Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas have done it again in their BMW Riley Daytona Prototype! They’ve won their third consecutive Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series race, this time at Virginia International Raceway for the Bosch Engineering 250 at VIR. Once more the team dominated the race, leading an impressive 75 of the total 88 laps.
Unlike Pruett and Rojas, however, Mazda RX-8 drivers Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal, of SpeedSource, were unable to grab their third consecutive GT Class victory and finished second in class, behind TRG’s Ted Ballou and Andy Lally in their Porsche GT3 Cup. Less than a second was all that separated the two GT cars at the finish line.
After last race’s win during the Grand Prix of Miami, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas have done it again, taking their second consecutive win, this time in the Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park. The pair dominated the race, leading over half of the laps in their Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, BMW Riley Daytona Prototype.
Finishing 12th overall, and also scoring their second consecutive GT Class win, were SpeedSource drivers Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal, in their Mazda RX-8.
Today’s Grand-Am ROLEX Sports Car Series race, the Grand Prix of Miami, that was held at Florida’s Homestead-Miami Speedway, saw the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammates, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, take the overall win in their BMW Riley Daytona Prototype.
Coming in second was the Porsche Riley Brumos Racing entry of Darren Law and David Donohue, that lead the most laps in the race, having lead 71 of the total 129 laps in the race. Law lost the lead to Pruett on lap 80, and was never able recapture the top spot.
The top finishing GT Class car, was SpeedSource’s Mazda RX-8, driven by Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal.
After 24 long hours of circling the road course at Daytona International Speedway, Brumos Racing finally took the checkered flag to win the 24 Hours of Daytona. Driving the winning Porsche/Riley was David Donohue, Antonio Garcia, Darren Law, and Buddy Rice. It was a close battle to the end, with the top four cars staying on the lead lap.
Finishing 9th overall and first in the GT class was the TRG Porsche GT3 machine driven by Jorg Bergmeister, Andy Lally, Patrick Long, Justin Marks, and RJ Valentine. The sister car for TRG, driven by Ted Ballou, Emmanuel Collard, Tim George Jr, Richard Lietz, and Spencer Pumpelly, finished just one lap behind for a second in class placing.
For the full results from this race, please use the following link:
The Daytona Prototype of Michael Shank Racing that was driven by Ian James, Raphael Matos and John Pew won the race at Miller Motorsports Park earlier today. This race marked the end of the 2008 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series season.
Memo Rojas and Scott Pruett went away with a championship, despite their second 9th place finish in row.
The Leading Prototype Teams Were:
1. Michael Shank Racing – Ford Riley – Ian James, Raphael Matos, John Pew
2. SunTrust Racing – Pontiac Dallara – Max Angelelli, Michael Valiante
3. GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing – Pontiac Riley – Jon Fogarty, Alex Gurney, Jimmy Vasser
4. Brumos Racing – Porsche Riley – Joao Barbosa, JC France
5. Krohn Racing – Pontiac Lola – Nic Jonsson, Ricardo Zonta
Oswaldo Negri Jr. and Mark Patterson of Michael Shank Racing grabbed the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series win at New Jersey Motorsports Park. It was the pair’s first win of the season.
Leading the pack in GT was the TRG Porsche driven by Tim George Jr. and Andy Lally. They came in 14th position overall.
The top teams ranked by class included:
Daytona Prototype:
1. Michael Shank Racing – Ford Riley – Oswaldo Negri Jr., Mark Patterson
2. SunTrust Racing – Pontiac Dallara – Max Angelelli, Michael Valiante
3. Alex Job Racing – Porsche Riley – Bill Auberlen, Joey Hand
Grand Touring:
1. TRG – Porsche GT3 – Tim George Jr, Andy Lally
2. Stevenson Motorsports – Pontiac GXP.R – Andrew Davis, Robin Liddell
3. Matt Connolly Motorsports – Pontiac GTO.R – Diego Alessi, Ryan Phinny
1. Max Angelelli/ Michael Valiante – SunTrust Racing
2. Jon Fogarty/ Alex Gurney – GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing
3. Brian Frisselle/ Mark Wilkins – AIM Autosport
4. Joao Barbosa/ JC France – Brumos Racing
5. Nic Jonsson/ Ricardo Zonta – Krohn Racing
For the full results from the race, visit this link:
Brian Frisselle and Mark Wilkins celebrated their second win in as many weeks today, moving them up to 10th in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series championship standings. The pair was tied for 14th place leading up to the race at Watkins Glen. Just last week, Frisselle and Wilkins scored AIM Autosport’s first win in the series.
Wilkins, who was in the car for the final laps of the race, crossed the finish line just 1.986 seconds ahead of the second place finisher Alex Gurney, who co-piloted the vehicle with teammate Jon Fogarty. Though today’s race featured a close finish, last week’s race was even closer – the closest in Grand-Am history in fact. Wilkins snagged that win with a margin of victory timing merely .064 seconds.
The Top Finishers at Watkins Glen Included:
1. Brian Frisselle, Mark Wilkins – AIM Autosport
2. Jon Fogarty, Alex Gurne – GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing
3. David Donohue, Darren Law – Brumos Racing
4. Bill Auberlen, Joey Hand – Alex Job Racing
5. Nic Jonsson, Ricardo Zonta – Krohn Racing
The Grand-Am portion of today’s schedule includes:
12:30 to 01:30 p.m. – Free Practice
02:00 to 03:00 p.m. – Free Practice
03:30 to 04:30 p.m. – Free Practice
05:00 to 05:30 p.m. – Final Practice
05:30 to 06:00 p.m. – Final Practice**
** (for Trueman/Akin Award Participants Only)
The series will hold its qualifying sessions starting tomorrow at 1:15 p.m. followed by their two hour race, which is scheduled to be the last action on the track tomorrow, beginning at 4:15 p.m.
For full event schedule from Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, please see this page:
