MONTEREY, Calif. (April 30 – May 1, 2005): The season-opening U.S.
Sports Car Invitational presented by Shell V-Power April 29-May 1 was
headlined by the Seca Mazda  Raceway,
for the 24 Daytona Prototypes and 30 GT cars of the rapidly-growing Grand
American Road Racing Association's Rolex Sports Car Series. The Daytona
Prototypes and GT cars, did battle in a 250-mile race (with a two-hour,
30-minute time limit) on Sunday, May 1, 2005. The track consists of 2.238
miles of hills, twists, and turns including the signature Corkscrew (turns 8
and 8A). The Rolex Sports Car Series was joined by the Grand-Am Cup for
high-performance sports cars, with a car count of 46 GS cars and 22 ST cars.
For a 200 mile 90 laps 2 ½ hour time limit, Saturday April 30, 2005. Hoosier
is the exclusive supplier for all Grand American Road Racing classes.
Morning practice on Friday April 29, 2005 saw the
DP cars practicing on Hoosier Racing Tires, DP 50 spec. After the first
practice the No. 02 Lexus, CompUSA Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates, driven by
Cort Wagner and Stefan Johannson was quickest (1:25.800, 93,902 mph), the No.
01 Lexus, New Century Mtg. / Chip Ganassi w/Sabates, driven by Luis Diaz and
Scott Pruett was second (1:25.818, 93,773 mph). GT cars after the first
practice found the No. 17 BMW M3, Prototype Technology Group, driven by RJ
Valentine and Kelly Collins quickest (1:33.146, 86.496 mph), followed by the
No. 21 BMW M3, Prototype Technology Group, driven by Bill Auberlen and Joey
Hand with (1:33.150, 86.493 mph).
In the afternoon practice the pace picks up just a
bit with the DP car No. 99 Pontiac Riley, Gainsco / Blackhawk Racing, driving
the car was Bob Stallings and Alex Gurney coming in with a time of (1:25.286,
94.468). The GT cars also coming in just a bit quicker with the No. 21 BMW M3,
Prototype Technology Group, Bill Auberien and Joey Hand driving timed at
1:33.827, 85.869 mph).
Saturday April 30, 2005 practice for all the
classes picked up the pace, leading the DP field the No. 02 Lexus, CompUSA Chip
Ganassi with Felix Sabates, driven by Cort Wagner and Stefan Johansson with a
time of (1:24.998, 94.788). The GT cars also a bit slower led by the No. 21 BMW
M3, Prototype Technology Group, driven by Bill Auberien and Joey Hand
(1:32.096, 87.483 mph).
The qualifying with the pole for Sunday, May 1,
2005 Rolex race is DP No. 60, Lexus Riley, Michael Shank Racing team, driven by
Oswaldo Negri Jr. and Mark Patterson with a time of (1:24.357, 95.508 mph).
Their fastest lap came in lap number 8. When interviewed about capturing the
pole position and the fast time, Oswaldo commented that "the Hoosier
Racing Tires are holding up well, and are sticking in later laps".
Max Crawford owner of the Howard-Boss Motorsports
team said "the Hoosier tires are absolutely awesome, they are still
getting better after forty laps in".
MONTEREY, Calif. (May 1, 2005): The Road and
Track 250 for the Rolex Sports Car Series was won by the No. 01, DP CompUSA
Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates, Lexus Riley, driven by Luis Diaz and Scott
Pruett. Luis and Scott are two for two at the West Coast events, with this
being round four of the Rolex series. Scott and Luis are within ten points of
the point leaders, the Sun Trust Racing team of Wayne Taylor and Max Angelelli.
Scott Pruett made the comment that "their car went real well today, right
from the get go, tires cold or warm". In the post race interview Scott
also stated "one last thing I would like to mention about Hoosier. It was
their first time here and they came through and did a fabulous job with the
tires. I know they will come back and make some more changes; this is a very,
very difficult track to get right from a tire standpoint. I have spent a lot of
miles running around here on Goodyears and Firestones. Just mile after mile of
testing and I thought Hoosier did a good job coming with something that I
thought was pretty darn good". When asked if Hoosier had talked to Scott
about the tires he replied "we talked about it absolutely. They had wanted
to come testing, but as busy as Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway is with all the stuff
they have going on, it was virtually impossible. They (Hoosier) did a good
job".
Finishing in second place today was the No. 4, DP
Howard-Boss Motorsprots, Pontiac Crawford, driven by Elliott Forbes-Robinson
and Butch Leitzinger.
In third place was the No. 54, DP Kodak-Bell
Motorsports, Pontiac Doran, driven by Chris Bingham and Hugo Guenette. Tom
Milner team owner of the Prototype Technology Group teams stated, "the
Hoosier tires were perfect today". In today's race there were six cautions
for a total of twenty-two laps, with four lead changes.
Friday's practice for the Grand-Am Cup had the GS
car No. 6 Porsche 996, Zoom Motorsports, driven by Mike McCalmont and Darren
Law, coming in with a time of (1:39.445, 81.018 mph). Followed closely by the
No. 99 BMW M3, Anchor Racing car, driven by Anders Hainer and Joey Hand, with a
time of (1:39.507, 80.967mph). The ST leaders were No. 66, SpeedSource, Mazda
RX-8, driven by Marcelo Abello and Charles Espenlaub (1:44.841, 76.848 mph).
And the No. 70, SpeedSource, Mazda RX-8, driven by David Haskell and Sylvain
Tremblay (1:45.053 76.693 mph).
In the Grand-Am Cup Series Provisional Practice
Saturday, April 30, 2005 the GS No. 60, Finlay Motorsports team driven by Rob
Finlay and Michael McDowell a time of (1:39.000, 81.382 mph). The ST team had
the No. 08, Collislon Craft, Dodge SRT4, driven by Phil Malgren and Jeff Lepper
with a time of (77:362, 77.362 mph).
The Qualifying Results for Saturdays Grand-Am Cup
race would put the GS No. 96 Turner Motorsports team on the pole, driven by
Justin Marks and Bill Auberlen with a time of (1:39.034, 81.354 mph). The ST
No. 95 BMW 330, Turner Motorsports team, driven by Don Salama and Will Turner
was out front with a time of (1:43.739, 77.664 mph).
At the start of Saturday, April 30, 2005 Grand-Am
Cup Series race, the weather was pleasant with a temperature of 71 degrees
Fahrenheit. The race was underway at 2:45 pm , with 43 GS cars and 25 ST cars
starting the race. During the middle of Saturday's race Mike Kraemer, Hoosier
Racing Tire Product Manager, was interviewed by the Laguna Seca media /
announcer. When asked how big of a part tire management is in this type of
event, Mike said "tire management is part of it, but not the whole thing.
We bring a tire that is pretty darn durable and can run hard for a long period
of time". This has to be a little bit of a challenge for you guys, we know
that you make a good tire but you have a lot of variables here at this race
track, put together with the grit you find here on this race track along with
the higher elevation changes, and these heavy cars. Mike responds, "it is
a challenge but a wonderful challenge. This race track has been around for a
long time. There is a lot of history here, and we are happy to be part of
that". How have the tires been responding? Now one thing in your favor is
the weather is nice. Mike says "the weather is a huge factor; if it gets
warm the track gets greasy. If the track gets cold the track has grip. When the
track has grip the drivers are happy". With 40 laps of racing already
complete, we haven't seen any tire issues. Mike says, "This track is
pretty smooth, and the track is at a good racing temperature". How does
the facility (Mazda Raceway) help with the development of your Hoosier Racing
Tires? Mike said "it's not only the facility but also the series, (Grand
Am). We (Hoosier) have been exposed to another level of motor sports community
that has a lot more expertise and a lot more experience. We have technology at
our right hand. We gain knowledge by listening to our customers".
Congratulations on putting together a great tire for the series.
MONTEREY, Calif. (April 30, 2005): After watching two other sets of Ford
Mustang co-drivers take victories in two out of the first three Grand-Am Cup
Series races, the No. 05 Multimatic Motorsports Mustang drivers Scott Maxwell
and David Empringham finally got their opportunity to taste the victory in the
Grand-Am Cup 200 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Saturday.
Defending Grand-Am Cup Series Sport Touring (ST) champions Sylvain Tremblay and
David Haskell claimed their second-straight ST class win in the No. 70
SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 thanks to a daring pass by Tremblay around the outside
of Bob Endicott in Turn 11 on the second-to-last lap. After making the pass,
Tremblay had to stave off several challenges from Endicott's No. 27 Bill Fenton
Motorsports Acura RSX-S to win by six-tenths of a second. There were six lead
changes throughout the race. The race can be viewed on (SPEED Channel, May 14,
1 p.m. ET).
Grand Am was glad to see the large show of support
by the fans at Laguna Seca this weekend. And only expect to see the series
continue to grow.
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