Law, Hamblin Capture Poles for Twin 250s

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 21, 2002) -- Darren Law and Jim Hamblin will start their race cars from the pole position in Saturday's Grand-Am Cup Twin 250s at the Sports Car Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International. Law will lead the field in the Grand Sport race in the G&W Motorsports #01 Porsche GT3 Cup, and Hamblin will be in front of the Sport Touring field in the Team Spartanburg #72 BMW Z3. 

Law broke The Glen's Grand Sport I record en route to the pole with a blistering 2:03.187 lap time at 99.361 mph in the Porsche. He bested Scott Maxwell in the Doncaster Racing #76 Porsche, who clocked a 2:03.535 lap to earn a spot beside Law on the front row. 

Howie Liebengood was awarded the top spot in the Grand Sport II class after Grand American officials announced that the Istook/Aines Motorsports Group #04 Audi S4 would be forced to start from the back of the field due to a technical infraction found in the post-qualifying inspection. Alejandro Lince had recorded the quickest lap in the class during qualifying, but will have to start from the rear due to an improper fuel cell size in the Audi. 

Powell Motorsports will also be starting from back of the pack for the same technical infraction. The current GS I points leader originally had qualified for a spot on the second row.

Hamblin's 2:14.933 lap at 90.712 mph put him in the pole position for the Sport Touring race, which will see two BMWs on the front row. Beau Buisson will start the Villaconn International #34 BMW beside Hamblin in the first of the Twin 250s. Buisson, who won the Sport Touring race in Phoenix, recorded a 2:15.085 qualifying time. 

Sport Touring II points leader Bill Fenton posted the fastest qualifying time in his class with his 2:22.185 lap at 86.085 mph. Fenton will lead the ST II field to the green flag in the #27 Acura Integra LS of Bill Fenton Motorsports. Wayne Nonnamaker clocked the second-fastest qualifying time in the class in the HRPworld.com #41 Acura Integra LS with his 2:23.308 lap. 

Grand-Am Cup will run its final practice session on Saturday morning, with the Sport Touring cars taking to the track at 10:10 a.m., followed by the Grand Sport field at 10:40 a.m. The first of the Twin 250s will feature the Sport Touring cars and begin at 2:15 p.m., and will be immediately followed by the Grand Sport race slated to start at 5:45 p.m. 

Tickets for the 2002 Watkins Glen season, including the Sports Car Grand Prix weekend, are now on sale.  For tickets, reserved camping, and additional information, please contact The Glen ticket office at 607-535-2481 or log on to the official Watkins Glen website at www.theglen.com.