AASCO Porsche Leaves Daytona Testing With Top Speed

AASCO Porsche Leaves Daytona Testing With Top Speed 
  
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., January 4, 2003 - After setting the top speed in
the new SGS class for the first two days of open testing for the 42nd
Annual Rolex 24 of Daytona (International Speedway), AASCO Motorsports
has chosen to forego the final day of testing and return its three
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars to the team's Anaheim, Calif. race shop. The
No.16 entry of Long Beach, California's Craig Stanton and Cumming,
Georgia's David Murry upped the ante in their quest to be the top SGS
entry in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series with a time of one
minute, 57.074 seconds (109.469 mph). The time, the fastest of the
weekend to date, betters the previous best mark of the class, also set
by the No. 16 in Saturday's testing at the 3.56 mile road course, of
1:57.217. Saturday's time was set by Murry, today's quick lap by
Stanton, demonstrating the strong partnership of the driving duo. The
No.17 car of Joe Kunz and Mark Webber set the second fastest time of the
morning's session with a time of 1:59.154 and was then parked for the
remainder of the day. The No.96, a 2003 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, of Gary
Becker, Derek Clark and Pat Flanagan ran in both sessions of the day
rotating Becker, Clark, Flanagan, Kunz and Webber on its way to a time
of 2:06.542. Feeling that the team had exceeded its goals for the
weekend, Dennis Aase, team owner and manager, made the call to skip the
final day of testing and return home to focus on preparations for the
Rolex 24 which kicks off the 2004 Grand American Rolex Series' season on
January 31. 
 
Dennis Aase, team owner/team manager: "The kind of good luck we've had
here might be the kiss of death. Everything from tech inspection on the
first day to the last session we ran has gone to plan, or even better
than we had planned. It's a credit to everyone involved with this team
that we are so well prepared and are leaving here with the fastest car
for the weekend. I can't wait to get back here for the race."
 
Craig Stanton, No. 16: "I feel very optimistic. There are a lot of good
teams out there and I think it will come down to the last hour. The team
that shows up for that last hour with everything in place will be the
winner. I'm not saying we will be that team but I am saying I have never
been in a better position to be that team here at the Rolex. We have a
great head start on coming back here at the end of the month and doing
well. Everyone is working perfectly together and the Porsches are
performing like you know a Porsche is going to perform: flawlessly. I
really have to thank AASCO Motorsports and Porsche for putting me in the
best position of my career to win the Rolex 24."
 
Mark Webber, No. 17: "I'm honored to be associated with this group of
people. I can't believe how fun racing can be when you are with the
right people. The fact that we're leaving Sunday afternoon says
everything about this team and what Dennis (Aase) has assembled here. I
have never driven such a well prepared car. I want to thank AASCO
Motorsports and Porsche for building such a great car!"