AUDI SCORES
ST. PETE STREET REPEAT
Audi's Lucas Luhr passed Romain Dumas on a restart with three minutes left Saturday to give Audi a victory in the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg presented by XM Satellite Radio, the German manufacturer's first overall victory of 2008. Luhr teamed with Marco Werner in Audi Sport North America's No. 2 Audi R10 TDI as a diesel-powered prototype won on the streets of St. Petersburg for the second straight season.
The 0.818-second victory was Luhr's first overall in the American Le Mans Series and his seventh victory on a street circuit. Werner won overall for the first time since the 2007 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The car made just one pit stop in the race.
The last one preceded Luhr's winning move. Dyson Racing's Butch Leitzinger spun at Turn 2 after contact with Penske Racing's Patrick Long with 15 minutes left, a crash that also damaged Jörg Bergmeister's Flying Lizard GT2 Porsche. Dumas had taken the lead under green with 19 minutes to go but the torque of the Audi proved to be the difference. When the green flew, Luhr got on the diesel and beat Dumas to Turn 1 for a clean pass at the end of the long frontstretch.
Dumas and Bernhard did salvage their weekend with their eighth straight LMP2 victory dating back to Mid-Ohio in July of last year. The duo was five seconds clear of David Brabham and Scott Sharp in the Patrón Highcroft Racing entry, the highest finisher among the three Acura ARX-01b cars.
The pairing controlled the P2 contest from the beginning with Bernhard starting first in class and second overall after Dumas' qualifying run. The German pitted just once as well, handing off to Dumas at the 44-minute mark. He led 35 of the final 43 laps.
The win for Bernhard and Dumas ties an American Le Mans Series record for consecutive victories regardless of class. The two won eight times in P2 a year ago with six overall victories on their way to the class championship. They already are well on their way to a repeat.
The second Penske Porsche of Long and Sascha Maassen finished third in class and fourth overall although both drivers were docked three championship points for the incident with Leitzinger's Porsche. LMP2 cars held the second through seventh positions overall.
The second Audi of Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro was second in LMP1 but well back after two different instances of contact. Intersport Racing's cellulosic E85-powered Lola-AER was third in P1.
Corvette Racing's Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta led flag-to-flag for their second consecutive St. Petersburg victory in the No. 4 Corvette C6.R. Beretta qualified on the class pole position and never gave up his advantage as Gavin beat Jan Magnussen to the line by 4.754 seconds.
That failure saw them finish eight laps behind the sister car of Johnny O'Connell and Magnussen. The Bell Motorsports Aston Martin DBR9 finished third in class but was retired after Terry Borcheller collided with the Joel Feinberg's Dodge Viper Competition Coupe.
Saturday also marked the first victory for cellulosic E85 in the American Le Mans Series as both Corvette factory cars are powered by the alternative fuel. Intersport's Lola and the Drayson-Barwell Aston Martin in GT2 also are competing on cellulosic E85.
Tafel Racing posted its first Series victory as Dirk Mueller and Dominik Farnbacher won in GT2. The duo stayed clean as electrical problems and contact sidelined the Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 and the Sebring-winning Porsche from Flying Lizard Motorsports.
It was Mueller's first victory in the Series since 2000 and the first ever for Farnbacher. Mueller crossed the line by more than 13 seconds ahead of Flying Lizard's No. 46 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Johannes van Overbeek and Patrick Pilet.
What worked even better was Mueller's move to get around Bergmeister with 25 minutes left going into the first turn, the same spot where Luhr made his winning pass.
Third place in class went to the Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche of Dirk Werner and Marc Basseng, a solid showing after being knocked out of the Sebring race at the six-hour mark.
The next race for the American Le Mans Series is the Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach. The green flag is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. PT on Saturday, April 19 from the famed Long Beach street circuit. The race will be broadcast from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 20. American Le Mans Radio will have live coverage of the race at americanlemans.com, which also will feature IMSA's Live Timing & Scoring.
RAHAL MAKES HISTORY
AT HONDA GRAND PRIX
OF ST. PETERSBURG
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA., Sunday, April 6, 2008 – IndyCar Series driver Graham Rahal made history at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, becoming the youngest driver to win a major open-wheel race at the age of 19 years, 93 days old.
The race was the Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing driver’s first in the IndyCar Series, after withdrawing last weekend from the season-opening race at Homestead-Miami Speedway due to damage to his primary car sustained during a test session at the track. Rahal, who started in ninth, overcame a setback on Lap 37 when he made contact with Will Power to win the IndyCar Series’ first temporary street course race of the season.
“It was tough,” Rahal said. “After getting hit by Will (Power) in the rain and everything, it was going to be a tough start. It doesn’t get any sweeter than this; to expect a win in our first race. We had the pace and we pulled away from them, so it wasn’t like we lucked into it. This is just awesome.”
Rahal, the son of 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, becomes just the fourth driver in history to win in his first IndyCar Series start and the fourth rookie to win in their first IndyCar Series season.
“Do you think he’ll ever listen to any advice from me again?” said Graham’s father Bobby Rahal, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner. “He really thinks he knows everything now. Slowly he will take advice from me. He drove a phenomenal race and the crew did a great job. The engineer gave him a great car. He was fast at the end. That’s the best conditions, a lot of people banging each other, and he kept it together.”
Two-time defending race winner Helio Castro-Neves, driving the No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone, finished second and Andretti Green Racing’s Tony Kanaan finished third. HVM Racing’s E.J. Viso and Conquest Racing’s Enrique Bernoldi, both rookies, rounded out the top-five.
***
HONDA GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG POST-RACE NOTES:
•
Graham Rahal wins his first IndyCar Series start. He joins Buzz Calkins (Walt Disney World, 1996), Juan Montoya (Indianapolis, 2000) and Scott Dixon (Homestead-Miami, 2003) as drivers to win in their first IndyCar Series start.
•Rahal is the youngest driver to win a major open-wheel event at age 19 years, 93 days. Marco Andretti was the previous youngest winner at 19 years, 167 days when he won at Infineon in 2006.
•Rahal is the 12th IndyCar Series driver to win in his first season.
•Helio Castroneves finished in the top two for the third consecutive season at St. Petersburg. He won the previous two races.
•Tony Kanaan finished third for the third consecutive year at St. Petersburg. He has not finished lower than third in any of the four races at the track.
•Hideki Mutoh finished a career-best sixth. His previous best was eighth at Chicagoland last season.
DIXON WINS
GAINSCO INDY 300
HOMESTEAD, FLA., March 29, 2008 – Scott Dixon won the first race under the unified IndyCar Series banner, taking the checkered flag in the GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway 0.5828 seconds ahead of Marco Andretti.
Dixon, who started from the pole in the race that featured 25 starters, took the lead on a Lap 197 restart when race leader Tony Kanaan slowed due to a damage right front tire. Dixon held off Andretti to claim his 11th career IndyCar Series victory.
It was a reversal of fortune for Dixon, who finished second in the 2007 IndyCar Series championship after running out of fuel while leading on the final lap of the season finale at Chicagoland. This time, Dixon was in position to take advantage of someone else’s misfortune.
Kanaan was in the lead when Ernesto Viso’s car spun on Lap 193. The right front corner of Kanaan’s car made contact with Viso’s car, damaging the car. Kanaan remained on the track during the caution period, but couldn’t race at speed when the green flag dropped. Kanaan finished eighth.
Andretti, who led a race-high 85 laps, finished second, tying his career-best mark on an oval.
Dixon’s Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dan Wheldon finished third. Wheldon, who had won the previous three events at Homestead-Miami, surged to the front from the 22nd starting position after crashing during qualifying March 28.
Helio Castroneves and Ed Carpenter rounded out the top five. Carpenter advanced 19 positions during the race after starting in the back due to a technical violation during qualifying.
Also on March 29, Dillon Battistini became the fifth Firestone Indy Lights driver to win in his first start when he captured the Miami 100. Battistini passed Richard Antinucci on Lap 64 of the 67-lap sprint to win by 1.6848 seconds.
Antinucci was second while Brent Sherman was third, Arie Luyendyk Jr. fourth and Chris Festa fifth.
Pruett, Rojas Victorious
at GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (March 29, 2008) – Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas extended their Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 point lead Saturday with their second consecutive Rolex Series win in the young 2008 season. The pilots of the No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley captured Saturday’s GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The duo combined to lead 51 laps overall, including 41 for Pruett, to win the 99-lap race by 1.645 seconds over defending race co-winner Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand of Alex Job Racing. Pruett and Rojas were also part of the quartet that won January's Rolex 24 At Daytona. With the win, the two stretched their championship lead to a 13-point gap over defending champions Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty following two events.
It also marked Pruett's record-extending 16th Daytona Prototype victory in Grand-Am competition.
“Everything was good today; we could run inside, outside – high, low, really anywhere on the track,” Pruett said. “This was truly one of the best cars I’ve ever had. The engine was phenomenal. They’ve worked hard to improve our drivability since Daytona – and in all the races we’ve won, I think this might have been our best Lexus engine ever.”
Rojas earned his third career Rolex Series win in a race that was slowed by nine full course caution periods for 40 laps.
“We got banged around pretty good on that first lap and lost a position, but we were able to stay in it,” Rojas said. “Once we went into the lead the car really ran well. It’s a bit cooler today than it was in qualifying and the car was working was working better.”
Auberlen and Hand finished second in the No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Porsche Crawford. Auberlen avoided trouble from the early cautions throughout his stint before passing off to Hand.
“My stint was no problem because I knew there were going to be a lot of yellows, a lot of accidents,” Auberlen said. “I thought I would take it easy and let the race come to us because that is kind of how it was last year. The car was really good, especially after restarts. [However], on the last restart, the car became very loose and really bad.”
Hand was able to reel in the troubles of the No. 23 and led 14 laps before losing the lead to Pruett on Lap 78. From there, Hand hung around for a runner-up finish.
“Our car was good enough today,” Hand said. “When we got here on Thursday, we were in the dumps. We were not good. But, the Ruby Tuesday crew worked and worked to find some stuff. When it looked like we should have packed up, they persevered. And today, we had the best race car that we had all weekend.”
Rounding out the Daytona Prototype podium were Oswaldo Negri and Mark Patterson in the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley. Patterson qualified ninth and drove a trouble-free first stint before passing the car to Negri, who brought the No. 60 machine home on the podium after holding off Marc Goossens in the No. 91 Riley-Matthews Pontiac Riley over the last several laps.
Goossens and teammate Jim Matthews finished fourth after sneaking by Matt Plumb in the No. 7 SigalSport Rum Bum BMW Riley late in the race. Plumb and Gene Sigal brought the No. 7 Rum Bum machine to the checkered flag in fifth. Lexus, Porsche, Ford, Pontiac and BMW marked five different Daytona Prototype engine manufacturers in the top five.
Five Daytona Prototypes led overall and nine Daytona Prototype cars finished on the lead lap.
Michael Valiante led 20 laps early in the race in the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Pontiac Dallara in the Dallara’s Rolex Series debut before a spinning Daytona Prototype collected Valiante and sent the team to the garage for repairs. Valiante and teammate Max Angelelli finished 14th in class.
Collins, Edwards Win GT
at GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami
Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards led 51 laps to win the Rolex Series GT class from the pole at the GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami.
Edwards led the final 30 laps in the No. 07 Banner Racing Banner Engineering Pontiac GXP.R after getting by Jan Heylen on Lap 70 of the 99-lap race. Edwards and Collins also finished 10th overall, though only 1.118 seconds ahead of the second-place No. 67 TRG Gleukos/Monster Cable Porsche GT3 and drivers Spencer Pumpelly and Tim George Jr.
Collins led the opening 12 laps before pitting for the first of the nine caution periods. He returned to the lead for nine more circuits before Dominik Farnbacher in the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3 took the lead for 21 laps.
The team stayed well in the top five as pit stops circulated, and Edwards took the point from Heylen on Lap 70. Four caution periods in the final 36 laps kept the challenge for the win close, but Edwards kept his cool until the checkered flag. The car began smoking heavily after he crossed the start/finish line.
“This is awesome,” said Edwards, who combined with Collins to finish second in the GT driver standings last season. “We made huge changes to the car following Thursday’s practice, bigger changes we’d like to make during a racing weekend. This gives us the momentum we need, because Mexico City is a great track for us.”
“From the get-go, the car was good,” added Collins, one of five Pontiac drivers to lead the race.
For Pumpelly and George, the duo moved up 13 positions from flag-to-flag, slowly moving through the field as many of the frontrunners backpedaled due a number of mechanical problems.
The race marked the second straight runner-up finish for TRG at the 2.3-mile track, and second straight on the young season after three of its cars took top-five finishes in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Pumpelly and George also moved into the series GT driver point lead by one (62-61) leading into Round 3 at Mexico City, Mexico.
“The race was tough because of the depth of talent was really incredible,” Pumpelly said. “This year in GT, it’s going to be really tough. Fortunately, Tim George did an awesome job in his first stint. The TRG guys gave both of us a really good car. We worked on it a lot last week in the shop and worked on it all week here. The effort that went into it was phenomenal. At the end, I really wanted to win, because I thought on the restart we were fast enough, but he’d get up to speed and up to temp, I really don’t think we had much for him.
Banner Racing team owner Leighton Reese and co-driver Jan Magnussen finished third after starting in the second-to-final position. The No. 06 Banner Racing Banner Engineering Pontiac GXP.R team made an engine change on Friday. Magnussen led 14 laps overall, jolting through the field after Reese passed more than 10 cars in the opening 15 circuits.
Fourth were No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3 drivers Dominik Farnbacher and Dirk Werner, while incoming point leaders, defending race winners and Rolex 24 At Daytona co-winners Nick Ham and Sylvain Tremblay in the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazdaspeed/Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8 finished fifth.
The third round on the Rolex Sports Car Series schedule is April 19 at Mexico City, Mexico.
CHAMP CAR TEAMS
TEST THEIR NEW INDYCARS
AT THE HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (March 24, 2008)
Everyone in the Homestead-Miami Speedway driver meeting room listened intently as Brian Barnhart stressed patience for the first of two testing days on the 1.5-mile, high-banked oval.
“Let’s focus on familiarity,” the president of the competition and operations divisions for the sanctioning Indy Racing League said.
Nine drivers who are transitioning to the IndyCar Series from the Champ Car World Series, many of whom had not driven more than a passenger car on an oval racetrack, wouldn’t argue the point.
KV Racing Technology (Oriol Servia, Will Power), Conquest Racing (Enrique Bernoldi, Franck Perera) and Dale Coyne Racing (Bruno Junqueira, Mario Moraes) participated in testing last week on the Sebring International Raceway road course. They were joined in the Dallara/Honda/Firestone packages at Homestead by Newman/Haas/Laningan Racing (Graham Rahal, Justin Wilson) and HVM Racing (Ernesto Viso). Marty Roth and Jay Howard of Roth Racing also were granted track time because they did not participate in the full oval Open Test in February.
Ten drivers recorded 598 laps without incident. Junqueira’s No. 18 car is expected on the racetrack for the first time during the second session March 25 (4-10 p.m. ET).
Barnhart set a 195 mph speed limit to start the session under cloudy skies and high humidity, and it increased incrementally as more laps were turned in preparation for the season-opening GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300 under the lights March 29 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“The teams are working awfully hard,” said Barnhart, who noted the hundreds of hours crews have labored to prepare the race cars since unification under the IndyCar Series banner was announced four weeks ago. “We’re getting close to event time and clearly track time and seat time is the most valuable commodity. They’ll get a full six hours out there (March 25) and get some decent preparation for this weekend’s race.”
During the dinner break, driver coach Al Unser Jr. heard a similar refrain: It’s daunting at first.
“It looks like I started racing just now,” said Perera, who competed in Atlantics and the GP2 Series the past two years. “It looks so easy when you watch on TV, but it’s not. On a (road/street course) you always try to brake later, to have maximum speed in the corners. Here, it’s always the same (left turns) but everything can happen.”
That’s what the familiarization/practice sessions and Unser’s advice are meant to counteract. Unser said the drivers quickly will be up to speed and competitive on the 11 ovals this season.
“Once you get flat and you feel the downforce in it, then you’ll start dialing that understeer out. These cars are good at letting you know when it is too positive on the steering,” Unser relayed to KV Racing Technology’s Power. “You’ll feel it.”
Said Power, whose only oval race was at The Milwaukee Mile in 2006: “The first couple of laps I was very unsure of the car. But once I got into it, I started to feel real comfortable. Now it’s a matter of working up to speed and start making changes and feeling how sensitive the car is to them.
“Then you have to learn traffic, which is probably even harder again. It’s going to be a year of learning on the ovals. But it’s good to be here and great with all the cars running and the two series together.”
WHAT A NIGHT
FOR PENSKE,
PORSCHE AT SEBRING
The 2007 American Le Mans Series was a magical one for Penske Racing. The 2008 season may be even better if Saturday was any indication. Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Emmanuel Collard drove to an historic overall win at the 56th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida.
The win was the first overall at Sebring by an LMP2 car and saw 27 overall lead changes, a race record, and three lead-lap finishers, tying a race record. Dumas took the checkered flag by 1:02.084 over Dyson Racing's trio of Butch Leitzinger, Marino Franchitti and Andy Wallace in their Porsche RS Spyder. The Audi Sport North America trio of Dindo Capello, Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen finished third overall and first in LMP1.
Third in P2 class and fourth overall was the second Dyson Porsche of Chris Dyson and Guy Smith as the P2 class took three of the top four spots.
The overall win for Porsche was its first since 1988 when Hans Stuck and Klaus Ludwig took victory in a Porsche 962. Roger Penske took his first win at Sebring in 40 years and became the first team owner to win overall at Sebring, the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500.
Collard also won for the second time at Sebring, and Dumas was a first-time winner. The trio ran a smart, consistent race and watched their toughest challengers all fall by the wayside. They led seven times for 144 laps including Dumas' final 31 to the end.
Bernhard and Dumas won six overall races in 2007 with two more LMP2 victories en route to capturing the class championship.
Audi's streak of consecutive overall wins at Sebring ended at eight although it extended its Series record of consecutive class wins to 23.
Kristensen won for the fifth time at Sebring, Capello won for the fourth time at Sebring and McNish was a victor for third time. The sister car of Mike Rockenfeller, Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner were the class runners-up after losing precious time while changing a turbo in the paddock. Third was the cellulosic E85-powered Intersport Racing Lola B06/10-AER of Clint Field, Jon Field and Richard Berry.
The race started out ominously with a stop-and-go penalty for Capello after colliding with one of Flying Lizard Motorsports' Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs in the opening hour.
McNish, Kristensen and Capello overcame a myriad of other problems to come within a whisker of a remarkable comeback. After the team changed front brake discs and a pushrod, the trio fought back from three laps down with three hours left.
The much-anticipated battle between diesel rivals Audi and Peugeot materialized in the race's opening half. The two traded the lead back and forth for 131 of the first 133 laps before the Peugeot 908 began to falter with hydraulic problems and related issues. It eventually finished fourth in P1 and 11th overall in its maiden North American race.
Johnny O'Connell became the winningest driver in Sebring history with his seventh class victory as he broke a tie with Sebring legend Phil Hill. O'Connell teamed with Jan Magnussen and Ron Fellows for a nearly flawless run in Corvette Racing's Corvette C6.R. The trio started from the head of the class and never trailed.
O'Connell won overall in 1994 and posted class victories in 1993, 1995 and 2002-2004. It gave Fellows four Sebring wins - he teamed with O'Connell for three straight from 2002-04 - and was Magnussen's second in four years.
While the No. 3 Corvette ran faultlessly, the No. 4 sister Corvette of Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Max Papis ran into trouble early. The car lost time early in the race when the crew had to change a driveshaft in the second hour. The trio was trying for a second straight class win together.
Flying Lizard Motorsports finally broke through in the 12 Hours after finishing second the last two years. Jörg Bergmeister, Wolf Henzler and Marc Lieb drove their No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR to a two-lap victory over the sister car of Darren Law, Seth Neiman and Alex Davison.
It is the first 1-2 class finish for the Lizards, which placed third in 2005 and runner-up in 2006 and 2007.
Henzler and the Lizards took the lead near the halfway point when Risi Competizione's Jaime Melo ran hot in Turn 7 while leading in the No. 62 Ferrari F430 GT and collided with the second-place Porsche of Dirk Werner and Farnbacher Loles Racing.
As a result, the Risi Competizione/Krohn Racing Ferrari finished third in class, driven by Nic Jonsson, Eric van de Poele and Tracy Krohn.
In the 2007 race, Flying Lizard came up 0.202 seconds short of a class victory in a final-lap duel with the Risi Ferrari that stands as the closest finish in race history.
Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz had finished second overall and in class but failed a post-race stall test in technical inspections. Their Lowe's Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01b was excluded as a result.
Chip Ganassi Racing
With Felix Sabates
Wins Third Straight Rolex 24 At Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 27, 2008) – The Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates racing program became the first team to capture a Rolex 24 At Daytona overall victory in three straight years when Rolex Series stars Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas and NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti captured the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 season opener in the No. 01 TELMEX/Target Lexus Riley. The record breaking race was the 46th running of the classic endurance race.
In a race that featured Grand-Am Rolex Series and Rolex 24 records for car leaders (15), driver leaders (25) and lead changes (60), the Ganassi team stayed out of trouble to complete 695 laps and march to a two-lap victory over defending series champions No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Lowe's Pontiac Riley of Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty, joined by back-to-back NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and former Champ Car champion Jimmy Vasser.
The wins were the second straight for Montoya and Pruett, the first time drivers earned repeat victories in the race since Derek Bell, Al Unser, Jr. and Al Hulbert accomplished the feat in 1986 and 1987.
The No. 9 Penske-Taylor Racing Toshiba Pontiac Riley of Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe and Kurt Busch scored a third-place finish in Roger Penske's first Rolex 24 effort since 1973, rounding out the podium.
While the No. 01 team led 252 laps, it was clear a race win would have to be earned surviving the rain and slippery track prevalent throughout the night stages of the race. When the checkered flag waved, the Ganassi quartet executed their strategy to perfection and went without the mechanical problems that plagued many of their counterparts.
During the final quarter of the race, a string of bad luck hit many of those front-running machines. The least catastrophic of the bunch came when the No. 99 machine was pulled behind the wall with gearbox problems. But strong pit strategy and speed allowed the team to rally throughout the remainder of the race, making up four of the six laps they lost in the garage area.
The victory added to Pruett's already all-time best eight class victories at the Rolex 24 and record 15th overall Rolex Series wins. It was his third overall in the Rolex 24.
The Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 will continue racing March 28-29 at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami.
SpeedSource
Captures GT Class
Victory in Rolex 24 At Daytona
Rolex Series GT class Rolex 24 At Daytona polesitter Sylvain Tremblay finished what he started Sunday by taking the checkered flag with his SpeedSource co-drivers Nick Ham, David Haskell and Raphael Matos in the No. 70 Mazdaspeed Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8 at Daytona International Speedway. The quartet also finished ninth overall in the race.
With the exception of an off-track excursion and a few near misses, the team put together an almost flawless effort. The four combined to lead 323 of the overall 664 GT laps contested (48.6 percent), including the race’s final quarter. Each driver led at least 40 laps in Mazda's first victory in any Rolex 24 At Daytona class since winning in SRP in 2001.
Tremblay set a record qualifying time Friday with a time of 1:50.758 (115.712 mph). The victory was the fourth for the operation in Rolex Series GT, which is in its second full season of GT racing with the Mazda. The team also won the two-hour, 45-minute sprint at Daytona in July 2007.
The victory by the SpeedSource Mazda – combined with a Lexus-powered Daytona Prototype taking the overall win – broke a 14-year streak of Porsches in the Rolex 24 Victory Lane.
While SpeedSource celebrated its win, TRG went full force for the other top-five positions. Running a strong seven-car effort for the Rolex 24, TRG Porsches garnered second, third and fourth in the 24-hour classic that saw five of the seven cars take the checkered flag.
Plagued by overheating problems before the race was half over, team principal Kevin Buckler instilled patience throughout his roster, which helped claim the final two podium positions.
The Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 will continue racing March 28-29 at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami.
