- Muscle Milk AMR fastest petrol car in practice - Muscle Milk Pickett Racing's Mark Bullitt had another good day at the race track on Thursday, this time by finishing fourth in the penultimate round of the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama.
Earlier in the day, the German put in a strong qualifying performance by registering the fourth fastest time of the session, placing himself on the second row of the starting grid for the second time this season.
Bullitt initially sat on provisional pole after the first flying laps were registered but with a close and very competitive field, he found himself in fourth when the checkered flag fell, only a tenth of a second out of first place and four hundredths of a second out of third.
After an action packed race at Laguna Seca two weeks ago, Race 1 of the weekend at Road Atlanta was much quieter with the front-runners maintaining their positions and only one caution period slowing down the racing.
With not much passing happening anywhere in the field, the driver of the #6 Muscle Milk Porsche GT3 Cup car maintained his position from start to finish on a track that was getting more and more slippery as the race went on.
With today's result, Bullitt, who is doing double duty by also competing in the American Le Mans Series main event at Road Atlanta in the #63 Proton Competition GTE-AM car, moved to one point out of third place and 15 out of second with one more race to go.
The final IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge race of the season goes green Friday, September 30 at 11:30 am.
Muscle Milk AMR fastest petrol car in practice
The Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing team was also on track today taking part in three practice sessions. The team was the fastest of the petrol cars in the day sessions with a lap time of one minute 11.879 seconds and again in Thursday's night session with a lap time of one minute 12.278 seconds.
The Muscle Milk squad will have one more hour of practice Friday from 10:15 am ET before qualifying that afternoon.
Qualifying will be streamed live on ESPN3.com starting at 2:55 pm ET.
MUSCLE MILK QUOTES
IMSA GT3 CUP CHALLENGE BY YOKOHAMA DRIVER
Mark Bullitt, driver #6 Muscle Milk Team CytoSport"The day started well for us because we had a good qualifying session. We did quite a few changes since testing on Tuesday and finally in qualifying we put it all together. I put in a very good lap and there was just one tenth separating us from first to fourth place, so it was really tight."In the race, I was amazed that there wasn't more yellows and that everybody kept it clean. After about half the race, the track started to get very slippery and by the end it was very tough and it was getting very hot in the car. "I think we were all happy when the race was over. I had a good fight with the third place car but I think that fourth was the maximum we could do today. Plus, we picked up good points and tomorrow we have another race so I'm excited about that."
Race Facts:Petit Le Mans powered by MazdaRoad Atlanta, 2.54-mile, 12-turn road course, Braselton, GASeptember 28 - October 1, 2011
American Le Mans Series: Round #9 of 9Race Duration: 10 hours/1000 miles (whichever comes first) ALMS live online coverage:United States: ESPN3.comInternational: www.americanlemans.comQualifying - September 30, 2011: 2:55 pm - 4:10 pm ET Race - October 1, 2011: 11:15 am - 9:45 pm ETTape delayed broadcast:ABC: October 2, 2011 from 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm ET
IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama: Rounds 14 & 15 of 15Race duration: 45 minutes each
Schedule (All times Eastern):
Friday, September 30, 2011:ALMS/ILMC Practice: 10:15 am - 11:15 am (All Classes)GT3 Race 2: 11:30 am - 12:25 pmALMS Autograph Session: 12:15 pm - 1:15 pmLive Auction at team transporter: 1:15 pm - 1:30 pm ALMS Qualifying: 2:40 pm - 2:55 pm (GTC/LMGTE Am)ALMS Qualifying: 2:55 pm - 3:10 pm (GT/LMGTE Pro)ALMS Qualifying: 3:15 pm - 3:30 pm (LMPC)ALMS Qualifying: 3:30 pm - 3:45 pm (LMP1/LMP2)
Saturday, October 1, 2011:ALMS Warm-up: 9:15 am - 9:40 amALMS Race: 11:30 am (10 hours or 1000 miles)
