Theys, Doran Lista Move One Race Closer to Championships
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 18, 2002) -- Grand American Road Racing Association announced the latest point standings for the Rolex Sports Car Series today. Following their victory at last weekend's 6 Heures du Circuit Mont-Tremblant, driver Didier Theys and Doran Lista Racing have moved one race closer to capturing their first-ever Rolex Series championships. Although Theys has led the driver standings all season, recently he has been in a hotly contested battle with rookie Chris Dyson for the lead. However, the win in Mont-Tremblant increased his advantage over Dyson from six points to nine. If Dyson wins the Grand American Finale, Theys must finish at least fourth in class in order to capture his first series championship. Doran Lista Racing held only a two-point lead over Dyson Racing in the team standings prior to last weekend's race, but has increased that lead to five points over the two-time SportsRacing Prototype champions with the win by the #27 Judd-powered Dallara. Scuderia Ferrari of Washington and its drivers, Cort Wagner and Bill Auberlen, increased their lead in the GT class team and driver standings following their fifth-straight GT win. Teammates Wagner and Auberlen are tied on top of the driver standings with 278 points. They increased their leading margin from 15 to 22 points over Kevin Buckler, of The Racer's Group, and need only to finish higher than 18th place in class at the Grand American Finale to secure their championship. Buckler was able to improve his hold on second place in the driver standings following his fourth-place finish in Mont-Tremblant. He previously led Perspective Racing's Joao Barbosa by only one point, but has moved into a five-point lead over the third-place driver. Ferrari of Washington increased its lead in the GT team standings from 12 to 21 points over Perspective Racing, while The Racer's Group inched closer to the second-place position, trailing Perspective Racing by only one point in the latest standings. The race for the American GT team championship got a little closer following the 6 Heures du Circuit Mont-Tremblant. Morgan-Dollar Motorsports maintained its lead in the team standings, however ACP Motorsports cut it from five points to only three. ACP driver Kerry Hitt strengthened his advantage in the driver standings to 27 points over Morgan-Dollar's Andy Richards. After holding a dominating lead in the SportsRacing Prototype II class, Rand Racing opted to skip the Mont-Tremblant race, opening the door for second-place G&W Motorsports, who received first-place points in the absence of any competition at Mont-Tremblant. Rand Racing now leads the SRPII team standings by 21 points, after previously holding a 56-point advantage. Rand driver Terry Borcheller also held his led in the SRPII driver standings, while G&W's Darren Law cut the deficit to 24 points. Law also secured his hold on second place. After previously leading Rand's Anthony Lazzaro by only one point, Law is now in front of the third-place driver by 36. In the manufacturer point standings there was little change. Judd and Dallara continued their strong hold in the SRP engine and chassis standings, while Nissan and Lola remain at the front of the SRPII class. Saleen leads the GTS class, and Corvette is in front of the American GT class. However, the battle for the GT class continues, as Porsche's lead in the class manufacturer standings has been reduced to only four points by second-place Ferrari. If a Ferrari wins the GT class at the Grand American Finale, Porsche must post a second-place finish in order to maintain its lead and win its third-straight GT manufacturer championship. The final race of the 2002 Rolex Sports Car Series season will be the Grand American Finale at Daytona International Speedway, November 8-10. Testing for the Grand American Finale will be held on November 6-7 and will include the first-ever official testing for the Daytona Prototypes, which will become the premier class of the Rolex Sports Car Series in 2003. Tickets are currently on sale for the event and maybe purchased by calling the Speedway ticket office at 386-253-RACE (7223). More information on the Rolex Sports Car Series can be found online at www.grand-am.com. - 30 - EDITORS NOTE: The latest team, driver and manufacturer point standings, as well as photos and results from the 6 Heures du Circuit Mont-Tremblant, are available on the Grand American media-specific website at www.grand-am.com/media. Additional information may be requested from Grand American Road Racing Association Christie Hyde (386) 681-4182; email: CHyde@grand-am.com ********************************************************************************************************* Rolex Sports Car Series Driver Point Standings DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 18, 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 ninth race of the 10-race season. Next Race: Grand-American Finale (Sept. 10) Last Race: 6 Heures du Mont-Tremblant (Sept. 15) SportsRacing Prototype Class Place, Points, Driver (Wins) 1, 292, Didier Theys (4) 2, 283, Chris Dyson (4) 3, 246, James Weaver (3) 4, 158, Fredy Lienhard Jr. (2) 5, 130, Mauro Baldi (2) 6, 112, Rob Dyson (1) 7, 110, Butch Leitzinger (1) 8, 106, John Macaluso 9, 102, Fredy Lienhard (2) 10, 97, Andy Wallace (1) 11T, 88, Jon Field 11T, 88, Buddy Rice 11T, 88, Oliver Kuttner 11T, 80, Patrice Roussel 15, 79, Clint Field 16T, 75, Jack Baldwin 16T, 75, George Robinson 18, 73, E Forbes-Robinson 19, 60, Julian Calvet 20, 56, Joel Field 20T, 56, Rick Sutherland SportsRacing Prototype II Class Place, Points, Driver (Wins) 1, 270, Terry Borcheller (6) 2, 246, Darren Law (1) 3, 210, Anthony Lazzaro (6) 4, 193, Andy Lally (1) 5, 161, Nic Jonsson (1) 6, 137, Ralf Kelleners (3) 7, 131, Marino Franchitti (1) 8, 102, Bill Rand (2) 9, 60, Armando Trentini (1) 10, 35, Jerry Nadeau (1) 11T, 32, Chad Block 11T, 32, Brian DeVries 11T, 32, Mel Hawkins 11T, 32, Steve Knight 15T, 30, Rich Grupp 15T, 30, Ryan Hampton 15T, 30, Dennis Spencer 15T, 30, Waddell, Barry 15T, 30, Sternberg, David 15T, 30, Arsenault, Bret 15T, 30, Peter MacLeod 15T, 30, James Adams III 15T, 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, 60, Jacques Guenette Sr 7T, 60, Jacques Guenette Jr 7T, 60, Hugo Guenette 10T, 49, Bob Smith 10T, 49, Douglas Dwyer 12T, 35, Paul Gentilozzi (1) 12T, 35, Michael Lauer (1) 12T, 35, Scott Pruett (1) 12T, 35, Brian Simo (1) 12T, 35, Lew Bakes (1) 12T, 35, Hill Derek (1) 12T, 35, Keith Fisher (1) 12T, 35, Darius Grala (1) 12T, 35, John Morton (1) 12T, 35, Christine Perot (1) GT Class Place, Points, Driver (Wins) 1T, 278, Bill Auberlen (5) 1T, 278, Cort Wagner (5) 3, 256, Kevin Buckler (2) 4, 251, Joao Barbosa (1) 5, 228, Michael Schrom (2) 6, 211, Cougar Jacobsen 7, 195, Thierry Perrier (1) 8, 187, Paco Orti 9T, 145, BJ Zacharias 9T, 145, Cass Whitehead 11, 143, Cor Euser 12, 127, Spencer Pumpelly 13, 104, Steve Ivankovich 14, 99, Bryan Dobyns 15, 90, Randy Pobst 16, 84, Cory Friedman 17T, 74, Nick Longhi 17T, 74, Michel Neugarten 19, 73, John Morton 20, 70, Carlos deQuesada American GT Class Place, Points, Driver (Wins) 1, 257, Kerry Hitt (1) 2, 230, Andrew Richards 3, 206, Tommy Riggins (1) 4, 187, Rob Morgan (1) 5, 181, David Machavern (1) 6, 176, Stephen Richards 7, 157, Doug Goad (1) 8, 155, Jim Briody (1) 9, 152, Craig Conway (1) 10, 110, Jack Willes 11, 105, Michael Ciasulli (3) 12T, 95, Charles Morgan (1) 12T, 95, Owen Trinkler (1) 14, 84, Steve Lisa 15, 82, Dick Greer 16, 78, Bill Beilharz 17, 70, Paul Menard (2) 18T, 67, Lou Giglotti (1) 18T, 67, Doug Mills (1) 20, 59, Darin Brassfield (1) ********************************************************************************************************* Rolex Sports Car Series Team Point Standings DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 18, 2002) -- The Rolex Sports Car Series awards points to teams based upon each individual car's finish in its respective class. Only members of the Rolex Sports Car Series Team Owners Program are eligible to earn points in the Team Point Standings. The team points reflect the standings after the ninth race of the 10-race season. Next Race: Grand-American Finale (Nov. 10) Last Race: 6 Heures du Mont-Tremblant (Sept. 15) Sports Racing Prototype Pos Points Car# Team (Wins) 1 294 27 Doran Lista Racing (4) 2 289 16 Dyson Racing Team (4) 3 121 20 Dyson Racing Team (1) 4 94 37 Intersport Racing 5 90 6 Miracle Motorsports 6 86 87 Sezio Florida Racing 7 81 74 Robinson Racing 8 52 2 Crawford Racing 9 25 52 Powerslide Motorsports 10 24 95 TRV Motorsports 11 22 06 Jacobs Motorsports 12 0 88 Gunnar Racing Sports Racing Prototype II Pos Points Car# Team 1 270 8 Rand Racing (6) 2 249 70 G&W Motorsports (1) 3 166 7 Rand Racing (2) 4 62 22 Archangel Motorsport 5 30 62 Team Spencer Motorsports 6 28 21 Archangel Motorsport GTS Pos Points Car# Team 1 234 5 Park Place Racing (4) 2 128 42 Team Greeneman 3 88 12 K&N Filters Racing 4 70 72 Jack Lewis Enterprises (2) 5 35 3 Rocketsports Racing (1) 6 35 67 The Racers Group (1) 7 32 65 TMI Racing GT Pos Points Car# Team 1 284 33 Ferrari of Washington (5) 2 263 24 Perspective Racing (1) 3 262 66 The Racer's Group (1) 4 221 03 Marcos 5 170 04 Marcos 6 150 34 ZIP Racing 7 149 26 ACEMCO Motorsports 8 135 54 Bell Motorsports (1) 9 130 9 Marcus Motorsports 10 77 67 The Racer's Group 11 73 75 Classic Motorsports 12 56 35 ZIP Racing 13 30 57 Seikel Motorsport 14 30 15 Fordahl Motorsports 15 24 72 Jack Lewis Enterprises 16 22 39 Autosport Race Team 17 20 18 Boston Motorsports American GT Pos Points Car# Team 1 263 46 Morgan Dollar Motorsports 2 260 19 ACP Motorsports (1) 3 208 48 Heritage Motorsports (1) 4 187 90 Flis Motorsports (3) 5 150 09 Flis Motorsports (1) 6 110 91 Paladin 7 110 82 Dick Greer Racing 8 84 29 Sky Blue Racing (1) 9 67 25 LG Motorsports (1) 10 63 47 Morgan Dollar Motorsports (1) 11 25 55 Dewey Motorsports