Reese Quickest In SPEED GT Practice At Sebring

 

SEBRING, Fla. (March 15, 2006) - Leighton Reese, of Minnetonka, Minn.,
set the fastest time Wednesday during practice for Friday's SCCA Pro
Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship opening round at Sebring
International Raceway. Fellow Chevrolet Corvette pilot Lou Gigliotti and
Dodge Viper driver Tommy Archer completed the top three.

 

Driving the No. 6 Banner Engineering Chevrolet Corvette C6, Reese turned
a lap of 2:09.666 (102.725 mph) around the 3.7-mile, 17-turn circuit in
the afternoon session to top the session. 

 

"We hung some stickers [tires] on the car just to see where it was at,
and that's when we moved up the charts," Reese said. "There's a lot of
cat and mouse going on right now. The car's just handling fantastic.
Some other cars have a little more power than we do, but it's really
good through a lot of the corners. The race will be a whole different
story. I'm not sure if everyone's showing their cards yet."

 

Gigliotti was second fastest on the day, just 0.178-second behind in his
#28 LG Pro Long Tube Headers Chevrolet Corvette C6. Archer, the
defending race Champion, was third in his #5 c3controls/Autohaus
Motorsports Dodge Viper-only 0.016-second behind Gigliotti.

 

Max Angelelli, the 2004 race winner and the current qualifying record
holder, was fourth fastest in his #16 XM/Mobil 1/Motorola/On Star
Cadillac CTS-V with a time of 2:09.927 (102.519 mph). Michael McCann
topped the opening session with a 2:10.120 (102.367 mph) and wound up
fifth quick for the day with that lap.

 

Qualifying for Friday afternoon's race is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.
(Eastern). Notes and Live Timing & Scoring presented by SRT is available
through www.world-challenge.com <http://www.world-challenge.com/> .

 

-30-

 

SEBRING, Florida - Combined practice results for Friday's SCCA Pro
Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship Round One race, part of the
Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring Weekend at Sebring International Raceway,
with position, car number in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, fastest
lap time, and speed in miles per hour.

1, (6), Leighton Reese, Minnetonka, Minn., Chevrolet Corvette C6,
2:09.666, 102.725.

2, (28), Lou Gigliotti, Dallas, Texas, Corvette C6, 2:09.844, 102.584.

3, (5), Tommy Archer, Duluth, Minn., Dodge Viper, 2:09.860, 102.572.

4, (16), Max Angelelli, Monte Carlo, Monaco, Cadillac CTS-V, 2:09.927,
102.519.

5, (82), Mike McCann, N. Canton, Ohio, Dodge Viper, 2:10.120, 102.367.

6, (13), Bob Woodhouse, Blair, Neb., Dodge Viper, 2:10.416, 102.134.

7, (31), Sonny Whelen, Old Saybrook, Conn., Chevrolet Corvette C6,
2:10.749, 101.874.

8, (66), Lawson Aschenbach(R), Gaithersburg, Md., Porsche 911 GT3,
2:10.922, 101.740.

9, (1), Andy Pilgrim, Boca Raton, Fla., Cadillac CTS-V, 2:11.152,
101.561.

10, (14), James Sofronas, Newport Beach, Calif., Porsche 911 GT3,
2:11.753, 101.098.

11, (87), Doug Peterson(R), Bonita Springs, Fla., Chevrolet Corvette C6,
2:12.212, 100.747.

12, (51), Lenny Diller, Garden City, N.Y., Dodge Viper, 2:12.694,
100.381.

13, (34), Tony Gaples, Libertyville, Ill., Chevrolet Corvette C6,
2:12.726, 100.357.

14, (44), Johnny Mowlem, Charvil Berkshire, England, Aston Martin DB9,
2:12.921, 100.209.

15, (26), Claudio Burtin, Atlanta, Ga., Chevrolet Corvette C6, 2:13.119,
100.060.

16, (17), Rob Foster(R), Phoenix, Ariz., Dodge Viper, 2:13.212, 99.991.

17, (23), Bob Miller, Sykesville, Md., Porsche 911 GT3, 2:13.573,
99.720.

18, (58), Kenny Hawkins(R), Raleigh, N.C., Dodge Viper, 2:13.641,
99.670.

19, (02), Adel Elsayed, Boonton Twp, N.J., Dodge Viper, 2:13.935,
99.451.

20, (77), Brett Pearson(R), Orlando, Fla., Dodge Viper, 2:14.765,
98.838.

21, (76), John Bourassa, Jupiter Island, Fla., Porsche 911 Turbo,
2:15.094, 98.598.

22, (42), Mark LoPilato, Granbury, Texas, Porsche 911 Turbo, 2:15.349,
98.412.

23, (64), Ricardo Imery(R), Caracas VEN,   , Porsche 911 GT3, 2:15.497,
98.304.

24, (43), Tom Papadopoulos, East Hills, N.Y., Aston Martin DB9,
2:15.609, 98.223.

25, (96), Skip Sauls(R), Longmont, Colo., Dodge Viper, 2:15.775, 98.103.

26, (98), Derek Burseth(R), Bartlett, Ill., Dodge Viper, 2:16.043,
97.910.

27, (24), Paul Gerrard(R), Bolder, Colo., Porsche 911 GT3, 2:16.284,
97.737.

28, (32), Ed Braswell(R), Key West, Fla., Chevrolet Corvette Z06,
2:17.249, 97.049.

29, (69), Igor Sushko(R), Kiev UKR,   Nissan Skyline GT-R, 2:19.776,
95.295.

30, (40), Greg Weirick(R), Malibu, Calif., Chevrolet Corvette C6,
2:24.252, 92.338.

31, (33), Michael Solley, Destin, Fla., Porsche 911 GT3, 2:31.193,
88.099.

32, (93), Al Wicht(R), Sebring, Fla., Chevrolet Camaro, no time.