in No. 27 Dempsey Del Piero Racing Tullys Coffee Porsche 911 GT3 at the American Le Mans MontereyPatrick Dempsey to Start No. 27 in Saturdays Four-Hour Race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca; No. 10 Michael Avenatti and Andrew Davis Dempsey Del Piero Racing Tullys Coffee Porsche 911 GT3 Rolls Off SeventhMONTEREY, Calif. (May 10, 2013) Dempsey Del Piero Racing team driver Andy Lally qualified the No. 27 Tullys Coffee Porsche 911 GT3 third fastest in a tight and competitive GTC field Friday for tomorrows American Le Mans Monterey at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca where teammate Andrew Davis clocked in seventh quickest in the sister No. 27 Tullys Coffee Porsche 911 GT3 for Saturdays four-hour endurance race.
The American Le Mans Monterey is the third round of the 2013 American Le Mans Series. Race coverage on ESPN2 begins at 4 p.m. EDT this Sunday, May 12, with live coverage available on ESPN3 starting at 6:15 p.m. EDT/3:15 p.m. PDT tomorrow, Saturday, May 11.
Lally, who gave Dempsey Del Piero the pole position in the teams debut race in March at Sebring, challenged for the top qualifying spot again on Friday in Monterey. His top lap time of 1:27.495 (92.083 mph) ultimately gave the No. 27 Porsche the inside second row starting position, less than two-tenths of a second off the pole-winning pace.
It was actually a decent session for us but I am a little disappointed, Lally said. We missed the pole by just .199 of a second and another nine hundredths of a second would have gotten us to P2. Those are two world-class guys that out-qualified us but I am still not happy with it.
The all-Porsche 911 GT3 Cup GTC class is one of the most competitive in the ALMS and it never shows more than in qualifying.
I dont think it was all in Turn 9, but I made a little mistake there on my good lap, Lally said. It was just going for it. I tried to do Turn 9 with no brakes and tried to kind of pitch it in to make it slide, because we inherently push there a lot, and I knew the guy who got the pole here would be the one that took the most chance without making a mistake. I made my little mistake, the lap probably wasnt good enough for pole, but it would have been pretty darn close.
Lally is returning to Dempsey Del Piero for the remainder of the season after both he and teammate Davis missed the most recent race in Long Beach while competing in the GRAND-AM Road Racing event at Road Atlanta. Lally will co-drive only with team co-owner and lead driver Patrick Dempsey for the first time tomorrow.
Its an incredibly competitive series when you look how close qualifying was, Dempsey said. The WeatherTech guys, they do a great job every race, so hats off to them for the pole. Andy is back in the car, which is really exciting because he just sort of elevates everybodys game. I am learning a lot from him, I am pretty inspired this weekend, and I have been slowly getting faster and faster.
Dempsey will start the No. 27 for the second consecutive race after also pulling the opening shift last month at Long Beach where he shared the car with longtime co-driver and motorsports business partner Joe Foster. Dempsey, Foster and Lally co-drove the No. 27 at Sebring where Lally led the races opening hour from the pole.
I am going to start the race, then I will hand it over to Andy, and it is just the two of us, Dempsey said. We looked at the strategy, and Joe decided to step out, which is really great of him to be able to take one for the team. He is really selfless that way. Thats great team spirit, it helps me get more seat time, and that has been paying off. I cant thank him enough, and the team is doing at great job once again.
Davis and co-driver Michael Avenatti will roll off from the inside of row four in the No. 10 after a top qualifying lap of 1:28.741 (90.790 mph).
The Dempsey Del Piero guys have been working so hard and we have been making improvements to our car each time we go out, Davis said. That was about all I could get out of our No. 10 car but obviously there needs to be more there. The GTC class here in the American Le Mans Series is just so competitive, the best of the best are out there, and I am pleased with the improvements we have made, but we need to keep our heads down and working hard and I know these guys can do it.
Race day Saturday starts with a warm-up between 9:40 10:05 a.m. PDT. The four-hour American Le Mans Monterey begins at 3:30 p.m. PDT later that afternoon.
We are just proud to be here, Davis said. Laguna Seca is just amazing, a fantastic track for Porsche, and just a story-book kind of place.About Dempsey/Del Piero Racing: A fulltime and year-round enterprise supported by Tullys Coffee, Dempsey Del Piero Racing is a professional international sports car auto racing team with operational bases in both Los Angeles and Atlanta in the United States.
