Rookie Diaz Dominated Wet Third-Round Practice
May 24, 2003
ROOKIE DIAZ DOMINATES WET THIRD-ROUND PRACTICE
LAKEVILLE, Conn. ‹ Trans-Am Series for the BFGoodrich® Tires Cup rookie
championship leader Jorge Diaz dominated damp third-round practice Saturday
at Lime Rock Park. Diaz, driver of the No. 8 Puerto Rico Grand Prix Jaguar
XKR, recorded a 55.375-second lap around the 1.53-mile, eight-turn road
course at an average speed of 99.467 miles per hour.
Diaz switched to dry tires halfway through the session, resulting in the
quick effort, his first this season.
³We were really tuning the car to make it turn better,² said the affable
driver from Puerto Rico. ³I think we have the car to where it won¹t burn up
the front tires. The track got better as we ran. It began to dry late in the
session. There was one section where it was a little oily, but overall it
was a good session.²
Diaz hopes his quick time will translate into a good qualifying effort later
today.
³We¹ve always been a little conservative,² said Diaz. ³We¹re now mixing with
the top 10, so we¹re going to try to go faster right from the beginning.²
Stu Hayner (No. Trenton Forging/GMAC Commercial Finance Chevrolet Corvette)
was second fastest, ahead of Brian Simo (No. 3 Jaguar R Performance XKR),
Scott Pruett (No. 7 Jaguar R Performance XKR) and Tomy Drissi (No. 5 League
of Extraordinary Gentlemen Jaguar XKR).
Qualifying for Monday¹s Trans-Am 100, part of the Mohegan Sun Presents the
Lime Rock Park Grand Prix, is scheduled for 4 p.m. today. The Trans-Am 100
is scheduled for Monday, May 26, at 2 p.m.
Lap by Lap Notes:
Conditions: 58 degrees, light drizzle, track is wet
11:15 a.m. GREEN FLAG
Lap 2 Randy Ruhlman (No. 49 Chevrolet Corvette) spins in turn three,
stops on track
Lap 3 RED FLAG, all cars brought onto pit lane. Ruhlman re-fires and
continues
11:23 GREEN FLAG, Restart
Lap 4 Ruhlman stalls on pit road
Lap 5 Peter Rogal (No. 36 Jaguar XKR) spins drivers right in turn three
Lap 6 Top five: Stu Hayner (No. 2 Chevrolet Corvette, Bobby Sak (No. 10
Chevrolet Corvette), Tomy Drissi (No. 5 Jaguar XKR), Jorge Diaz, Jr.
(No. 8 Jaguar XKR), Brian Simo (No. 3 Jaguar XKR)
Lap 9 Hayner sets fast time (1:02.074, 88.733 mph). Rogal reported to
have no brake lights
Lap 11 Simo fastest (1:00.485, 91.064)
Lap 13 Garrett Kletjian (No. 20 Chevrolet Corvette) goes into the runoff
area in turn one, continues. Scott Pruett (No. 7 Jaguar XKR) sets fast
time (58.338, 94.415)
Lap 14 Ruhlman back on track, reports clutch problem. Pruett faster again
(58.175, 94.680)
Lap 15 Paul Newman (No. 78 Chevrolet Corvette) behind the wall
Lap 16 Ruhlman retires from session with clutch failure
Lap 19 Hayner fast (57.842, 95.225)
Lap 20 Oil reported on track by John Baucom (No. 86 Jaguar XKR car).
Rogal goes behind the wall
Lap 22 Top five: Hayner, Simo, Pruett, Drissi, Sak
Lap 23 Diaz fastest (56.169, 98.061)
Lap 25 Diaz sets fast time for session (55.375, 99.467)
Lap 26 Hayner stops on course, drivers¹ right
11:50 CHECKERED FLAG
Notebook:
* The two groups for this afternoon¹s qualifying session will be set by the
two practices held yesterday. The practice session held today will not count
toward qualifying.
* Wet conditions at Lime Rock Park have forced the Trans-Am Series teams to
use BFGoodrich® Tires¹ full-wet compound g-Force T/A® tires during
third-round practice. Gary Blalock, Tire Engineer for BFGoodrich® Tires said
the company¹s wet tires are completely different from its dry compound.
³The teams need to allow the cars to roll as much as possible and
maximize the weight transfer,² said Blalock.
³The wet setup is totally different than a dry one. Our wet tire is
quite a bit different than our dry tire. Aside
from being treaded, it has a silica mix, which means it is a true
wet compound. It¹s robust enough to hold up on
a drying track for a few laps, but you want to get them off pretty
quick if it does dry up. Our wet tire has a
lower spring rate than our dry tire to help that weight transfer.
I¹ve maintained the diameter to be exactly the
same as the dry tire so that the ride height and therefore the aero
doesn¹t change.
³It¹s a totally different tire,² he added. ³We recommend four or
five psi higher than your cold, starting pressure
in the dries. They will maintain ride height that way and will
maintain better mechanical grip because of the
more compliant casing.
Ultimately, however, Blalock is pleased with the results thus far.
³People are going pretty fast on the wet tires here,² said Blalock.
³They were running around 58 seconds
yesterday in the wet. We had people down in the 51-second range
yesterday in the dry. A seven-second
differential from wet to dry is really good. The conventional delta
you see between a good wet performance
and a good dry performance is about 10 seconds a lap. That was my
target, so I¹m happy.²
