GRAND AM: American Sports Car Racing Heads to Northeast
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
May 2, 2001
Rolex Series to Run Six Hours at The Glen, Lime Rock Grand Prix
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series will travel to the Northeast in May for back-to-back races at Watkins Glen International and Lime Rock Park. The sports car racing excitement will kick off with the Six Hours at The Glen, May 18-20, and then continue a Memorial Day tradition with the Lime Rock Grand Prix, May 24-28.
After starting the season with the most famous North American endurance race, the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the Rolex Series will return to the endurance-racing format for the Six Hours at The Glen. The nation's top sports car teams will travel to Northeast in hopes of a victory at the race that is quickly becoming one of the crown jewels in North American road racing. Adding a new twist to this year's race, the green flag will fall at 2:30 p.m. at Watkins Glen International, running the race through sunset into twilight for the first time in history.
The Rolex Sports Car Series will also add a unique twist to the traditional Memorial Day racing at Lime Rock Park. The series' GT-class cars, consisting of familiar names like Corvette, Porsche and BMW, as well as unique production race cars like Saleen and Mosler, will compete in a 125-mile sprint to the checkered flag on Saturday, May 26. Then after taking the traditional Sunday off, the exotic SportsRacing Prototypes will take to the track in a new twin-sprint format on Monday afternoon.
Highlighting the field of drivers at both the Six Hours at The Glen and Lime Rock Grand Prix will be several drivers from the Northeast. Butch Leitzinger, of State College, Pa., will compete as the defending champion of both races in the Dyson Racing Team #16 Ford Riley & Scott. Team owner Rob Dyson, of Pleasant Valley, N.Y., will also take a stint in one of his own prototypes at the races.
The SportsRacing Prototype II class will be full of local talent at Watkins Glen and Lime Rock. Current points-leader Archangel Motorsport Services will have Mike Durand (Boston, Mass.) and George Forgeois (New York, N.Y.) in their #22 Nissan Lola, while Paul Macey (Oakville, Ontario) and Andy Lally (Northpoint, N.Y.) pilot the #21 Nissan. Porschehaus Racing will travel south of the border with Robert Julien (Toronto, Ontario) and Bruno St. Jacques (Montreal, Quebec) in their #89 Nissan.
Several area drivers will hop into a GT-class car for both weekends of racing. Team owner and driver Andy Hajducky (Andover, Mass.) will compete in the #50 Porsche GT3 R, while a pair of Connecticut residents, Adam Merzon (Greenwich, Conn.) and Lynn Wilson (Westport, Conn.), will slide into the #61 Porsche GT3 RS. Also in a Porsche will be Rick Dilorio (Harvard, Mass.) in the #34, Gian Luigi Buitoni (Purchase, N.Y.) in the #43, and Michael Schrom (Ghent, N.Y.) in the #80.
Drivers and teams will be making several media appearance while in the Northeast for the back-to-back races, beginning with the 'Three Hours of Go-Karting' race in Horseheads, N.Y., as a precursor to the Six Hours at The Glen. The recreational race for the public will pit Rolex Series drivers and officials against local teams in a three-hour go-kart race. Several drivers will also participate in a Media Day at Lime Rock Park on Tuesday, May 22. With the Rolex Series running back-to-back races in close proximity to each other, several of the drivers and teams will be remaining in the area between races and will be available for interviews and photos.
Text provided by Christie Hyde
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