Tightest Points Race In Rolex Series History
Tightest Points Race In Series History Championships Up For Grabs With Only Two Races Left DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 4, 2002) -- Grand American Road Racing Association released the latest official point standings for the Rolex Sports Car Series today, revealing several close battles for the series championships. With only two races left in the 2003 season - 6 Heures du Mont-Tremblant and Grand American Finale in Daytona - it is the tightest points race in series history. The #16 entry of the Dyson Racing Team picked up its fourth victory of the season at last weekend's VIR 500, moving the team and driver Chris Dyson closer to the points leaders, Doran Lista Racing and driver Didier Theys. Rookie driver Dyson picked up three points on the veteran Theys, who finished second in last weekend's race. Theys holds the lead with 257 points, while Dyson sits only six points back with 251. Doran Lista also maintained its lead in the SportsRacing Prototype team standings with 259 points, however Dyson Racing moved within two points of the leader with 257. Terry Borcheller and his Rand Racing #8 Nissan Lola continue to dominate the SportsRacing Prototype II standings, however the battle for second place in the driver standings is quickly heating up. The early exit of Darren Law in the G&W Motorsports #70 car at the VIR 500 left the door open for Borcheller's teammate, Anthony Lazzaro, to advance to within one point of Law in the latest standings. The G&W driver holds onto second place with 211 points, while Lazzaro is in third with 210. Scuderia Ferrari of Washington and its drivers can breath a little easier after their fourth-straight GT victory of the season last weekend. The current GT leaders gained ground on their rivals in the standings, but will still have a battle on their hands in the final two races of the season. Ferrari drivers Cort Wagner and Bill Auberlen lead the GT class with 243 points. The Racer's Group's Kevin Buckler sits in third place with 228 points, while Perspective Motorsports driver Joao Barbosa is a close fourth with 227 points. The GT team standings are slightly different. While the Scuderia Ferrari of Washington #33 Ferrari leads the class with 249 points, it is the Perspective Racing #24 Mosler MT900 R in second place with 237 points and The Racer's Group #66 Porsche GT3 R five points back in third place with 232. ACP Motorsports improved its position in the point standings following the team's victory at the VIR 500. Driver Kerry Hitt strengthened his lead in the driver standings an additional five points over Morgan Dollar Motorsports' Andy Richards. Hitt now has 225 points to Richards' 200 points. In the AGT team standings, Morgan Dollar's #46 Corvette was able to keep its lead. However, the victory by the ACP Motorsports #19 Corvette cut the leader's advantage from 10 points to only five. There was little change in the manufacturer standings. Judd and Dallara remain in front of the SRP engine and chassis manufacturers standings, while Nissan and Lola continue their dominating performance in the SRPII class. Porsche's lead in the GT class was reduced by three points following the Ferrari victory. The Italian prancing horse now trails the German car builder by 12 points, and the American Mosler is in third, 23 points behind the leader. Chevy's reign over the American GT class grew stronger as it now leads Ford by 46 points. The next round of racing in the quest for the championships will carry the Rolex Series north of the border to Quebec, Canada for the 6 Heures du Mont-Tremblant next week, September 13-15. With the points races so close it should make for plenty of exciting racing on the historic road course. Tickets are currently on sale for the event and may be purchased online at www.lecircuit.com. More information on the Rolex Sports Car Series can be found online at www.grand-am.com. Rolex Sports Car Series Driver Point Standings DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 4, 2002) -- The Rolex Sports Car Series awards points to drivers based upon their finish in their respective class. Although drivers may race in more than one class during a race, they are only awarded points in the first car they drive. Only drivers holding valid Grand American Road Racing Association memberships are awarded points. The driver points reflect the top-20 drivers in each class after the eighth race of the 10-race season. Next Race: 6 Heures du Mont-Tremblant (Sept. 15) Last Race: VIR 500, VIRginia International Raceway (Sept. 1) SportsRacing Prototype Class Place Points Driver (wins) 1 257 Didier Theys (3) 2 251 Chris Dyson (4) 3 214 James Weaver (3) 4 130 Mauro Baldi (2) 5 123 Fredy Lienhard Jr (1) 6 112 Rob Dyson (1) 7 110 Butch Leitzinger (1) 8 106 John Macaluso 9T 88 Jon Field 9T 88 Buddy Rice 11 80 Patrice Roussel 12 79 Clint Field 13T 75 Jack Baldwin 13T 75 George Robinson 15 73 Elliott Forbes-Robinson 16 67 Fredy Lienhard (1) 17 65 Andy Wallace (1) 18 58 Oliver Kuttner 19T 56 Joel Field 19T 56 Rick Sutherland SportsRacing Prototype II Class Place Points Driver (wins) 1 270 Terry Borcheller (6) 2 211 Darren Law 3 210 Anthony Lazzaro (6) 4 161 Nic Jonsson (1) 5 158 Andy Lally 6 137 Ralf Kelleners (4) 7 131 Marino Franchitti (1) 8 102 Bill Rand (2) 9 35 Jerry Nadeau (1) 10T 32 Chad Block 10T 32 Brian DeVries 10T 32 Mel Hawkins 10T 32 Steve Knight 14T 30 Rich Grupp 14T 30 Ryan Hampton 14T 30 Dennis Spencer 14T 30 Barry Waddell 14T 30 David Sternberg 14T 30 Bret Arsenault 14T 30 Peter MacLeod 14T 30 Elliott Forbes-Robinson 14T 30 James Adams III 14T 30 Joe Blacker GTS Class Place Points Driver (wins) 1 224 Chris Bingham (4) 2 176 Rodney Mall (1) 3T 124 Tommy Byrne 3T 124 Richard Millman 5 70 Jack Lewis (2) 6 65 Franz Konrad (1) 7T 49 Bob Smith 7T 49 Douglas Dwyer 9T 35 Paul Gentilozzi (1) 9T 35 Michael Lauer (1) 9T 35 Scott Pruett (1) 9T 35 Brian Simo (1) 9T 35 Lew Bakes (1) 9T 35 Derek Hill (1) 9T 35 Keith Fisher (1) 9T 35 Darius Grala (1) 17T 32 Adam Merzon 17T 32 Tom Soriano 17T 32 Lynn Wilson 17T 32 Brent Gates 17T 32 Mark Swain GT Class Place Points Driver (wins) 1T 243 Bill Auberlen (4) 1T 243 Cort Wagner (4) 3 228 Kevin Buckler (2) 4 227 Joao Barbosa (1) 5 200 Michael Schrom (2) 6 195 Thierry Perrier (1) 7 185 Cougar Jacobsen 8 162 Paco Orti 9 143 Cor Euser 10 127 Spencer Pumpelly 11T 113 BJ Zacharias 11T 113 Cass Whitehead 13 104 Steve Ivankovich 14 99 Bryan Dobyns 15 90 Randy Pobst 16 84 Cory Friedman 17 73 John Morton 18 70 Carlos deQuesada 19 68 Jay Policastro 20 67 David Murry American GT Class Place Points Driver (wins) 1 225 Kerry Hitt (1) 2 200 Andrew Richards 3 178 Tommy Riggins (1) 4T 157 Doug Goad (1) 4T 157 Rob Morgan (1) 6 155 Jim Briody (1) 7 153 David Machavern (1) 8 152 Craig Conway (1) 9 146 Stephen Richards 10 110 Jack Willes 11 105 Michael Ciasulli (3) 12 95 Charles Morgan 13 84 Steve Lisa 14 82 Dick Greer 15 78 Bill Beilharz 16 70 Paul Menard (2) 17 67 Lou Giglotti (1) 18 63 Owen Trinkler (1) 19 53 Tony Puleo 20T 47 Joe Nonnamaker 20T 47 Mandy Gonzalez