Rain or Shine, Henzler and Stretch Fastest In Mid-Ohio SPEED WC Practice
For Immediate Release RAIN OR SHINE, HENZLER AND STRETCH TOPS IN SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE PRACTICE AT MID-OHIO LEXINGTON, Ohio (May 20, 2005) - Germany's Wolf Henzler and Dallas' Bob Stretch topped practice in both the wet morning session and the dry afternoon sessions for this weekend's SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT and Touring Car races, presented by Trenton Forging Quality Formed Solutions at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Like the damp morning session, Henzler used all of the 20-minute afternoon practice session to get to the top of SPEED GT, turning a lap of 1:28.379 (91.977 mph) in his No. 55 Applied Materials/Farnbacher Loles Porsche 911 Cup during the closing moments to eclipse Lou Gigliotti. This marks the fifth time in six appearances that Henzler has topped SPEED GT practice since his series debut in 2004. Gigliotti led most of the session in his No. 28 LG Pro Long Tube Header Chevrolet Corvette C6 with a fastest time of 1:28.761 (91.581 mph), just 0.045sec. quicker than Leighton Reece's similar car from the Banner Engineering stable. Max Papis, the series' most recent winner at Road Atlanta in April, and John Heinricy completed the top five in their XM/Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose/On Star Team Cadillac CTS-Vs. In SPEED Touring Car, Stretch led both the wet and dry sessions in his No. 98 Wheel's America/OKell's Fireplace BMW 325Ci, turning a fast lap of 1:34.599 (85.177 mph) around the 2.258-mile circuit. The only other driver to break into the 1:34 range was Jeff Altenburg, who ran a best lap of 1:34.966 (85.597 mph) in his Mazdaspeed/Tri-Point Motorsports Mazda 6. Pierre Kleinubing, the most recent race winner at Road Atlanta, was third quickest in his A-SPEC/RealTime Racing Acura TSX with a 1:35.002, followed by the Mazda 6 of Randy Pobst and the BMW of Matt Richmond. Qualifying for this weekend's races is scheduled for Saturday morning at 8:40 a.m. (EDT) for SPEED Touring Car, followed by SPEED GT. Live Timing & Scoring can be accessed at www.world-challenge.com <http://www.world-challenge.com/> . Round Four of the SPEED GT Championship will take its standing start at 5:35 p.m. (EDT) Saturday, with the SPEED Touring Cars racing Sunday morning at 9:20 a.m. Both races will air on SPEED Channel Saturday, May 28 beginning at 3:00 p.m. (EDT) -30- LEXINGTON, Ohio - Combined practice results for Saturday's SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Round Four race presented by Trenton Forging Quality Formed Solutions at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with position, car number in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, fastest lap time, and speed in miles per hour. 1, (55), Wolf Henzler, Nürtingen, Germany, Porsche 911 Cup, 1:28.379, 91.976. 2, (28), Lou Gigliotti, Dallas, Texas, Corvette C6, 1:28.761, 91.580. 3, (6), Leighton Reese, Minnetonka, Minn., Corvette C6, 1:28.806, 91.534. 4, (16), Max Papis, Miami, Fla., Cadillac CTS-V, 1:28.898, 91.439. 5, (12), John Heinricy, Holly, Mich., Cadillac CTS-V, 1:28.930, 91.406. 6, (8), Andy Pilgrim, Del Ray Beach, Fla., Cadillac CTS-V, 1:28.931, 91.405. 7, (66), Robin Liddell, Edinburgh, Scotland, Porsche 911 Cup, 1:29.499, 90.825. 8, (34), Tony Gaples, Libertyville, Ill., Corvette C6, 1:29.546, 90.778. 9, (1), Tommy Archer, Duluth, Minn., Dodge Viper, 1:30.013, 90.307. 10, (82), Mike McCann, N. Canton, Ohio, Dodge Viper, 1:30.029, 90.291. 11, (99), Tom Oates, Chester Springs, Pa., Corvette Z06, 1:30.309, 90.011. 12, (13), Bob Woodhouse, Blair, Neb., Dodge Viper, 1:30.379, 89.941. 13, (83), Jim McCann, N. Canton, Ohio, Dodge Viper, 1:30.381, 89.939. 14, (2), Phil McClure, Floris, Iowa, Dodge Viper, 1:30.669, 89.653. 15, (5), Stu Hayner, Yorba Linda, Calif., Pontiac GTO, 1:30.687, 89.635. 16, (42), Mark LoPilato(R), Granbury, Texas, Porsche 911 T, 1:30.875, 89.450. 17, (24), Derek Bell, Boca Raton, Fla., Volvo S60 R, 1:31.017, 89.310. 18, (3), Tim Wiens, Westminster, Colo., Dodge Viper, 1:31.062, 89.266. 19, (31), Sonny Whelen(R), Old Saybrook, Conn., Corvette Z06, 1:31.356, 88.979. 20, (56), Rich Marziale, Tempe, Ariz., Dodge Viper, 1:31.527, 88.813. 21, (65), Jon Groom, Boonton, N.J., Porsche 911 Cup, 1:31.612, 88.730. 22, (9), Adam Malmquist(R), Chicago, Ill., Corvette Z006, 1:32.361, 88.011. 23, (76), John Bourassa, Jupiter Island, Fla., Porsche 911 T, 1:32.928, 87.474. 24, (26), Jameson Riley(R), Wilton, Conn., Volvo S60 R, 1:33.936, 86.535. 25, (10), Carol Hollfleder, Covina, Calif., Ford Mustang, 1:35.101, 85.475. 26, (47), Bob Taylor, Parker, Colo., Corvette Z06, 1:35.648, 84.986. 27, (88), Peter Tonelli, Shrewsbury, Mass., Dodge Viper, no time. LEXINGTON, Ohio - Combined practice results for Sunday's SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Round Four race presented by Trenton Forging Quality Formed Solutions at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with position, car number in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, fastest lap time, and speed in miles per hour. 1, (98), Bob Stretch, Dallas, Texas, BMW 325Ci, 1:34.599, 85.929. 2, (72), Jeff Altenburg, Ellicott City, Md., Mazda 6, 1:34.966, 85.597. 3, (43), Pierre Kleinubing, Coconut Creek, Fla., Acura TSX, 1:35.002, 85.564. 4, (73), Randy Pobst, Gainesville, Ga., Mazda 6, 1:35.039, 85.531. 5, (37), Matt Richmond, Mooresville, N.C., BMW 325i, 1:35.487, 85.130. 6, (24), Jim Osborn, Ooltewah, Tenn., BMW 325Ci, 1:35.554, 85.070. 7, (48), Chip Herr, Lititz, Pa., Ford Focus, 1:35.764, 84.883. 8, (44), Brandon Davis(R), Huntington Bch, Calif., Acura TSX, 1:35.821, 84.833. 9, (36), James Clay, Blacksburg, Va., BMW 325i, 1:35.969, 84.702. 10, (74), Dino Crescentini, Malibu, Calif., Mazda 6, 1:36.056, 84.625. 11, (34), Nick Esayian, Encinitas, Calif., Acura RSX, 1:36.126, 84.564. 12, (19), Rick Maki, Los Angeles, Calif., Audi A4, 1:36.180, 84.516. 13, (38), Seth Thomas, Cumming, Ga., BMW 325i, 1:36.193, 84.505. 14, (97), Charles Espenlaub, Lutz, Fla., Mazda 6, 1:36.235, 84.468. 15, (18), Freddy Baker, Bedford, Ohio, Audi A4, 1:36.884, 83.902. 16, (6), Scott Bradley, San Jose, Calif., Mazda 6, 1:36.922, 83.869. 17, (10), Ryan Pilla(R), Amagansett, N.Y., Mazda Protégé ES, 1:37.108, 83.708. 18, (68), Leo Capaldi, Lenox Twp, Mich., Ford Focus, 1:37.252, 83.585. 19, (22), Hugh Stewart, Massapequa, N.Y., Dodge SRT-4, 1:37.983, 82.961. 20, (83), Karl Poeltl(R), Knoxville, Tenn., BMW 325i, 1:38.100, 82.862. 21, (99), Kevin McKee, San Francisco, Calif., BMW 325i, 1:38.421, 82.592. 22, (96), Charlie Putman(R), Mills, Wyo., Mazda Protege, 1:38.451, 82.567. 23, (93), Rick Snyder(R), Arvada, Colo., Dodge SRT-4, 1:39.410, 81.770. 24, (14), Billy Revis(R), Winston Salem, N.C., BMW 325, 1:39.981, 81.303. 25, (26), Michael Flynn, Orlando, Fla., Subaru WRX, 1:40.263, 81.074. 26, (49), Branden Peterson, Breckenridge, Colo., Honda Civic Si, 1:41.724, 79.910. 27, (7), Mark German, Monroeville, Pa., Mazda 6, 1:43.258, 78.723. 28, (21), Seth Neiman, Woodside, Calif., BMW 325Ci, no time. 29, (42), Peter Cunningham, W. Bend, Wis., Acura TSX, no transponder. 30, (45), Eric Curran, S. Deerfield, Mass., Acura RSX, no transponder. 31, (78), Jon Prall, Los Gatos, Calif., BMW 325Ci, no time. 32, (95), Michael Galati, Olmsted, Ohio, Mazda Protege, no transponder. Attached: Images of Wolf Henzler's Porsche and Bob Stretch's BMW during this afternoon's practice at Mid-Ohio. Images may be reproduced with proper copyright information © 2005 Mark Weber/SCCA. _______________________ Eric Prill Director of Communications Sports Car Club of America SCCA Pro Racing/SPEED World Challenge 785-357-7222, 785-232-7228 fax 800-770-2055 toll free 785-250-7920 mobile eprill@scca.com www.scca.com <http://www.scca.com> , www.sccapro.com <http://www.sccapro.com> , www.world-challenge.com <http://www.world-challenge.com>