Grand-Am – Laguna Seca – Qualifying Times
Gainsco And Mazda On Pole Daytona Prototypes
Jon Fogarty put the #99 GAINSCO Riley on the pole for Sunday’s DP race, while in GT, for Saturday’s race, it’s #70 Mazda from a Tafel Porsche and then a Farnbacher-Loles Porsche. The DP qualifying session on Saturday morning was run under foggy conditions and 50 degree temperatures. Gainsco’s pole is its second of the year – following Alex Gurney’s pole at the Rolex 24, which didn’t lead to a very successful race in Florida.
“We have had a good car all weekend,” Jon Fogarty said – the #99 have been quickest in every session. “Our engineer and team have really given us a good car. We need to start being as consistent in the race as we have been in qualifying. The times in qualifying I think will be indicative of how close the race is going to be tomorrow.” Well, yes and no – because the qualifying times are more indicative of the slower driver’s pace, rather than the pace once it’s an all pro battle. The Cheever Racing Fabcar was fourth fastest – and the Fabcar is now, apparently, faster than the Brumos Rileys, which is a little ironic. SunTrust second and Alex Job Racing third, then Ganassi’s #01 fifth and the Braun / Papis Krohn Riley sixth does suggest a scrap on Sunday. Qualifying Times
1 99 DP Gainsco/ Bob Stallings Racing Alex Gurney / Jon Fogarty Riley Pontiac 1.20.787
2 10 DP SunTrust Racing Max Angelelli / Jan Magnussen / Wayne Taylor Riley Pontiac 1.20.834 3 23 DP Alex Job Racing Patrick Long / Jorg Bergmeister Crawford Porsche 1.20.856 4 39 DP Cheever Racing Christian Fittipaldi / Harrison Brix Fabcar Porsche 1.20.882 5 01 DP TELMEX Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Scott Pruett / Memo Rojas Riley Lexus 1.20.894
6 75 DP Krohn Racing Colin Braun / Max Papis Riley Pontiac 1.21.340
7 61 DP AIM Autosport Mark Wilkins / Brian Frisselle / Burt Frisselle Riley Lexus 1.21.605
8 11 DP SAMAX Patrick Carpentier / Ryan Dalziel Riley Pontiac 1.21.635
9 58 DP Red Bull/ Brumos Porsche David Donohue / Darren Law Riley Porsche 1.21.854
10 6 DP Michael Shank Racing John Pew / Ian James Riley Lexus 1.22.183 11 59 DP Brumos Porsche/ Kendall Hurley Haywood / JC France Riley Porsche 1.23.082
12 05 DP Sigalsport BMW Bill Auberlen / Matthew Alhadeff Riley BMW 1.23.255 13 77 DP Doran Racing Memo Gidley / Guy Cosmo Doran Ford 1.23.443 14 19 DP Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Rob Finlay / Michael Valiante Riley Lexus 1.23.459
15 91 DP Lowe's Riley-Matthews Motorsports Jim Matthews / Marc Goossens Riley Pontiac 1.23.532 16 60 DP Michael Shank Racing Mark Patterson / Oswaldo Negri Riley Lexus 1.23.580
17 12 DP RVO Motorsports Roger Schramm / Justin Bell Riley Pontiac 1.23.849 18 3 DP Southard Motorsports Shane Lewis / Randy Ruhlman Riley Lexus 1.24.601 19 76 DP Krohn Racing Tracy Krohn / Nic Jonsson Riley Pontiac 1.24.931 GTs
The production-based cars qualified on Friday, late in the afternoon. Have Grand-Am’s latest changes to the minimum weights made a difference? The changes can be summarised as: Porsche 997 – up from 2625 to 2700 pounds
Mazda RX-8 – up from 2200 to 2255 pounds
Mazda RX-8 with DP transaxle – 2345 pounds In fact, all the GTs which can run with a DP transaxle have a minimum weight approximately 100 pounds heavier than their non-DP transaxle equivalent. So 75 extra pounds for the Porsches, and 55 for the Mazdas – but if G-A is just comparing one lap pace (as in qualifying) perhaps that isn’t the whole story. The Porsches have tended to struggle on the Hoosiers into a stint, and the extra weight will presumably make that more of a problem. They have been quick over a lap though, with Tafel’s Wolf Henzler always prepared to give it everything in qualifying (but he’s at Salt Lake City this weekend). The Mazda is the lightest of the GTs, so potentially, with its one lap pace, balance and speed through a stint, it might have the advantage – for now. Qualifying Times
1 70 GT SpeedSource Sylvain Tremblay / Nick Ham Mazda RX-8 1.29.052
2 74 GT Tafel Racing Eric Lux / Ian James Porsche GT3 Cup 1.29.185
3 85 GT Farnbacher Loles Motorsports Leh Keen / Craig Stanton Porsche GT3 Cup 1.29.278
4 07 GT Banner Racing Pontiac Paul Edwards / Kelly Collins GXP.R 1.29.362 5 87 GT Farnbacher Loles Motorsports Bryce Miller / Dirk Werner Porsche GT3 Cup 1.29.627
6 06 GT Banner Racing Leighton Reese / Tim Lewis Jr. Pontiac GXP.R 1.29.642
7 30 GT Racers Edge Motorsports TBA Pontiac GXP.R 1.30.036 8 15 GT Blackforest Motorsports Tom Nastasi / David Empringham Mustang Cobra GT 1.30.165
9 72 GT Tafel Racing Andrew Davis / Nathan Swartzbaugh Porsche GT3 Cup 1.30.313
10 69 GT SpeedSource Emil Assentato / Nick Longhi Mazda RX-8 1.30.352 11 17 GT Doncaster Racing Dave Lacey / Greg Wilkins Porsche GT3 Cup 1.30.682
12 81 GT Synergy Racing Patrick Huisman / Steve Johnson Porsche GT3 Cup 1.30.788
13 27 GT O'Connell Racing Kevin O'Connell / Mike Speakman Porsche GT3 RS 1.31.055
14 65 GT TRG Ross Smith / TBA Porsche GT3 Cup 1.31.234 15 64 GT TRG Jim Lowe / Jim Pace Porsche GT3 Cup 1.31.573
16 22 GT Alegra Motorsports Carlos de Quesada / Jean-Francois Dumoulin Porsche GT3 Cup 1.31.911
17 66 GT TRG Andy Lally / RJ Valentine Porsche GT3 Cup 1.32.098
18 42 GT Team Sahlen Joe Sahlen / Will Nonnamaker Corvette 1.32.271 19 35 GT Playboy Racing / Unitech David Murry / Mike Borkowski Nissan 350Z 1.32.787 20 21 GT Matt Connolly Motorsports Matt Connolly / TBA Pontiac GTO.R 1.32.933 21 67 GT TRG Spencer Pumpelly / Bob Heniff Porsche GT3 Cup 1.33.496
22 43 GT Team Sahlen Wayne Nonnamaker / Joe Nonnamaker Corvette no time | 
