Rocketsports Notes and Quotes after Second-Round Practice at Puerto Rico
ROCKETSPORTS RACING SCOTT PRUETT DRIVER NOTES AND QUOTES MOTOROCK TRANS-AM TOUR FOR THE BFGOODRICH TIRES CUP FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24TH POST-AFTERNOON PRACTICE SCOTT PRUETT, DRIVER OF THE NO. 7 MOTOROCK/JAGUAR R PERFORMANCE XKR, DID NOT GO OUT IN THE AFTERNOON PRACTICE SESSIONŠA PLANNED ENGINE CHANGE AND A 10-MINUTE GREEN FLAG PENALTY FOLLOWING THE MORNING PRACTICE SESSION NEGATED ANY TIME ON THE TRACK IN THIS SESSION. NOTE 1 BACKGROUND STATSŠClinched his third Trans-Am Drivers¹ Championship with his win in MiamiŠIn 2003, has eight wins (St. Petersburg, Mosport, Infineon Raceway, Cleveland, Trois-Rivieres, Road America, Denver, and Miami) in ten startsŠStarted on the pole eight timesŠIn August, raced in the Winston Cup event at Watkins Glen, scoring a career-best second placeŠIn June, competed in the Winston Cup race at Infineon Raceway finishing 24th due to contact while running sixthŠTwo previous Trans-Am Drivers¹ Championships in 1987 and 1994ŠIn 2002, did not compete in the Trans-Am TourŠCompeted in Winston Cup Series in 2000Š Competed several seasons in CART Champ Car Series, scoring two winsŠHas two IMSA GTO Drivers¹ Championships (1986, 1988). NOTE 2 Pruett will race the new Jaguar AJ-V8 four-valve, overhead-cam, fuel-injected engine. Previously, the AJ-V8 debuted in a press event in September and during a practice session during the Motorock Miami 100 race in a Jaguar XKR driven by three-time Trans-Am champion Paul Gentilozzi. This will mark the first time it will compete during in race competition. On the engine changeŠ ³We had planned to change the engine anyway after the afternoon practice session. But we found a crack in the oil pan after the morning practice so we decided to do it now. I¹m a realist; I¹ve been involved with enough development programs to know that you can plan for every detail and still little things will happen. So it was unfortunate we had to change it now, but it¹s a new engine; it¹s the future of Trans-Am and we want to do things right. On the 10-minute green flag penaltyŠ ³It was totally inadvertent. After the red flag, one of the Bosch guys downloaded data. For him, it was a totally normal thing to do because that¹s the way other series do it. But it¹s not here, so we made a mistake. Did it cost us? Yes, it¹s the first time here and we¹re learning the track. Can we recover from it? Absolutely. I¹ve got total confidence in the team and the car. Being part of a team, we can look at the data from the other cars and adapt it based on our motor. We¹ll be fine. On how it will affect his qualifying session to miss an entire sessionŠ ³Not at all. We¹re here to go racing. We¹re not here to put on a demonstration lap. We¹ll fight for the pole and then we¹ll fight for the win. ROCKETSPORTS RACING WALLY CASTRO DRIVER NOTES AND QUOTES MOTOROCK TRANS-AM TOUR FOR THE BFGOODRICH TIRES CUP FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24TH POST-AFTERNOON PRACTICE WALLY CASTRO, DRIVER OF THE NO. 3 PUERTO RICO LOTTERY JAGUAR XKR, WAS THIRD QUICKEST IN THIS AFTERNOON¹S PRACTICE WITH A TIME OF 1:07:360. NOTE 1 This is Castro¹s second career Trans-Am startŠHis previous start was in 1996 at St. Petersburg in 1996 where he qualified 10th and was running fifth when a broken axle relegated him to a 10th place finish. NOTE 2 BACKGROUND STATSŠIn 2003, leads the Puerto Rico National Championship GTS class point standings with four wins and one second-place finish, with one race remainingŠset pole position records at Salinas Speedway and Ponce Race Track. On his afternoon sessionŠ ³We¹ve learned a lot more. The gearing is not quite perfect yet, almost, but not quite. I¹m learning a lot more about the tires, too. We had new tires and they really hooked up. The brakes were really good, too. ³The car¹s ready to racing right now if we needed to. But I¹d still like to find another half a second. Tomorrow for qualifying, I plan to be conservative. I¹m going to go for a top-five spot. CONTACT: Harry Warren, 517-281-5053 (cell)