Media Advisory: SPEED WC At Lime Rock Park

MEDIA ADVISORY

 

SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Championships

SPEED GT and SPEED Touring Car Round Six

American Le Mans New England Grand Prix

Lakeville, Conn., Lime Rock Park

 

Contact: Eric Prill, SCCA Director of Communications

(785) 250-7920 cell; eprill@scca.com e-mail

 

Event/Circuit:      American Le Mans Series New England Grand Prix

                           Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, Conn. - 1.54-mile,
7-turn permanent road course

 

Qualifying:          SPEED Touring Car: Friday, July 1, 3:50 p.m. (EDT)

                           SPEED GT: Friday, July 1, 4:20 p.m. (EDT)

 

Green Light:       SPEED Touring Car: Saturday, July 2, 4:10 p.m. (EDT)

(standing start)    SPEED GT: Saturday, July 2, 12:40 p.m. (EDT)

            

Race Lengths:     50 minute maximum. Projected laps: SPEED Touring Car:
43; SPEED GT: 46

                           

Television:          SPEED Touring Car: Sunday, July 3, 4:00 p.m. (EDT)
on SPEED Channel

                           SPEED GT: Sunday, July 3, 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on
SPEED Channel

 

Media Notes:       Results are available on the AP SportsWire, via
e-mail and on the Internet (www.world-challenge.com
<http://www.world-challenge.com/> ).

 

Timing/Scoring:  Live Timing & Scoring is available for all sessions
through www.world-challenge.com <http://www.world-challenge.com/> . 

 

WHAT TO WATCH:

 

WHO TO WATCH IN SPEED GT

Andy Pilgrim has moved to the top of the SCCA SPEED GT Drivers'
Championship following his third podium finish of the season at
Cleveland. Pilgrim has yet to win a race in two years of running his
Team Cadillac CTS-V, but has always proven to be the model of
consistency and competitiveness-in a very similar fashion to the way
2004 Champion Tommy Archer won his title.

 

For Archer, the season that started so well has hit a bit of a hiccup in
the last couple of races. After leading every lap of the first two
Rounds (Sebring and St. Petersburg), the c3controls/3R Racing Dodge
Viper pilot has fallen back a bit as REWARDS weight has mounted. Then, a
rough Cleveland round that included a spin to the middle of the pack and
a five-point penalty for being the impetus of a first-lap, first turn
incident means that Archer is now looking up at another driver in the
standings for the first time of the year. One thing that Archer has to
look forward to at Lime Rock is that he loses 60lbs for his 12th-place
finish at Cleveland. 

 

Robin Liddell (AXA Financial/PFAFF Porsche 911) finally got the monkey
off his back in Cleveland, winning the closest race in series history
(0.038-second) after two-straight events that contact sent him either to
the back of the field or out of the race. Liddell's win placed him third
in points-13 behind Pilgrim.

 

"Mad" Max Papis was surely mad after his Cleveland race, where he
started from the pole but was hit on two separate occasions by other
competitors resulting in a disappointing 18th place finish. His early
results mean he is still in the hunt for the Championship though, in
fourth place, albeit 32 points behind his Team Cadillac teammate. Max
Angelelli will again be in the third Cadillac CTS-V. Angelelli was on
the Road Atlanta pole (finished third) and was just 0.038-second away
from victory at Cleveland.

 

Wolf Henzler (Applied Materials/Farnbacher Loles Motorsports Porsche)
also looks for a better day at Lime Rock Park-the home track for his
Farnbacher Loles team. Henzler dominated Mid-Ohio and entered Cleveland
third in points, but didn't make it to turn two after the incident at
the start damaged his car.

 

Lou Gigliotti is a former Lime Rock Park race winner and started from
the front row at Cleveland in his LG Pro Long Tube Header Corvette C6.
While he sustained some damage in the first-lap incident at Cleveland, a
stop and go penalty for a jumped start had him playing catch-up, and a
broken oil line ended his charge through the field. Gigliotti was strong
at Lime Rock in 2004, but had to serve a similar penalty for a jumped
start in that race as well.

 

Other drivers who should be strong at Lime Rock include Stu Hayner (GMC
Commercial Finance/Trenton Forging Pontiac GTO), who earned the first
top-five for the GTO at Cleveland, local driver and leading The Winning
Team Racing Apparel Rookie of the Year driver Sonny Whelen (Whelen
Engineering Corvette) and newcomer Ricardo Imery (Farnbacher Loles
Motorsports Porsche 911.

 

CAN ANYONE CRACK THE ACURA/MAZDA BATTLE IN SPEED TOURING CAR

In SPEED Touring Car, it's been all Acura TSX and Mazda 6 thus far in
2005, taking the five races up to Lime Rock.

 

RealTime Racing has come out of the box swinging in 2005, with team
principle Peter Cunningham leading the five-car Acura TSX effort and the
Drivers' Championship after five rounds. Cunningham started the season
out with a win at Sebring and has had four third-place finishes since.
Teammate Pierre Kleinubing is the hottest driver in the series since a
mechanical problem at the opener left him in 24th place. He's finished
second and won the last three races (Road Atlanta, Mid-Ohio and
Cleveland) entering Lime Rock and has moved to second in points, nine
behind his teammate. Until RealTime Acura RSX driver Nick Esayian
retired due to crash damage at Mid-Ohio, all five of RealTime's drivers
were in the top eight in points. Now, Eric Curran (RSX) sits fourth in
points and top rookie Brandon Davis (TSX) sits seventh. Esayian is just
outside of the top 10 in 11th. 

 

At Lime Rock, Kleinubing attempts to be the third driver to ever win
four-straight races.

 

In the Mazda camp, Jeff Altenburg sits third in points and hungry for a
win in his Mazda 6 from the Mazdaspeed/Tri-Point Motorsports stable. He
has finished second, third, fourth and fifth (twice) thus far. Teammate
Randy Pobst scored a win at St. Pete from the Air Force Reserve pole and
sat on the pole at Mid-Ohio. But two mechanicals (Sebring, Road
Atlanta), a jumped start at Mid-Ohio and early contact at Cleveland that
necessitated a quick pit stop to remove his bumper has seriously hurt
his chances at a Championship. However, he's carrying no REWARDS weight
and will be very fast at Lime Rock. 

 

Charles Espenlaub looked to be on his way to victory at Cleveland until
a last-lap scrap with Cunningham and Kleinubing pushed him back to
second. He was on the AFR Pole at Cleveland in his Sparco/Oakley/Tindol
Motorsport Mazda 6 and is a sure bet to win soon.

 

There are plenty of other stout efforts ready to dethrone the
Acura/Mazda stranglehold, and the competition hasn't been tougher all
year.

 

For the first time since Sebring, defending series Champion Bill
Auberlen returns in his Turner Motorsport/H&R Springs BMW 325i. He's the
defending race winner, and will be joined by team owner and former Lime
Rock pole man Will Turner.

 

Bob Stretch has been very fast and led the majority of the Mid-Ohio race
in his Wheels America BMW 325Ci. BimmerWorld Racing also has a trio of
BMWs in the hands of Matt Richmond, James Clay and Seth Thomas that have
been strong as well. 

 

Nic Jonsson returns in his Tasker Products/Tecmark Autosport BMW for the
first time since Road Atlanta, where he was on pole and led early.

 

Chip Herr flies the red, white and blue of the United States Air Force
Reserve in his Ford Focus and was quick at Mid-Ohio, but was part of a
first-lap accident.

 

Former Lime Rock winner Michael Galati was fast at Cleveland in the
Autohaus Motorsports Mercedes-Benz, running in the top 10 for a while
and looks to run toward the front in Connecticut. 

 

LIME ROCK SUPERLATIVES

Pierre Kleinubing looks to become the third driver to ever win
four-straight SPEED World Challenge races, should he record his
event-record fifth SPEED Touring Car win at Lime Rock. No driver has
ever won five races at one venue. Bill Auberlen also looks for his fifth
World Challenge win at Lime Rock. He has two SPEED Touring Car wins and
two SPEED GT wins over the years. Other active drivers with multiple
wins at Lime Rock include: Peter Cunningham (1 TC, 1 GT), Michael Galati
(1 TC, 1 GT) and Randy Pobst (2 GT). Lou Gigliotti has one win at Lime
Rock in SPEED World Challenge, and also won in the Trans-Am Series.
Acura has more wins than any other manufacturer at Lime Rock (seven).
BMW has six.

 

LOCAL DRIVERS

Drivers who call Lime Rock their home track include: Will Turner
(Newburyport, Mass.), Ryan Pilla (Amagansett, N.Y.), Phil Parlato
(Commack, N.Y.), Hugh Stewart (Massapequa, N.Y.), Jason Martinelli
(Woodbury, Conn.), Eric Curran (S. Deerfield, Mass.), Fred Pignataro (E.
Northport, N.Y.), Manny Matz (Somers, N.Y.) in SPEED Touring Car. In
SPEED GT, locals include: Randy Hale (Haddam, Conn.), Jameson Riley
(Wilton, Conn.), Sonny Whelen (Old Saybrook, Conn.), Lenny Diller
(Garden City, N.Y.), Mike Hartley (Cherry Hill, N.J.), Jon Groom
(Boonton, N.J.) and Adel Elsayed (Boonton, N.J.). Additionally,
Farnbacher Loles Motorsports is based locally in Danbury, Conn.

 

 

 

_______________________

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>