The Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series had its fourth different winner in as many races, as ScottPruett and Max Papis co-drove the No. 01 CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing LexusRiley to the first-ever victory for a Lexus-powered Daytona Prototype in the6 Heures du Circuit Mont-Tremblant.
The No. 01 led six different times for a race-high total of 128 laps, andPruett claimed the lead for the final time from fourth place on lap 175 whenDavid Donohue spun the race-leading No. 58 Brumos Racing Porsche Fabcar intothe Turn 8 gravel trap under pressure from Jan Magnussen in the No. 27 DoranLista Racing Lexus Doran. Magnussen and third-place Oswaldo Negri Jr., inthe No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Lexus Doran, made their final pit stops asthe full-course caution flag came out. Pruett, who pitted for the finaltime 11 laps earlier, stayed on the race track and retook the lead.
Pruett pulled away from defending Rolex Series champion Terry Borcheller inthe No. 54 Kodak Bell Motorsports Pontiac Doran and the rest of the field onthe ensuing restart and was never challenged over the closing laps.Borcheller eventually surrendered second place to Magnussen, and the racefinished under caution after six hours and an even 200 laps when John Lloydmade contact with the Turn 4 barrier following an off-course excursion onLap 197. The triumph also moved Pruett and Papis into the Daytona Prototypechampionship lead at the season's one-third distance.
"It was great for Chip Ganassi Racing, for Lexus, for CompUSA," Pruett said."The first win is always the most difficult to get and always the sweetest.Max did a great job, the guys did a great job, and the car never missed abeat. The car was so much fun to drive and this is a fun track."
The win was the first-ever in Rolex Series competition for Pruett and theGanassi team, and was the first Daytona Prototype triumph for Papis.
"This win is fantastic," exclaimed Papis. "To give the first win in GrandAmerican racing to (team owner) Chip (Ganassi), Lexus, and CompUSA iswonderful. We really wanted this one very bad. Winning four consecutivepoles was great, but we knew that we had the speed to win and it was just amatter of putting it all together. This win a true team success."
"Obviously, we've won a lot of poles and we've had a good season so far, butwe hadn't brought a victory home," Ganassi added. "That's what racing is allabout."
Magnussen and co-driver Didier Theys finished second for their best finishof the season and the team's best finish since a second-place run in theGrand American Champions Weekend at Daytona International Speedway to closeout the 2003 season. This was Magnussen's first appearance in the No. 27since the Grand Prix of Miami in February, and was just his secondappearance ever in Grand American competition.
"I'm happy for the team," Magnussen said. "It didn't look like we'd get onthe podium for a while. Obviously, I'd like to win, but second is good, andI had no trouble with anybody today. We had some damage to the left front,and the Crawford-I think it's the No. 4-he ran out of fuel or something andjust stopped in front of me. We worked through all sorts of tire compounds.We really chased the track today. Our Lexus engine was very good. I'm gladwe're on the podium. It was a hard-fought race all the way. You were alwaysfighting with somebody."
"It was a very competitive race," Theys offered. "There were so manydifferent leaders and the cars are so closely matched. We tried differenttire compounds today. When I was in the car, I didn't like my tire compound.The track was very slippery, and I was not comfortable. Then, when Jan wasin the car, we found a compound that we liked."
Borcheller and co-driver Andy Pilgrim brought the No. 54 home in thirdplace, returning the Kodak-Bell Motorsports team to the podium for the firsttime since its victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona to open the 2004 season.Forest Barber was on the entry list, but did not drive.
"To come out of the weekend with a podium finish is just great," Borchellersaid. "We had obstacles from the beginning of the weekend throughout thewhole race. Andy got hit on his first flying lap and we went a lap down. Afront wheel came off twice, luckily it was under yellow both times. One timeit came totally off the car. That happened on the back straight. I had todrive it back to the pits on three wheels, but it was fun to always be incontention. I drove about four hours and my muscles are tired, but I reallyfeel fine. I could drink some water and go some more today."
"I think it was the hardest-fought third place I've ever had," Pilgrimcontributed. "We overcame so many challenges that it feels like a win. Wedid not have a top-three car today, we had a top-10 car, so to get third isa phenomenal achievement for the team."
"I didn't drive because I was more concerned with our finishing positiontoday, and we had to go with our top drivers," Barber explained. "In spiteof a lot of obstacles, we overcame them and got a podium finish."
The No. 4 Howard-Boss Motorsports Pontiac Crawford in the hands of ButchLeitzinger, Elliott Forbes-Robinson, and Paul Edwards had its best finish ofthe season to date with a fourth-place performance despite the late fuelpick-up problems. Rounding out the top five were Milka Duno, Andy Wallace,and Jan Lammers in the No. 2 CITGO Howard-Boss Motorsports Pontiac Crawford,which finished inside the top five for the third time in four starts thisseason. Negri and Burt Frisselle gave Michael Shank Racing its fourthtop-six in four starts with a sixth place performance.
Elsewhere, former championship-leading teammates Kelly Collins and CortWagner soldiered home with a seventh place result despite no track time onFriday or Saturday due to mechanical gremlins on the No. 81 Rx.Com/G&WMotorsports BMW Doran. They remain second in the points just two markersout of the lead (116-114). It also turned out to be a tough weekend for theNo. 10 SunTrust Racing Pontiac Riley and the No. 02 CompUSA Chip GanassiRacing Lexus Riley.
After a promising start by Max Angelelli that included a brief appearance atthe head of the field, the No. 10 was forced to pit lane early in the racedue to a steady display of smoke and accompanying fluid from the rear of thecar. The problem would rear its ugly head intermittently throughout therace, forcing Angelelli and co-drivers Emanuel Collard and Wayne Taylor tosettle for an 18th place overall finish and a 13th place result in theDaytona Protoype class.
Likewise, the No. 02 machine of Luis Diaz and Jimmy Morales showed promiseat the four-hour mark after losing a lap early in the race due to apunctured tire, eventually advancing as high as fourth place. However, thecar lost its right rear tire on Lap 141 and several laps for repairs, andthe No. 02 ended up with a 10th place result.
SAID AND AUBERLEN TAKE THIRD STRAIGHT GT WIN; TAKE OVER POINTS LEADIn a dominating performance, Boris Said and Bill Auberlen scored a "hattrick" in Canada, taking their third consecutive GT victory in the No. 21Performance Technology Group BMW M3. They led virtually throughout the 6Heures du Mont-Tremblant, at one point building a lead in excess of twolaps.
However, the team overcame a severely damaged nose when Said made contactwith the No. 77 G&W Motorsports Porsche GT3 RS, and the duo brought the carhome 20 seconds ahead of the No. 66 The Racers Group Porsche GT3 RS of IanJames, RJ Valentine and Chris Gleason. The No. 33 Scuderia Ferrari ofWashington Maserati Light GT co-driven by Joao Barbosa, Emil Asentato andStephen Earle was third.
"(The car) ran great all day," Said remarked. "Then I came up on the No. 77Porsche on the corner coming up on the straightaway. I wasn't going to passit, but something broke or he hit the brakes on accident and I got into it.It was a dumb mistake on my part. Sometime when you have a big lead, you arejust cruising and you don't concentrate as hard. That's what happened today.We had a lot of speed left in the car; it was really tough car."
The victory also moved Said and Auberlen into the GT points lead after fourof 12 races.
"Sometimes we need a little luck," Auberlen said. "Sometimes it's better tobe lucky than good. When we got in that thing with the other Porsche, itcould have ended our day. Luckily, it broke just enough parts that we couldfix it. Up until that point the BMW and the PTG team was perfect. Let's justput this thing back together and go to the next race and hope for the best."
TPC Racing Extends SGS Points LeadIn Super Grand Sport action, the No. 36 TPC Racing Porsche GT3 Cup of RandyPobst and Michael Levitas had a flawless afternoon, and the driving duowidened their points lead with a two-lap victory over their TPC Racingteammates Andy Lally and Marc Bunting in the No. 38 Porsche GT3 Cup.Quebecois Marc-Antoine Camirand and Normand Guindon finished third in theNo. 07 Powell Motorsport Corvette. It was the second straight victory forthe No. 36, and the drivers have not failed to finish outside the top-twopositions yet this season.
"This is the third year I have driven with Michael Levitas," Pobst said."This year Michael has really raised the level of the team. We have a newcrew of young men he hired out of a tech school in the Baltimore-Marylandarea. They don't know a lot about racing, but they know about working oncars. They've done a fantastic job. After a six-hour race, they run firstand second. Michael builds some fast Porsches. We just got them covered."
"This is two in a row," Levitas added. "It was great to have the TurboPerformance team do just a stellar job. The guys are just amazing. Theteammate work was just so fantastic. They boys never miss a beat."
