2010 Grand-Am Rolex Series

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O'Connell, Taylor to Race With Autohaus at MMP..........

Post by mlittle » Thu Sep 09, 2010 5:49 pm

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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - Autohaus Motorsports returns to the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 for the season finale at Miller Motorsports Park with the No. 46 Chevrolet Camaro GT.R built by Pratt & Miller.

The Autohaus Camaro was last on track for Round 9 at New Jersey Motorsports Park in July. This will be the team's third race with the new Chevy Camaro. They have been using the 2010 season to learn about the new racecar, and have had different driver combinations at each event.

This weekend sees the return of championship winning Chevrolet factory driver Johnny O'Connell. He first drove for the team in New Jersey with co-driver Lawson Aschenbach. Record temperatures and an early weekend incident dashed the team's hopes for a podium finish, but gave the team valuable track time with the new car.

"New Jersey was a challenging weekend for the team," explained technical director Marcus Haselgrove. "A crash in morning practice set us back quite a bit, although our crew worked incredibly hard to get the car ready for qualifying with some spare parts provided by Stevenson Motorsports. We would not have been back out there without their assistance. It's really great that the Chevrolet teams can count on each other."

The team has high hopes for the Utah race setting the standard for a competitive season in 2011. Joining O'Connell in the car this weekend will be a young star of GRAND-AM racing, Jordan Taylor.

Taylor, the 19-year-old son of sports car champion and owner of SunTrust Racing, Wayne Taylor, has competed this season in the No. 30 Mazda RX-8. He has earned three pole positions, two podiums and seven top ten finishes in 10 races this season. Some difficulty with the No. 30 car at the last race in Montreal meant there was a possibility that the team would not be able to enter the race at Miller. With Taylor's plans for the season finale up in the air, he was excited to find out that he would have an opportunity to join Autohaus Motorsports at Miller Motorsports Park on September 11th.

"I am really looking forward to heading to Miller this weekend with Autohaus Motorsports and Johnny O'Connell," said Taylor. "After leaving Montreal, not knowing if I would be in a car for the finale, I have to thank the Autohaus team for this opportunity. I'm really excited to be working with Johnny. After watching him for years in the Corvette program it will be nice to have him as a teammate to learn from. I feel that we will be competitive throughout the weekend."

After a disappointing season ending injury for one of the team's drivers at Round 3 in Barber, Autohaus Motorsports had to work hard to pull together any program for 2010. With a newly converted Camaro the team opted to enter a few races to learn about the car, and build a database for 2011.

"The past few events for the team have been good. The support of GM has been instrumental in our return to the track for a few of the races this year," explains team owner Robert Kirland. "It's never easy to rebuild a program mid-season, but with their help it made sense for us to come to a few of the races to help build for 2011. I was especially pleased when they suggested that Johnny join us for NJ, and return again for Utah. His experience with GM and Pratt & Miller cars is invaluable to us. It was General Motors who suggested that Jordan might be available for the race at Miller and put us in touch. It was really great to see Chevrolet sweep the podium in Montreal, and Autohaus Motorsports is ready to help put up some more manufacturers' points for Chevy."

To help shorten the learning curve with the new Camaro the team has additional support this weekend from Katech Engines, as well as engineering support from Pratt & Miller.

"Pratt & Miller is thrilled to have Autohaus back on the Grand American circuit in their newly converted Camaro," said Lynn Bishop from Pratt & Miller Engineering. "Autohaus has demonstrated throughout the years that they are a very professional team capable of winning races. We are proud they decided to convert their GXP.R to the new Camaro GT.R and we are confident they will contribute Chevrolet manufacturer points and compete for race wins."
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Post by mlittle » Sat Sep 11, 2010 2:52 pm

Utah Practice Session 1 Top-5
DP-1} Alex Gurney, No. 99 GAINSCO Chevrolet/Riley - 1:43.310 (106.212 mph)
DP-2} Scott Pruett, No. 01 TELMEX BMW/Riley - 1:43.991 (105.516 mph)
DP-3} Ricky Taylor, No. 10 SunTrust Ford/Dallara - 1:44.422 (105.081 mph)
DP-4} Ryan Dalziel, No. 8 Starworks Motorsport BMW/Riley -- 1:44.805 (104.697 mph)
DP-5} Antonio Garcia, No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Porsche/Coyote - 1:44.828 (104.674 mph)

GT-1} Paul Edwards, No. 07 Banner Chevrolet Corvette - 1:52.492 (97.542 mph)
GT-2} Robin Liddell, No. 57 Vin Solutions/Von Allmer Capital - 1:52.508 (97.529 mph)
GT-3} Spencer Pumpelly, No. 66 Sargent & Lundy Porsche GT3 - 1:52.824 (97.255 mph)
GT-4} John Edwards, No. 68 MazdaSpeed Motorsports Development Mazda RX-8 - 1:52.948 (97.149 mph)
GT-5} Joey Hand, No. 94 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 - 1:52.953 (97.144 mph)


Utah Practice Session 2
DP-1} Burt Frisselle, No. 61 Pacific Mobile/BioSign Ford/Riley - 1:44.492 (105.010 mph)
DP-2} Jon Fogarty, No. 99 GAINSCO Chevrolet/Riley - 1:44.511 (104.991 mph)
DP-3} Ryan Dalziel, No. 8 Starworks Motorsport BMW/Riley - 1:44.947 (104.555 mph)
DP-4} Memo Rojas, No. 01 TELMEX BMW/Riley - 1:45.376 (104.129 mph)
DP-5} Darren Law, No. 59 Brumos.com Porsche/Riley - 1:45.755 (103.756 mph)

GT-1} Andrew Davis, No. 57 Vin Solutions/Von Allmer Capital Chevrolet Camaro - 1:52.715 (97.349 mph)
GT-2} Paul Edwards, No. 97 Banner Racing Chevrolet Corvette - 1:52.782 (97.292 mph)
GT-3} Spencer Pumpelly, No. 66 Sargent & Lundy Porsche GT3 - 1:52.961 (97.137 mph)
GT-4} Jeff Segal, No. 69 FXDD Mazda RX-8 - 1:53.057 (97.055 mph)
GT-5}Jan Magnussen, No. 97 LaLa Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro - 1:53.145 (96.979 mph)
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Rojas, Pruett On Point for 09' Season Finale.........

Post by mlittle » Sat Sep 11, 2010 2:54 pm

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Ganassi Racing's Memo Rojas(r) celebrates his pole-winning run w/a Ganassi crewman


---SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - In a year where everything has been working out for the No. 01 TELMEX BMW/Riley team, a late setup change helped Memo Rojas score his Daytona Prototype-leading fourth pole position in qualifying for Saturday's season-ending Utah 250 at Miller Motorsports Park.

"We learned an important lesson in the previous practice about what we need to put on the car for this race, and luckily we nailed that change," said Rojas, who ran a lap of 1:43.377 (106.144 mph). "I'm not going to tell you what it was, but it worked out for us. We were OK in practice, and then our engineer Brad Goldberg made a great call for qualifying and it worked out for us."

Rojas will be joined on the front row by Jon Fogarty, who ran a lap of 1:43.433 (106.086 mph) in the No. 99 GAINSCO Chevrolet/Riley co-driven by Alex Gurney. The race will take the green flag at noon MT. (SPEED live, 2 p.m. ET). Rojas and co-driver Scott Pruett enter the finale with a GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 eight victories in 11 races. The pair clinched the championship at the previous race in Montreal, giving Ganassi his fourth DP team title since 2004. However, Pruett was concerned after Friday's opening practice session on Miller's 3.048-mile perimeter circuit, a change from the 4.486-mile layout used in previous events.

"For some reason, we've never been able to get our arms around Miller Motorsports Park, and even though we're racing on a new layout, we're still chasing it," Scott Pruett said earlier in the day. "We're OK right now, but we hope to come to better grips with it by race time tomorrow."

Ricky Taylor qualified third in the No. 10 SunTrust Ford/Dallara, 1:43.565 (105.752 mph) and will be joined on the second row by Burt Frisselle, who ran 1:43.760 (105.752 mph) in the No. 61 Pacific Mobile/BioSign Ford/Riley. Antonio Garcia, Brian Frisselle, Darren Law, Matt Bell, Terry Borcheller and John Pew rounded out the top 10 qualifiers.

Eric Curran gave the Marsh Racing its second consecutive pole in qualifying for the production-based GT class. He ran a lap of 1:51.659 (98.271 mph) in the No. 61 Whelen Engineering Corvette, following up Boris Said's pole from the previous race at Montreal.

"This Whelen Corvette is awesome," Curran said. "The guys have been working hard all year and they deserve this so much. It's been a long season, and they've fought real hard since the beginning and had a lot of issues trying to get the car up to speed. Now here we are, with two poles in a row."

Adam Christodoulou was second in GT qualifying with a lap of 1:52.556 (97.487 mph) in the No. 68 MazdaSpeed Motorsports Development Mazda RX-8. Andrew Davis, Johnny O'Connell and Andy Lally rounded out the top five qualifiers. Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal enter the finale with an eight-point lead in the GT championship standings over SpeedSource teammate Sylvain Tremblay (318-310). Tremblay qualified sixth in the No. 70 Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8, while Assentato will start 12th in the No. 69 FXDD Mazda RX-8.
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Ganassi Caps Off Season With Win at Miller.........

Post by mlittle » Sat Sep 18, 2010 8:44 am

(from SA, 11 Sept. 2010)
TOOELE, Utah - Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas only needed to drive 30 minutes in Saturday's Utah 250 at Miller Motorsports Park to share the 2010 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Daytona Prototype championship. They did more than just that.

In dominating fashion, the pair scored their ninth victory of the season in 12 races. Pruett beat Max Angelelli and Alex Gurney out of the pits during the first caution period of the event and went on to lead the final 39 circuits of the 82-lap on the 3.048-mile perimeter course. Pruett beat Gurney to the checkered flag by 1.946 seconds, with Angelelli another second behind to take third. Rojas led twice for three laps from the pole position, his fourth of the 2010 season.

"It's been unbelievable," said the 50-year-old Pruett. "What a season for Chip Ganassi Racing - the Indy 500, the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400, our championship and they're still in the championship hunt with the IndyCar Series. I'm proud to be part of that organization. It's been a great season for us. Even when we haven't had the fastest car we've been able to come up with a great result. It's just been one of those dream seasons."

It was Pruett's third DP title; he also won in 2004 with Max Papis and 2008 with Rojas, and fourth for Ganassi, who also took the 2006 team crown. "The fact of the matter is we didn't have to do a lot today to win the championship," Ganassi said. "To go out with a win - especially when you didn't need it - is a nice thing for the team. This was a total team effort."

It was Pruett's record 31st DP victory and 18th co-driving with Rojas; it also marked the 32nd for the Ganassi team. Pruett and Rojas had a trio of three-victory streaks to go with a pair of second-place finishes and a 13th at Lime Rock Park when the No. 01 was involved in an altercation on the opening lap. It was their record-setting 11th podium finish of the campaign. Their No. 01 led 792 laps while Pruett paced 560 circuits, both DP records.

"Maybe we're the best of the rest," said Gurney, who ended the year with four consecutive podium finishes in the No. 99 GAINSCO Chevrolet/Riley co-driven by Jon Fogarty. "We didn't really challenge them today, and we'll have to figure that out. They're a big chunk ahead of us. We're got our work cut out for us for the offseason."

Angelelli and Ricky Taylor combined to lead 44 laps in the No. 10 SunTrust Ford/Dallara to finish the year with seven podium finishes, including six in the final eight races. Burt Frisselle and Mark Wilkins finished fourth in the No. 61 Pacific Mobile/BioSign Ford/Riley, while Mike Forest and Ryan Dalziel placed fifth in the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport BMW/Riley.

Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell led a 1-2 finish for Stevenson Motorsports in the production-based GT division driving the No. 57 Vin Solutions/Von Allmer Capital Partners Chevrolet Camaro, but it was Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal capturing the class championship with a sixth-place finish in the No. 69 FXDD Mazda RX-8.

The pair didn't win the title without a little action. Assentato spun during his stint, and Segal was involved in contact with another car on the final lap. "It's a great honor to win any championship with all the pro drivers in the series," Assentato said. Segal added, "I just concentrated on going as fast as I could. I didn't leave anything on the table; we were going for it. I'm thrilled to clinch the championship."

Gunther Schaldach finished second for the second consecutive race, joined by Jan Magnussen in the No. 97 LaLa Motorsports/Von Allmer Capital Group Chevrolet Camaro. "It's been a difficult season for us, and it's great to get Stevenson Motorsports back on the top step of the podium," Liddell said. "It's been a nice year, but it was really nice to close it with a victory and secure third place in the championship."

John Edwards and Adam Christodoulou took third in the No. 68 MazdaSpeed Motorsports Development Mazda RX-8, followed by teammates Sylvain Tremblay and Jonathan Bomarito in the No. 70 Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8.

Tremblay ended the campaign five points behind his teammates (343-338). "Right now, I'm happy as the team owner, and I'm a lot more team owner than a driver," Tremblay said. "I'm the driver 12 days a year and the team owner the rest of the time. I'm happy with Emil, Jeff and the entire team. Everyone works on all the cars. This is pretty special for Mazda, their first championship since 1991."

Bill Auberlen, Joey Hand and Paul Dalla Lana finished fifth in the No. 94 Turner Motorsport MW M6. Eric Curran started from the pole and led the opening 21 in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Corvette, but co-driver Boris Said later retired the car with a broken ball joint.

Memo Gidley, driving the No. 43 Team Sahlen Mazda RX-8, and Charles Espenlaub in the No. 40 Dempsey Racing/Florida Live Mazda RX-8, also led the GT class. The race was slowed by three cautions for debris, with Pruett and Rojas averaging 95.166 mph.
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Post by mlittle » Sat Sep 18, 2010 9:00 am

Final 2010 Grand-Am Rolex Standings


~~~DAYTONA PROTOTYPE CLASS
---DP Drivers' Standings(top-10+)
t-1st}[1]Scott Pruett, 372 pts(9 wins)
t-1st}[2]Memo Rojas, 372 pts(9 wins)

t-3rd}[3]Max Angelelli, 332 pts(1 win)
t-3rd}[4]Ricky Taylor, 332 pts(1 win)
5th} Jon Fogarty, 325 pts(1 win)
6th} Alex Gurney, 307 pts(1 win)
7th} Ryan Dalziel, 302 pts(1 win)
t-8th}[8]Darren Law, 299 pts
t-8th}[9]David Donohue, 299 pts
t-10th}[10]John Pew, 298 pts
t-10th}[11]Oswaldo Negri, 298 pts
---DP Chassis Standings
1st} Riley Tech., 392 pts(11 wins)
2nd} Dallara, 351 pts(1 win)
3rd} Coyote, 286 pts
4th} Lola, 254 pts
5th} Crawford, 17 pts
---DP Engine Standings
1st} BMW, 386 pts(9 wins)
2nd} Ford, 371 pts(1 win)
3rd} Porsche, 329 pts(1 win)
4th} Chevrolet, 325 pts(1 win)


~~~GRAND TOURING CLASS
---GT Drivers' Standings(top-10)
t-1st}[1]Emil Assentato, 343 pts(2 wins)
t-1st}[2]Jeff Segal, 343 pts(2 wins)

3rd} Sylvain Tremblay, 338 pts(2 wins)
4th} Jonathan Bomarito, 319 pts(2 wins)
t-5th}[5]Andrew Davis, 315 pts(1 win)
t-5th}[6]Robin Liddell, 315 pts(1 win)
t-7th}[7]James Gue, 311 pts(1 win)
t-7th}[8]Leh Keen, 311 pts(1 win)
t-9th}[9]Adam Christodoulou, 298 pts(1 win)
t-9th}[10]John Edwards, 298 pts(1 win)
---GT Manufacturers Standings
1st} Mazda, 392 pts(6 wins)
2nd} Chevrolet, 347 pts(2 wins)
3rd} Porsche, 317 pts(3 wins)
4th} BMW, 239 pts(1 win)
5th} Ferrari, 32 pts
6th} Ford, 16 pts

note 1.........in DP competition, Porsche was allowed to use 2 variant engines, a Flat-6 Cayenne and a Boxster V8 engine
note 2.........in GT competition, Porsche entries were allowed to use either the Flat-6 or V8 engine configurations
note 3.........in GT competition, Chevrolet ran 2 different makes, a Camaro GT-R and a Corvette C-6R
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