In a move that's sure to surprise almost no one,
Alex Roy – head of Team Polizei, multi-rally champion, author of
The Driver and the man responsible for crossing the continent in 31:04 – has officially retired from road rallies. Roy, who hasn't participated in one of the ego-fueled events since his record-setting run, has tried to raise awareness about the inherently unsafe nature of the "sport" over the last few years, Now, he's taking the next step to prove that the time, effort and capital necessary to participate in the world of rallying would be put to better use on the track.
Roy plans to race and campaign a team in the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, along with veteran Ferrari Challenge driver Henri Richard and Rene Villenueve as driver/team captain. Team Polizei is partnering with TRG, the 2008 Grand Am winners, to run at Laguna Seca on May 17, all the way through to the series' finale at the 24 Hours of Daytona.
In addition to bringing professional drivers and the street/tuner/rally world together, Roy is working on a new interactive track-side model that will combine live, streaming, high-definition video from the team's Porsche 911 race car, GPS/GPX tracking and a crew of volunteers/fans to work on video editing, web-content delivery and mapping to the masses.
Naturally, Team Polizei plans to be competitive, but Alex admits that they're in it to do more than win – the team wants to revolutionize the way motorsports coverage is delivered. Plan on reports from the pits at Laguna Seca for the team's first outing, followed by more from Watkins Glen on June 6.
Roy plans to race and campaign a team in the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, along with veteran Ferrari Challenge driver Henri Richard and Rene Villenueve as driver/team captain. Team Polizei is partnering with TRG, the 2008 Grand Am winners, to run at Laguna Seca on May 17, all the way through to the series' finale at the 24 Hours of Daytona.
In addition to bringing professional drivers and the street/tuner/rally world together, Roy is working on a new interactive track-side model that will combine live, streaming, high-definition video from the team's Porsche 911 race car, GPS/GPX tracking and a crew of volunteers/fans to work on video editing, web-content delivery and mapping to the masses.
Naturally, Team Polizei plans to be competitive, but Alex admits that they're in it to do more than win – the team wants to revolutionize the way motorsports coverage is delivered. Plan on reports from the pits at Laguna Seca for the team's first outing, followed by more from Watkins Glen on June 6.
