will be featuring an impressive line-up of some 36 of the most talented and high skilled racers from across the globe which will include Canada’s very own Tony Burgess, Kyle Marcelli and Mark Wilkins who is a top competitor in the Grand Am Rolex Series. The American Le Mans Series marks as one of the North America’s most sought after endurance races.

The P1-class race of the event will see the veteran driver Tony Burgess driving with the Autocon Motorsports Team. The top end racer has also raced for about sixteen 24 hour sports car races. He first became a part of ALMS racing event in the year 2000, however he only got the chance to earn a place in the P1-class in the year 2007. Tony Burgess looks forward to an eventful ALMS series this year and hopes to become a part of about seven event during the season includingthe 24 Hours of Le Mans and his home track event- Mosport.

The second racer who has got both fans and media taking about him is the 20 year old Kyle Marcelli. The racer is the youngest of the lot to become a part of ALMS and will make his debut in the series at Sebring’s opening event. Kyle Marcelli together with Joel Feinberg will be racing for the Primetime-Braille Battery Race Group in the LMPC division of the event. The racer has also had an experience of driving for the 2009’s IMSA Lites Championship where he bagged the fifth place.

The Grand Am Rolex Series’ champion Mark Wilkins will also be making an appearance in this year’s American Le Mans Series’ Sebring opening event. Mark Wilkins will be seen racing in the No. 55 FLM09 for the LMPC Class Level 5 Motorsports. The star racer who will be making his debut in the ALMS this year is looking forward to the race. Mark Wilkins will be joined in by Scott Tucker and Christophe Bouchut. With the Grand Prix of Mosport geared up to make its way from August 26 to 29, Canadian fans of the championship will get an opportunity to catch the ALMS event live in action. The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear by David Ostella and Mikael Grenier will be seen carrying the colours of Canada.

The upcoming star racer Mikael Grenier who is merely 17 years old will be racing in the 2010 Star Mazda Championship for the first time. He had started racing at the age of five. The young racer will be racing for about 11 races for Andersen Racing following an impressive stint in six races in 2009. The drivers will also form a part of the Mobil 1 Presents GP of Mosport weekend.

The American Le Mans Series will be covered by SPEED. The live coverage of the event will also be aired by the American Le Mans Radio network.

One time Rolex Grand Am champion, Canadian Mark Wilkins is all set to join ALMS Series with the LMPC Class for the Mobil 112 Hours of Sebring which is presented by Fresh from Florida. Together with Christophe Bouchut and Scott Tucker, Mark Wilkins will be seen racing the Level 5 Motorsports No. 55 FLM09. This event will mark the racer’s initial brush with the ALMS Series.

With this famous event coming his way, Mark Wilkins is one happy man. The racer is excited about being a part of the 12 Hours of Sebring and said that this is one race every racer looks up to and wishes to become a part of. He considered this opportunity one not to be missed.

Mark Wilkins, who regularly drives the AIM Autosport No 61 Ford Riley in another series, was excited at the opportunity to drive in the 12 Hours of Sebring. He went on to add that he looks forward to Level 5 race and also hopes to put in his best in the championship together with team mates Christophe and Scott. Apparently, the racer has raced in the past against both his team mates and shares a bond with them which he said would work for them as a team.

The twenty six year old racer, Mark Wilkins started racing in the year 2001 when he first joined Woodbridge to compete in Formula Ford which was followed up by his stint at the Star Mazda, Fran Am and Formula Renault which saw him earning podium victories. The man went on to add many accolades to the list by bagging Podiums in the year 2004 in the Rolex 24 At Daytona which was followed by his victory in the next year in the GT Class, before Mark Wilkins finally became full time member of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No 16 in the year 2007. The super talented racer did not budge from scoring back to back podium victories at Montreal and Watkins Glen- two famous Grand Am Championships.

Mark Wilkins won his second Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series race in the year 2008 together with Brian Frisselle when it took place in New York just a week after the duo won their first Grand Am Rolex race in Montreal.

Mark Wilkins has led his hand to drive a Daytona Prototype for AIM in the Rolex Sports Car Series and also to Autosport No 61 Ford Riley in one of the other series. The racer worked with his team members in order to get things right in the championship and also participated in the Oreca FLM09. He also flew down to Florida just in time to meet the crew and make seat fittings for the event, while the LMPC class for the qualifying event would take place on coming Friday.

The American Le Mans Series runs on the lines of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and each car is driven by a multiple number of drivers depending upon the duration of the race.

Michael Shank Racing Team secured fifth position overall in the Rolex 24 At Daytona 2010. As the race approached its end, team drivers John Pew, Ozz Negri, Burt Frisselle and Mark Wilkins racing in No. 60 Crown Royal XR Ford-Riley made their way to a top five finish in the Rolex 24 At Daytona speedway on Sunday. It turned out to be great day for the Canadian racer Mark Wilkins who has made a satisfactory start to the 2010 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. With the crack of the morning, Michael Shank team, all geared up in Ford Riley, maintained their speed for the run to the podium, but due to a driveline failure and just one hour remaining for the finish, Michael Shank could not make it to the checkered flag as the automobile was registered as seventh at the finish. Michael Shank which is backed by the title of double top-ten team, opened in a grand way at the 2010 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series championship. The team gave a display of tremendous speed on the course over the four-day season opening event.

Michael Shank was expected to continue its glory, however, the final results of the Rolex 24 At Daytona revealed a different story altogether with Michael Shank registering fifth position in the championship. The long preparations were joined in by some pit work in the garage even as the crew of Michael Shank replaced the clutch and the splitter of the vehicle on Sunday morning while the race was on. But much damage had been done. These setbacks resulted in the car ending the race at the fifth position. The team owner Mike Shank apparently looked disappointed as he saw the final day not turning out to be as rewarding for the team Michael Shank. With the team scoring fifth position in the race, Mike Shank spoke about how the team members had delivered stupendous performances back-to-back during the weekend but could not achieve what they deserved. He maintained the spirit of the team and praised their efforts as well as that of the car Ford Riley.

The team members appeared happy with their achievement but reiterated the fact that there was a scope to do better in the championship. While team member John Pew, who had a great race after a long time at Daytona 24 felt elated with the success and admired his team for delivering an excellent performance even after many setbacks, Brian Frisselle felt that the race was an uphill task to complete following long hours of fatigue and dehydration. He considered it unfortunate that the team could not secure a place in top positions and looked forward to do better at Homestead. Another team member Ozz Negri who despite of grave pains in foot drove the speedway added that No. 60 Crown Royal XR Ford-Riley delivered good performance at Daytona. He felt that he had an interesting race overall. The optimistic racer hoped to get rid of the pains and perform well in the coming championships. Racer Mark Wilkins mentioned that Ford Riley drove very well and only got better as the race progressed. After making it to the fifth position in the Rolex 24 At Daytona 2010, the Michael Shank team is also set to hit the Homestead.

The 2009 Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series turned out to be really memorable season for the Canadian race car driver Mark Wilkins as he raced his car to finish the championship within the prestigious top ten riding on some decent performances all year long. The Toronto resident has been a driver for many years now and has had many successes in all kinds of motorsports tournaments. Though he has been participating in the Rolex sponsored championship for couple of years now, the 2009 season has been his most successful so far. Mark Wilkins who drives for the AIM Autosport team is counted as one of the most talented drivers in the 2009 Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series and has become the favorite of not only the fans of motorsports in Canada but of fans spread all over the world. His praiseworthy performance in the 2009 Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series season has made him one of the most dangerous drivers to look out for in the upcoming 2010 season.

Before becoming a regular at the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series Mark Wilkins had driven in various other motor-racing tournaments and had achieved many victories, podium finishes as well as remarkable performances to become a strong contender for the much sought after Rolex championship. He had in fact managed to score the 4^th overall position in the 2004 Formula Renault 2000 championship and good seven finishes in the top-ten in the ten races he participated in the 2005 Star Mazda Championship. He was always inclined towards participating in the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series and used to race in Rolex 24 At Daytona from time to time. Once he became a regular at the championship he has been performing tremendously well to outrace others and beat the best of the drivers.

Mark Wilkins drives for the AIM Autosport racing and in 2008 showed everyone how good a driver he was. After teaming up with Brain Frisselle they had many top ten finishes in the season and they topped it all with their first victory in the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series at Montreal. 2009 was expected to be great year for the AIM Autosport team and the driver duo of Mark Wilkins and Brain Frisselle very much ensured that the team and its fans would have a memorable year in the end. They had not made a very impressive start to the season but recovered well to be placed among the top seven most of the times. In fact in four of those races the team was placed in the top 5 in one of which it just missed the podium to finish at the fourth place. Canadian Mark Wilkins is a race driver par excellence and is interested in motorsports off the racecourse too. He in addition to racing in the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series is also studying for the automotive business management at the Georgia College’s prestigious Canadian Automotive Institute. In the upcoming 2010 Rolex season he can be expected to perform even better than his performance in the 2009 season.