Angelelli Remains Fastest in SPEED GT Practice at Laguna Seca

MONTEREY, Calif., (Oct. 20, 2006) - The morning practice time of Max Angelelli, of Monte Carlo, Monaco, could not be topped in afternoon SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT practice at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, part of the Monterey Sports Car Championships. Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., and Johnny O'Connell, of Flowery Branch, Ga., completed the top three.

Angelelli clocked a time of 1:29.064 (90.460 mph) around the undulating 2.238-mile track in Friday morning's practice session, a time neither he nor any other SPEED GT car could top in the afternoon practice. The best the No. 12 XM/Mobil/Motorola/On Star Cadillac CTS-V could muster in the second session was a 1:29.895 (89.624 mph). Angelelli's morning time is 0.3-seconds under the current track record of 1:30.387 (89.136 mph), set last year by Wolf Henzler in a Porsche 911 Cup.

"It's a good benchmark to see where we are compared to the other competitors," Angelelli said. "I still believe [Tommy] Archer is hiding a lot of speed and not showing his true potential. He's going to show it to everybody tomorrow, but right now we're looking quite good, so I'm very happy about that. I love this track."

Second quick is the No. 23 At Speed Motorsports Porsche 911 Cup of Pobst, who was the fastest car in the afternoon and improved on his morning time to set a 1:29.521 (89.999 mph).

Closing out the top three is Angelelli teammate O'Connell in the No. 16 Cadillac CTS-V, who also improved on his morning time, setting a 1:30.062 (89.458 mph)

Defending SPEED GT Champion Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., placed his No. 1 Cadillac CTS-V in fourth with a 1:30.088 (89.432 mph), followed by the No. 6 Banner Engineering Chevrolet Corvette of Leighton Reese, from Minnetonka, Minn., with a 1:30.184 (89.337 mph).

The entire top five were under the current qualifying lap record at Laguna Seca.

SPEED GT action will resume Saturday, Oct. 21, when the cars hit the track for qualifying at 9:50 a.m. (Pacific). Sunday's race is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m.

To follow all the action, tune into the SCCA Pit Board featuring live notes and Live Timing & Scoring presented by SRT at www.world-challenge.com.

Results from combined practice for Sunday's SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship, part of the Monterey Sports Car Championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, with position, car number in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, fastest lap time, and speed in miles per hour.

1,(12), Max Angelelli, Monte Carlo, Monaco, Cadillac CTS-V, 1:29.064,
90.460.

2,(23), Randy Pobst, Gainesville, Ga., Porsche 911 Cup, 1:29.521,
89.999.

3,(16), Johnny O'Connell, Flowery Branch, Ga., Cadillac CTS-V, 1:30.062,
89.458.

4,(1), Andy Pilgrim, Boca Raton, Fla., Cadillac CTS-V, 1:30.088, 89.432.

5,(6), Leighton Reese, Minnetonka, Minn., Chevrolet Corvette C6,
1:30.184, 89.337.

6,(64), Ricardo Imery(R), Caracas, VN, Porsche 911 GT3, 1:30.215,
89.306.

7,(14), James Sofronas, Newport Beach, Calif., Porsche 911 GT3,
1:30.303, 89.219.

8,(66), Lawson Aschenbach(R), Gaithersburg, Md., Porsche 911 GT3,
1:30.435, 89.089.

9,(44), Johnny Mowlem, Charvil Berkshire, England, Aston Martin DB9,
1:30.757, 88.773.

10,(87), Tomy Drissi, Hollywood, Calif., Chevrolet Corvette C6,
1:30.926, 88.608.

11,(5), Tommy Archer, Duluth, Minn., Dodge SRT Viper, 1:31.007, 88.529.

12,(28), Lou Gigliotti, Dallas, Texas, Chevrolet Corvette C6, 1:31.195,
88.347.

13,(13), Bob Woodhouse, Blair, Neb., Dodge Viper, 1:31.246, 88.297.

14,(82), Mike McCann, N. Canton, Ohio, Dodge Viper, 1:31.375, 88.173.

15,(56), Ritch Marziale, Tempe, Ariz., Dodge Viper Comp Coupe, 1:31.554,
88.000.

16,(31), Sonny Whelen, Old Saybrook, Conn., Chevrolet Corvette C6,
1:32.131, 87.449.

17,(11), Mike Davis, Huntington Beach, Calif., Ford Mustang Cobra,
1:32.270, 87.317.

18,(17), Rob Foster(R), Phoenix, Ariz., Dodge Viper, 1:32.295, 87.294.

19,(43), Tom Papadopoulos, East Hills, N.Y., Aston Martin DB9, 1:32.366,
87.226.

20,(67), Kevin Chambers, Hollister, Calif., Chevrolet Corvette C5,
1:32.588, 87.017.

21,(10), Brandon Davis, Denver, Colo., Ford Mustang Cobra, 1:32.709,
86.904.

22,(77), Brett Pearson(R), Orlando, Fla., Dodge Viper, 1:32.875, 86.748.

23,(25), Brian Kubinski, Plainfield, Ill., Chevrolet Corvette C6,
1:33.178, 86.466.

24,(83), Jim McCann_Jr, Canton, Ohio, Dodge Viper, 1:33.305, 86.349.

25,(40), Greg Weirick(R), Malibu, Calif., Chevrolet Corvette C6,
1:33.534, 86.137.

26,(26), Claudio Burtin, Atlanta, Ga., Chevrolet Corvette C6, 1:33.536,
86.135.

27,(34), Tony Gaples, Libertyville, Ill., Chevrolet Corvette C6,
1:33.583, 86.092.

28,(69), Igor Sushko(R), Kiev UKR,   , Nissan Skyline GT-R, 1:34.144,
85.579.

29,(2), John Boos, Anoka, Minn., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:34.670, 85.104.

30,(57), Stu Frederick, Del Mar, Calif., Dodge Viper GTS, 1:34.845,
84.947.

31,(68), Keith Videtto, San Ramon, Calif., Chevrolet Corvette C5,
1:34.873, 84.922.

32,(51), Joel Feinberg, Hollywood, Fla., , 1:36.100, 83.837.

33,(00), Al Becera(R), San Jose, Calif., Dodge Viper, 1:37.097, 82.976.

34,(24), Michael Galati, Olmsted, Ohio, Volvo S60R, no time.