Petersen/ White Lightning takes third in "Bullring Qualifying" at Infineon

Petersen/ White Lightning Takes Third in "Bullring Qualifying" at
Infineon

 

SONOMA, Calif., July 17, 2004 - Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning
Racing qualified third in GT class for tomorrow's Infineon Grand Prix of
Sonoma here at Infineon Raceway. The No. 31 Westward Ho Casino/ MMPIE/
PAWS/ Michelin Porsche 911 GT3 RSR was part of a unique, single-car
qualifying format being tested by the American Le Mans Series (ALMS)
this weekend. Craig Stanton, Long Beach, Calif., ran a phenomenal lap,
turning in a time of 1 minute, 34.710 seconds (96.17 mph) grabbing the
attention of the paddock. The Michael Petersen-owned Porsche had
suffered through a difficult test day on Friday and two morning sessions
today searching for the right combination for qualifying and the race.
However, the Las Vegas-based race team continued to fine-tune their
machine finding the quick setup just before the timed runs. They then
turned the car over to Stanton's skillful hands to put it into the show.


 

In what Stanton aptly called "bullring-style qualifying", each car was
given two laps at speed alone to mark its best time. The procedure
changed from the more traditional qualifying format where all cars
within the production-based GT and GTS classes ran as many laps as they
like within a 20-minute timed session. The new format called for one
'out' lap and one 'in' lap bracketing the timed laps. Stanton was the
first in the third group of cars to hit the track and immediately began
to push the car as soon as he pulled from the pit lane. His efforts to
get the Michelin tires up to temperature quickly paid off as the
California-native put up the fastest time to that point on his first
'hot' lap. His second lap dropped slightly to a 1:35.043. His first lap
time was good enough to hold third-place behind two other Porsche 911s
on Michelin tires.

 

Stanton will be joined by David Murry, Cumming, Ga., in tomorrow's two
hour, 45-minute race. Stanton will start the 24 Hours of Le Mans GT
class winning car, before turning the wheel over to Murry who will run
the second and final stint of the race. The event airs live on CBS
starting at 3 pm (EDT).

 


Mike Petersen, team owner/ driver: "After I missed Lime Rock Park, which
was a very bad race for us, it's very nice to return to Infineon and to
qualify in the third position. We beat a lot of teams that this is their
home-track, which makes us feel good. However, ultimately, we weren't in
P1. I think we have a good race car for the race. We are looking forward
to the race. The new qualifying format was exciting. There was
definitely no traffic to hold anyone up so no one can use any excuses.
We aren't dissatisfied with third place but we are ultimately here to be
in P1 all the time. It isn't a celebration for us until the checkered
flag falls and we are in P1. It is definitely a step forward. When we
first arrived here this weekend we were a little off on the setup and
with limited track time we have come a long way."

 

Craig Stanton: "Today was a good day for Petersen/ White Lightning. It
was a group effort here once again. These guys have been working really
hard. They really deserve all this. I am just the funny guy that gets in
and drives around in the car. I do like this format. It reminds me of
short-track racing on a Saturday night. I have some experience in that
so anything like this is right up our alley. The Michelins did a great
job. We pressured [inflated correctly] them for the second lap and they
came in right when we wanted them to. I was playing around with the
traction control a little. It was good to have that. I came out of
[turn] 11 one time a little too early and I came right up to the wall.
And it was nice that I could mat it [the throttle] and let the computer
take over. I'm really blessed that Porsche has come up with a nice
system like this. I looked around and, man, there are a lot of fans
here. We have Earnhardt Jr. here and that really draws a crowd. So I am
really excited about the race tomorrow."