Grand Am, Road America - Race Report

Ganassi Leads a Riley 1-2-3 - Corvettes Take Themselves Out Again

It took until the last caution to settle out, but at the end it was a Riley 1-2-3, led by the Chip Ganassi team, as they took their first win of the season.  Second was Starworks (Dalziel/Potolicchio) with the MSR (Negri/Pew) finishing off the podium.

Entering the last yellow, Ricky Taylor was leading, but somehow he managed to find a wall while trying to keep his tires warm.  The impact broke the rear suspension on the car and yet again the SunTrust effort crumbled late – the visibly distraught Taylor was not able to hold back his tears after the incident.  Fuel was marginal for the car until that yellow, but it was not to be.

The Taylor incident opened the door for the Ganassi effort to win for the first time this season and stretch their points lead.  An stop for the team on an early yellow put them on their way to what looked to be a strong finish, and ultimately become a win.  Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas drove a consistent race.  Pruett – “I was hoping that we’d go green to the end, because I think the #10 was going to have to stop for fuel again.  Then something happened to that car under yellow.  We took the lead then it was a matter of driving like hell to keep the lead.  I drove like it was qualifying and finished it off.  It was good to win here again and to do it for Riley, BMW and the team.”

At the restart, Ryan Dalziel did not have anything for Pruett and settled for second, after clearing himself of David Donohue in the Action Express Corvette.  “It was better for us, but we knew entering this race that the track would suit us better than those we’ve been at.  We’re getting there and it’s good to know that the series is trying to get things straightened out as far as the regulations, but we’re still not where we should be or even where we were last season.  Both of us (Ford and BMW) have been restricted since last season, but the Chevrolets have not been.  We’ll just keep up the effort and do the best we can.  We had a good race – unfortunately we lost out to the guys that are leading us in the points.”

Donohue faded to an eventual fourth place finish, falling behind both Oz Negri (MSR) and his teammate Joao Barbosa.  On the last lap, Negri and Barbosa came together on the front straight, with Barbosa ending up in the wall.  Negri – “He came up on the inside of me.  I broke late, forcing him to brake late too.  He washed out and then I went inside to claim my line.  He continued to try to move inside until he was in the grass and there was nowhere for him to go.  I feel bad for him, but it wasn’t my fault.”  Barbosa obviously disagreed, throwing his Hans device at Negri as he drove past to take the checkered.

Again, the Corvette teams gave this race away.  SunTrust had the race in hand.  The yellow gave them what they needed fuel-wise.  Spirit of Daytona eliminated themselves early with another incident in traffic, which broke the rear suspension, and Gainsco had a bolt shear in the front suspension.  Action Express were the last standing and just didn’t have it this weekend.

In GT, it was a Ferrari win yet again.  The AIM Ferrari (Segal/Assentato) dominated the last part of the race, eventually pulling through for a 2.5 second margin over the hard-charging Bill Auberlen in the Turner BMW.  “I knew we’d do well here, as the BMW is great here, but the late caution killed our chances,” said Auberlen. “When the tires are warm, they’re great, but the yellow made them cool off and it took a lap to get them back up to temperature.  By then all I could do was to charge as hard as I could and get back into second.”

Third in class was the Speed Source Mazda, with Sylvain Tremblay and Jonathan Bomarito bringing it home.  A sly comment by Sylvain in the press conference, as he bumped into Segal, summed up this race and most of the Grand Am GT season thus far – “Oops, sorry.  That was as close as I’ve been able to get to you all weekend long.”

The battle for third through seventh in class was spectacular.  The positions changed in this train constantly and showed that if you take the Ferrari out of the equation, the balance is pretty good.

Early in the race, Steve Bertheau had a scary moment on the second lap, losing it in turn 11 at high speed.  The car suffered significant damage and for awhile there was some concern about Steve.  He was transported to a local hospital for observation, but he is awake and alert and the indications are that there are no serious injuries.

Gary Horrocks