SAMAX - Homestead qualifying

Both SAMAX Motorsport GT cars turned their best laps of the week in
qualifying for the Saturday evening Rolex Sports Car Series race at
Homestead Miami Speedway. Rob Bell qualified the No. 17 SAMAX Porsche 911
GT3 Cup car third on the GT grid with a flying lap of one minute 22.069
seconds on the 2.3-mile infield road course. He'll split driving stints with
John Dalziel for the two-hour 45-minute race. Greg Wilkins qualified eighth
in class in the No. 71 SAMAX/Doncaster Racing Porsche he shares with Dave
Lacey  (1:22.564).

 

"It was a new experience. I've never driven at dusk, so the sun was in my
eyes a little bit. But once I got one or two laps under my belt, I settled
down quite quickly and was able to just turn consistent, quick laps," Bell
said. "Peter [Baron, team owner] came on the radio and said we needed a
22-flat. I did one, so I thought, 'Yes! Could be pole,' then of course the
others went quicker as well. But still, starting third is a good result."

 

new setup

 

The SAMAX/Doncaster Racing crew tried a new setup strategy this weekend, and
it produced results.

 

"The weekend has proven to be reasonably challenging. The track is quite
green and the conditions are quite a bit different than they were [at the
last race] in Mexico," Wilkins said. "We're going in a different direction
from our teammates and we're moving away from the traditional setup that
generally works for these cars. It's a bit of a gamble, but the car is
getting better. I think we'll be okay, but it's a lot of hard work to make
it happen."

 

He was happy to post his quickest laps during qualifying: "The crew guys
really did a great job getting the car ready for qualifying. They made some
decisions between the last practice and qualifying. It was definitely the
right call; we knocked a full second and a half off our fastest time in
practice, so it's the right time to do it."

 

sports options

 

Rob Bell gave up rugby for motorsport, but he hasn't regretted the decision.
"Because rugby is a very physical game, it doesn't really work if you turn
up to a motorsport meeting with a black eye and a few teeth missing," he
noted.

 

Squash now provides his off-track challenge: "It's great for fitness and you
have to think ahead. It's like doing cardio and playing chess at the same
time."

 

online

 

samaxmotorsport.com

 

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Sylvia Proudfoot
HYPERLINK "mailto:sylvia@spurcom.ca"sylvia@spurcom.ca
403 287 3945