Cheever Racing returned to form to take second
Lexus
GM Racing
Cheever Racing
Farnbacher Loles
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Lexus
Pruett, Rojas Lead Most Laps On Way to Fifth-Place Finish at Montreal; stretch series lead
JTORRANCE, Calif. (Aug. 1, 2008) -- Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas combined to lead a race-high 27 laps in the #01 Lexus, leading the race until just 17 minutes remained before fading late to place fifth in Friday's Montreal 200 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
While the team missed out on its seventh win of the season, the fifth-place showing extends their championship lead to 63 points with just four races remaining. The Ganassi team also holds a 63-point advantage in the team champi onship, while Lexus' manufacturer's championship lead was trimmed to just 10 points.
In addition to the 27 laps led by Ganassi, the #3 Southard Motorsports Lexus driven by Shane Lewis and Bill Lester also led four laps today, giving Lexus a total of 31 for the day. After starting 10th and running in the top-five for much of the mid-portion of the race, the team fell back in the field after making a late pit-stop, eventually finishing 14th.
Notes:
- Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas extended their championship points lead to 63 points today and can now capture the Rolex Sports Car Series championship by finishing 11th or better in each of the season's final four races.J
- With their 27 laps led today, the #01 Ganassi Lexus team has now led 487 laps this season, more than double the amount of their nearest competitor. The #01 has led every race this season.< o:p>
- Today's fifth-place finish is the ninth top-five finish in 10 races this season for the #01 Lexus. It also extends the team's record for consecutive top-10 finishes to 29, dating back to Mid-Ohio in June, 2006.
- Lexus win total remains at six, but the manufacturer can match its previous single-season high win total of seven, set in 2006, with just one victory in the season's final four races.
GM Racing
Stevenson Pontiac GXP.R Wins GT At Montreal
Cheever Racing Second in DP
Montreal, Quebec, Canada, August 1, 2008 -- Stevenson Motorsports' Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis drove their Pontiac GXP.R to the GT class win today in round ten of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 race run at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Cheever Racing came second in their Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Pontiac Coyote in the Daytona Prototype (DP) class.
The two-hour timed race became a strategy event for the Rolex Series GT competitors. The lack of a late race caution rewarded the teams that chose to pit on lap 37 of the 69 lap race. The Stevenson Motorsports No. 57 GXP.R was one of those that pitted for gas. The leading cars in the class stayed out, relegating them to mid-pack as they ran out of fuel on the last lap. Robin Liddell took the white flag, one lap remaining, in third position and crossed the line in first as the front two cars sputtered out of fuel. The Stevenson crew adds another win to their victories at Mexico City and Virginia International Raceway.
"I was running with the 40 and the 21 early in my stint," Liddell said. "I just kept the pressure on them and forced them into mistakes. The team did a great job with the strategy. Late in the race I was just pushing as hard I could to try and make up spots. The cars in front of me were questionable on gas. With ten laps to go I was wondering if we made the right choice. I was following the 86 his engine stumbled and went by and then I knew the 87 was running out as well and he stumbled on the last turn and I got by him for the win. It was a team win today. Andrew did a great job at the start and the guys had excellent pit work and of course great strategy for our third win. I was amazed by the number of cars that ran out of gas on my in lap after the checker."
The No. 21 Pontiac GTO.R of Connolly Motorsports finished the day in third. Matt Connolly and Diego Alessi wheeled the Pontiac back from down the field to take the third step on the podium.
"I drove for nearly the entire race," Alessi said. "I had a lot of good battles, especially with the 57 car. I lost some positions on one of the restarts because we were having radio problems. Everyone was having fuel problems on the last lap and that really helped us at the end. The team did a great job with pit stops and the strategy to help us get our second podium in four races."
The No. 07 Banner Racing Pontiac of Paul Edwards and Kelly Collins ended their day in seventh. Collins had early contact which resulted in a spin which cost him several places early. What looked like a sure podium or win became a seventh when Edwards nearly ran out of fuel on the last half-lap. Collins and Edwards still lead the points by six.
"I was going into the chicane and the 30 car came up alongside, we both braked stood the cars on their nose and then he cut across me," Collins said. "I had to maneuver around him and ended up spinning. We have to be careful with the chances we take for the championship. We made a call on the fuel and it ended up costing us a podium today."
The Banner Racing 06 of Canadian Ron Fellows and Marc Bunting finished tenth. Fellows was involved in some on-track contact in the Casino turn when he was forced into the 99 DP car. This ended up costing Fellows valuable track position.
"My stint was uneventful except for the first lap," Bunting said. "I had a spin in turn four. I was then focusing on running good clean laps to turn the car over to Ron on the lead lap. I was able to do that and we were looking good for a top finish. The team had the right strategy we pitted a second time for fuel and were ready to go to the end when Ron got caught up in the Casino turn."
The No. 72 Autohaus Motorsport Pontiac GXP.R had a left front tire go down on lap 21 and had to limp the car around the track as the Pirelli delaminated. Terry Borcheller took over from Tim Lewis Jr. and then had heavy contact on lap 47 in the Casino turn. The results ended the day early for the team from Florida relegating them to an 18th place finish.
"When I got in the steering was turned so there was some damage in the front from the tire going on Tim," Borcheller said. "I couldn't see out of the left side mirror as a result of the tire damage. I was going into the Casino turn and a DP car came up under me, I thought there would be more and there wasn't, I then lost reference got loose and got into a couple cars in the Casino turn. I just made an error."
In the DP class the Montreal crowd witnessed some of the best racing of the season. Cheever Racing had their Coyote come alive for a second place finish. The team's best previous finish was ninth at Daytona in July. Christian Fittipaldi rejoined Antonio Garcia and the team that he has had history with this weekend to help spark a successful weekend.
"It was a big team effort today," Fittipaldi said. "I am happy for Eddie and Crown Royal and the whole team. I had a good stint, I was able to run up at the front and really challenge for the lead. Antonio and I get along really good. Last year when we ran together we really performed well. We have some updates coming for the car for the last races so I am hoping to finish the year strong."
The SunTrust Pontiac Dallara of Michael Valiante and Max Angelelli finished eighth. The team was a fixture in the top five most of the race and then the car developed some brake fade.
"The car was working really well," Valiante said. "It was tough at the start I got into the side of the 61 at the beginning. We are having a brake issue right now. After the first laps the brakes started to fade a lot. The car is working, but we have a bit of a brake problem right now. It is hard to out brake out there with our issue. We haven't tested that much to get the exact combination, so we are doing the best we can."
The GAINSCO Pontiac Riley of Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney finished the day in eighth. Fogarty started the red 99 from the front row. On lap 19 he briefly took the lead and it was deemed the pass was made with avoidable contact and he was forced to perform a drive-thru penalty. After the pit stops, Alex Gurney took over and was able to lead once again on lap 44. Gurney was then caught up in the Casino turn melee on lap 47 which cost him the lead and valuable track position.
"This race was just kind of symbolic of our season so far," Gurney said. "We had a very good car but didn't end up with much to show for it. I struggled with the brakes all day but we were good enough to stay out front. I was managing the gap to Rojas when I had the lead there for the longest time and I just got caught up in a GT incident where one guy missed the brake zone and the next guy hit me. It was a really hard hit and I actually thought we were out. It was that hard of a hit and the car steered quite a bit to the left after that. I tried to get back going again and the car seemed okay but later on I got caught up in an incident with Ricardo Zonta who consistently hits people. It was just a really frustrating day for everybody on the team. We made it to the end on fuel but we had the other problems and that was it."
The No. 75 of Tracy Krohn and Oliver Gavin had a quiet day as they finished 10th. Oliver Gavin filled in Krohn regular Eric van de Poele and combined with team owner Krohn to finish 10th.
"It was sure nice to have a Top 10," Krohn said. "Ollie did a great job! The car was a little bit tentative at first because of the brake situation we've had. But after awhile the car settled down. I started running some quicker laps. I turned it over to Ollie on the lead lap and he took it from there and improved it several positions and ended up in the Top 10. So it was a really good day for us. Of course, this was not the ideal track for this car at this point of the development. But it's getting better all the time so we're catching up."
The No. 76 Krohn Racing Lola of Nic Jonsson and Ricardo Zonta came home in 12th. The green 76 also spent time at the front of the pack. On lap 60 with a fading brake pedal Zonta had contact with the No. 99 and had to also had to perform a drive-thru penalty.
"We had a difficult race I'd say, especially because of the brake conditions," Zonta said. "Also, we had so much pushing. It was even worse than the brakes because you had to stop the car to turn the car. So the big problem was to stop the car. The brakes were not stable. One time it would lock the front up or another time it would lock the rear brakes. And that made me to hit the 99 car, just because of the instability on braking. I am really sorry and want to apologize to those guys for that."
Jim Matthews and Marc Goossens finished the 17th today in their No. 91 Riley-Matthews Pontiac Riley. Matthews started the car and turned over to Goossens who set about climbing the timing chart. Running in the top ten, Goossens had to pit on lap 44 to clean the radiator. Matthews got back in the 91 at the end, but a failing gear box had him limping the car to the checker.
"We lost second gear and couldn't get to first," Matthews said. "I had a pretty good start. The cool weather really had the car handling and running well. Marc had a little bad luck and we had to pit him to clean out the radiator. At the end I was running through the slow corners in third gear, because was second was gone and I couldn't get to first."
Cheever Racing
Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Racing 2nd At Montreal
The Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Race Team scored its first podium visit of the year with a second place finish at Circuit Villeneuve, narrowly missing first by only .064 seconds. The reunited driving team of Christian Fittipaldi and Antonio Garcia steered their Pontiac powered Coyote Daytona Prototype to the best finish of the year so far for Cheever Racing.
Aggressive driving early on by Christian Fittipaldi quickly moved the Crown Royal Cask No. 16 machine from its qualifying position of ninth to fourth. An early driver change then positioned the team to take advantage of a full course yellow to make up position and then top off with just enough fuel to finish the race. Antonio Garcia then battled with the leaders for the remainder of the race moving between fourth and 2nd position until the final run for the checkered flag.
Antonio Garcia: "Second place is good, but first would be better... I think without that little drop (of fuel), I could have stayed at the front. It was also really scary. It was really tight between the No. 58 and us. ... I am pleased with the performance of the Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Pontiac... we have come a long way in the development of this new car, It will be good to get back to The Glen with Christian as my team mate and go for a first place podium finish."
"Our fuel and pit strategy played a large part in our success today", stated Team Manager Dave Meehan, "We missed the win because of a fuel pressure spike just as Antonio (Garcia) was pressing for the win. It was just a little bit disappointing because victory was in our grasp... overall our team and our Pontiac powered Coyote has begun to gel and I look forward to a strong finish this year for Cheever Racing and the Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Race Team."
"As the Coyote continues its development process, we continue to get stronger and stronger, said Team Owner Eddie Cheever, "Our Pontiac power plant certainly delivered when we needed it the most and our continuing refinement of the Coyote chassis design is starting to pay off...." Cheever continued, "It was a pleasure to see Christian back behind the wheel of our Crown Royal Cask No. 16 car, ALMS loss is our gain... Antonio (Garcia) continues to prove that he is the driver to watch in Grand-Am, his precise control of the car and overall driving skills are exceptional."
Christian Fittipaldi added, "It was good to give Crown Royal a strong showing in its home country of Canada. The Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Coyote was strong from the very first lap... It's feels good to be able to contribute to this success, and I am happy to be back with Cheever Racing and competing again in Grand-Am."
The Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Race Team faces down it's competitors at the Crown Royal 200 next Friday, August 8th in a Daytona Prototype only shoot out at Watkins Glen. For more information visit www.CheeverRacing.com and www.CoyoteCars.net and watch all the action on SPEEDtv at 8 pm.
Farnbacher Loles
Farnbacher Loles Racing came within 600 feet of victory on Friday evening, relinquishing a one-two GT class result just before the finish line in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. The team's No. 86 and 87 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars led almost all of the two-hour race, but both ran out of fuel on the last lap. Team strategists had gambled on a single pit stop, expecting more caution periods to stretch the cars' fuel, but the race was slowed by only two caution flags for 19 minutes. The team's No. 88 Porsche retired early from the race with a damaged radiator.
Eric Lux of Jacksonville, Fla., started the No. 86 Porsche from the class pole position and held the lead through his stint. He stopped for a driver change during the first caution period, handing off to Leh Keen of Charleston, S.C. A miscue on the pitstop delayed his return to the track, giving the lead to the No. 87 Porsche. Keen worked back from seventh to second with two minutes remaining, but the lack of fuel slowed him to finish fifth.
Bryce Miller of Summit, N.J., drove first in the No. 87 Porsche, maintaining a close second in class behind Lux. He also pitted during the first caution and Dirk Werner of Kissenbruck took the wheel, returning to the track as GT leader. He held the lead until the final moments of the race, when he slowly crossed the finish line in fourth place.
Dave Lacey of Toronto started the No. 88 Porsche from 10th on the GT grid. He gained a lap at the start of the race, then encountered problems with the gearbox and had to pit for repairs. He returned to the track 19th in class, but immediately reported a radiator leak and was forced to park off-track, retiring from the race.
Gregory Loles, team owner: "No regrets. Nine times out of 10 on a track like this, our call would have been right. This track is so tight, it historically has a lot of yellows. You can't assume it will stay green for an hour and 10 minutes -- testament is how many teams made the same call. We just fell a little bit short. Obviously, the cars were good, the drivers were great and we'll be ready for next time."
Dino Loles, team owner: "It was another very exciting race in the Grand-Am series, but unfortunately, this one didn't go quite our way at the end. We felt we should have been able to make one stop and hope for some cautions -- as had been the pattern in previous years and that far in the race -- but we got a little bit unlucky. Hats off to the guys who played it more conservatively. It really worked out for them. But we're very proud of our effort and we're looking forward to [the next race, in] New Jersey, where we'll have a five-car effort."
Leh Keen, No. 86: "We had good cars, both cars were strong and both cars could have won this race. We just needed to last half a lap more with fuel -- we were one straightaway away from winning the race. I got the burble at the very end and we were conserving fuel, going half-throttle on the straights. With the way the fuel cell sloshes, if the hairpin [last turn] had been a left-hander, we probably would have been all right. But because it's a right-hander and you're in the turn a long time, the fuel sloshes and starves the car of fuel. Our goal is top-five, so although we could have won today, I'm pretty content with fifth."
Eric Lux, No. 86: "It was an eventful day. This track is very challenging because it's so narrow, it gives you the feeling of a street course, but it's also very high-speed in some areas. Having two classes out there at the same time makes the racing quite exciting and difficult. The team gave us a great car again for the race, as they did in qualifying. It was a two-hour race, not the usual two-hours 45 [-minutes], so there were all kinds of strategies in play. We took the gamble and at the last corner, we ran out of fuel. But it's better to run out of fuel than for something else to happen. You've got to take those gambles sometimes and you don't always come out on top."
Bryce Miller, No. 87: "We had the winning car today, for sure. That showed in the race. It's unfortunate, because if we had just one less lap or one more lap of yellow, we would have won. But we can go to the next race knowing that we can run at the front and that the car is good to win a race, so that is motivating. This is still a good result and I'm happy that we were able to deliver a top-five finish for our sponsor, IPC/Positron, that was here cheering us on today."
Dirk Werner, No. 87: "It was an amazing finish for the series, but unfortunately, not an amazing finish for us. We were running well the whole weekend, with a very fast car. I think we did everything right. Another stop would have made it, but I think it was the right decision. It seems that this year is not supposed to be ours, but we still have two races to go."