GRAND-AM Cooldown Lap: Barber Motorsports Park
Porsche 250
Rolex Sports Car Series
Saturday, April 6, 2013
The Recap
Max Angelelli took the lead with 45 minutes remaining and held off Alex Gurney for the final 33 laps to win Saturday’s Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park. Angelelli was at the wheel of the No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette DP, scoring his 22nd career GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype victory. Angelelli’s co-driver Jordan Taylor won for the first time in DP after scoring two GT victories. Gurney and pole-winning co-driver Jon Fogarty continued their hot streak in the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Corvette DP, which last won at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. The pair now trail Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas by two points (93-91), after the drivers of the No. 01 TELMEX BMW/Riley finished fourth.
In GT, Robin Liddell held off Alessandro Balzan to win by .733 seconds. Liddell co-drove with pole
winner John Edwards in the No. 57 Stevenson Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro. Balzan took over from
new co-driver Jeff Westphal in the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458. Dr. Jim Norman took his third consecutive triumph in the new GX class, co-driving with fellow Circuit of The Americas winner Spencer Pumpelly in the No. 38 BGB Porsche Cayman. Both of the new
SpeedSource Mazda 6 entries took turns in the lead earlier in the race. Tristan Nunez and Joel Miller finished second in the No. 00 Visit Florida Racing Mazda 6, three laps behind.
The Stats
DP 1st: Jordan Taylor/Max Angelelli, No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette DP
DP 2nd: Jon Fogarty/Alex Gurney, No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Corvette DP
DP 3rd: Ricky Taylor/Richard Westbrook, No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP
GT 1st: John Edwards/Robin Liddell, No. 57 Stevenson Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro
GT 2nd: Jeff Westphal/Alessandro Balzan, No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458
GT 3rd: Boris Said/Eric Curran, No. 31 Whelan/Team Fox Corvette
GX 1st: Jim Norman/Spencer Pumpelly, No. 38 BGB Motorsports Porsche Cayman
GX 2nd: Tristan Nunez/Joel Miller, No. 00 Visit Florida Racing/SpeedSource Mazda 6
GX 3rd: Tom Long/Sylvain Tremblay, No. 70 Mazdaspeed/SpeedSource Mazda 6
Margin of Victory: 4.116 seconds (DP); .733 seconds (GT); 3 laps (GX)
Average Speed: 96.494 mph (DP); 88.882 mph (GT); 83.639 mph (GX)
Cautions: 1 for 6 laps
The Points (Unofficial)
DP: Memo Rojas/Scott Pruett, 93; Alex Gurney/Jon Fogarty, 91; 53; Max Angelelli/Jordan Taylor, 88;
Ryan Dalziel/Alex Popow, 79; Ricky Taylor/Richard Westbrook, 76.
GT: Andy Lally/John Potter, 83; Dion von Moltke, 81; Alessandro Balzan, 80; Emil Assentato/Anthony
Lazzaro, 78; Paul Dalla Lana/Bill Auberlen, 77.
GX: Jim Norman, 105; Sylvain Tremblay/Tom Long, 70; Jeff Mosing, 65; Joel Miller/Tristan Nunez, 55
Noteworthy
Joining the race with a multi-lap disadvantage, Brendon Hartley’s strong run went unnoticed as he went on to finish 10th, two laps down. However, the first-year DP driver had his second consecutive solid outing, turning the fastest lap of the race in the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport Ford/Riley at 103.443 mph/ 1 minute, 20.044 seconds. Hartley came within 15 minutes of winning at Circuit of The Americas before making contact with a GT car.
Ozz Negri missed his first race since Phoenix in 2006 due to scheduled surgery to repair a fractured non-stress-bearing leg bone from an off-season mountain bike injury. Negri managed to drive in both the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Circuit of The Americas, but the bone was not healing as well as hoped,
necessitating the surgery. Negri will also sit out the next race at Road Atlanta, but plans to be back behind the wheel of the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford/Riley at Detroit. Michael Valiante is co-driving with John Pew in both races that Negri misses.
APR Motorsport – GRAND-AM’s lone Alabama-based team, had hoped to race the No. 52 Audi R8 in
its home race. However, sponsorship issues forced the team to withdraw its entry. APR – which finished second with the Audi in both the 2012 Lime Rock season finale and 2013 season-opening Rolex 24 At
Daytona – hopes to have the car back in action for the next round at Road Atlanta.
Rossella Manfrinato was on hand providing technical support for the Ferrari teams in the GT class. One of the first female engineers in sports car racing, the native of Milan, Italy’s resume includes working
in IndyCar, Indy Lights, Star Mazda, ALMS, USRRC and working with Phil Creighton Motorsports in
GRAND-AM’s inaugural 2000 season. While best known for her engineering, she also raced in Formula
Ford 2000 – winning a pair of South East Division national championships – C Sports Racing and earned her license in Indy Lights.
The Numbers:
7 – DP lead changes among six cars and eight drivers
8 – GT laps led by Dion von Moltke in the No. 18 Muehlner Motorsports Porsche GT3
9 – GT lead changes among five cars and six drivers
11 – DPs finishing on lead lap
38 – DP laps led by the No. 10 Corvette DP (33 for Max Angelelli, five for Jordan Taylor)
94.873 – Speed in MPH of Bill Auberlen’s fastest GT race lap
QUOTES
– “For me, from my side it was kind of easy because I only had to maintain the gap, looking after the tires, so I was really babysitting the tires all along. And the car was great. Jordan (Taylor) allowed me to have such a race, an easy race, because he put the car in such a good position ahead of the 99, and that really helped. And on top of that, the team really made a good call, and I’ve thought about it. I was the one pushing the team for only a one-stop race, but as usual they didn’t listen to me. So, we won the race.” Max Angelelli, No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette DP
– “A couple of times I could get close – depending on traffic. We were pretty good, so I can’t complain. It’s a good points day. I ran out of fuel towards the end, so I backed off and cruised around the last two or three laps.” Alex Gurney, No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Corvette DP
– “I was under a lot of pressure today, because the Ferrari was a wee bit faster. Really, the key was the second pit stop, and getting back out ahead of the Ferrari. From there, I managed to hang on. The track is really improved. The fall-off on the tires is really reduced than it was here before.” John Edwards, No. 57 Stevenson Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro
– “My first five laps were quite difficult – never having driven a dry lap at Barber before today’s race. To get to one second of the fast drivers is not that difficult – to cut down that last second is very hard. I spent a bit of time following behind Robin [Liddell] and learning his lines. Then I started learning lines that would work better with the Ferrari. I could really understand the track during the last 20 minutes. We have a fast car, and I’m very happy with the team. We’re going to go after the victory at Road Atlanta.” Alessandro Balzan, No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458.
– “We were quicker today than in Austin, and the team has made huge progress. I was able to push
every single lap. Our only problem was with the fuel line – nothing to do with the SKYACTIV Diesel.” Joel Miller, No. 00 Visit Florida Racing Mazda 6
– “Even though it was only practice, being No. 1 in a session was very encouraging for the team. [The Rolex 24 At] Daytona was very difficult for us, being a new team and only taking possession of the car five weeks before the race. It’s a new team, new car, new drivers and new crew, but everyone’s been working very hard. Now we are going faster. We were fastest in a wet situation. Now, we want to be fast in the dry, for sure. Being on top – even for practice – is very encouraging.” Stephane Sarrazin, No. 3 8Star Motorsports Corvette DP, fastest in Friday morning’s final Rolex Series practice session held in damp conditions.
– “I can’t tell you how exciting it is to represent Mazda and SpeedSource in the new GX class. Every time out, the car has improved by leaps and bounds – and that’s all due to their hard work. Sure, it was tough at first, especially in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, but even though the results weren’t there at Austin, it was a very incredible feeling because of how much better the car was. I’m very confident that by the end of the year we will have a very reliable, competitive package.” Tom Long, No. 70 Mazdaspeed SpeedSource Mazda 6, after winning the first pole for Mazda in the GX class.
Coming Up:
Round 4 of the 2013 Rolex Sports Car Series season will be GRAND-AM Road Racing’s first visit to
Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga., on Saturday, April 20. (SPEED, live).
SOURCE: GRAND AM