Gigliotti Takes Second SPEED GT Pole of Season At Mid-Ohio

LEXINGTON, Ohio (May 20, 2006) - Lou Gigliotti, of Dallas, captured his
second SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship pole of
2006, and will lead the 31-car field to the standing start of today's
race, presented by Trenton Forging Quality Formed Solutions, at Mid-Ohio
Sports Car Course. Lawson Aschenbach, of Gaithersburg, Md., will
complete the front row.

 

Driving the No. 28 LG Pro Long Tube Headers Chevrolet Corvette C6,
Gigliotti turned a fastest time of 1:26.973 (93.463 mph) around the
2.258-mile circuit to take the pole by 0.873-second. Gigliotti's lap was
just off the track record of 1:26.820 (93.628 mph) set by Wolf Henzler
in 2005.

 

Gigliotti starts from the front row for the third time in four attempts
this season. He has led all three previous races, and has the most laps
led this season, but has yet to visit victory circle. The three-time
series Champion has previously won at Mid-Ohio, in 1994.

 

"The tires are so good on the first two laps that you've got to have a
special ability to squeeze everything you can out of them," Gigliotti
said. "I've gotten pretty good at it.  This is my 25th pole.

 

"The other cars have more performance at the end of the race if we go
green [the whole race].  For whatever reason, engineering, chassis
design, whatever reason, if we don't get a yellow, our car deteriorates.
Even though we go faster in the race, their cars lose less.  But if we
get a yellow, we're golden."

 

Aschenbach turned a fastest time of 1:27.846 (92.534 mph) in the No. 66
AXA Financial Porsche 911 GT3 to earn his first-career front-row
starting position. He was one spot better than N. Canton, Ohio's Michael
McCann, who turned a 1:27.969 (92.405 mph) in his No. 82 McCann
Plastics/K&N Filters Dodge Viper. With Aschenbach earning four points
for his qualifying effort and McCann earning three, the two are now tied
atop the series point standings, with 77.

 

Michael Galati, of Olmsted, Ohio, qualified fourth in his first series
appearance of 2006 with a time of 1:28.002 (92.370 mph) in the No. 24 At
Speed Motorsports Volvo S60R. Galati is the only three-time series
winner at Mid-Ohio and is the series' only five-time Champion.

 

Johnny O'Connell, of Flowery Branch, Ga., will start fifth in the No. 16
XM/Mobil 1/Motorola/On Star Cadillac CTS-V, with a fast time of 1:28.008
(92.364 mph).

 

Today's Round Four race will make its standing start at 6:05 p.m. (EDT).
Live Timing and Scoring Presented by SRT, as well as live lap notes, can
be accessed via the SCCA Pit Board at www.world-challenge.com
<http://www.world-challenge.com/> . Today's race will be broadcast on
SPEED Channel next Saturday, May 27 at 9 p.m.

 

-30-

 

Image: Lou Gigliotti has started on the front row three times in four
events this season.

Image credit: Mark Weber/SCCA

 

LEXINGTON, Ohio - Starting lineup for Saturday's SCCA Pro Racing SPEED
World Challenge GT Championship race, part of the SPEED World Challenge
weekend 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, (28), Lou Gigliotti, Dallas, Texas, Chevrolet Corvette C6, 1:26.973,
93.463.

2, (66), Lawson Aschenbach(R), Gaithersburg, Md., Porsche 911 GT3,
1:27.846, 92.534.

3, (82), Mike McCann, N. Canton, Ohio, Dodge Viper, 1:27.969, 92.405.

4, (24), Michael Galati, Olmsted, Ohio, Volvo S60R, 1:28.002, 92.370.

5, (16), Johnny O'Connell, Flowery Branch, Ga., Cadillac CTS-V,
1:28.008, 92.364.

6, (6), Leighton Reese, Minnetonka, Minn., Chevrolet Corvette C6,
1:28.140, 92.226.

7, (1), Andy Pilgrim, Boca Raton, Fla., Cadillac CTS-V, 1:28.146,
92.219.

8, (64), Ricardo Imery(R), Caracas, Venezuela, Porsche 911 GT3,
1:28.619, 91.727.

9, (31), Sonny Whelen, Old Saybrook, Conn., Chevrolet Corvette C6,
1:28.693, 91.651.

10, (56), Ritch Marziale, Tempe, Ariz., Dodge Viper, 1:28.840, 91.499.

11, (14), James Sofronas, Newport Beach, Calif., Porsche 911 GT3,
1:28.883, 91.455.

12, (87), Doug Peterson, Bonita Sprints, Fla., Chevrolet Corvette C6,
1:28.886, 91.452.

13, (5), Tommy Archer, Duluth, Minn., Dodge Viper SRT, 1:29.142, 91.189.

14, (23), Bob Miller, Sykesville, Md., Porsche 911 Cup, 1:29.383,
90.943.

15, (34), Tony Gaples, Libertyville, Ill., Chevrolet Corvette C6,
1:29.454, 90.871.

16, (83), Jim McCann, N. Canton, Ohio, Dodge Viper, 1:29.606, 90.717.

17, (17), Rob Foster(R), Phoenix, Ariz., Dodge Viper, 1:29.667, 90.655.

18, (44), Johnny Mowlem, Charvil Berkshire, England, Aston Martin DB9,
1:29.729, 90.592.

19, (26), Claudio Burtin, Atlanta, Ga., Chevrolet Corvette C6, 1:30.172,
90.147.

20, (20), Stu Hayner, Yorba Linda, Calif., Pontiac GTO, 1:30.195,
90.124.

21, (51), Lenny Diller, Garden City, N.Y., Dodge Viper, 1:31.066,
89.262.

22, (96), Skip Sauls(R), Longmont, Colo., Dodge Viper, 1:31.578, 88.763.

23, (02), Adel Elsayed, Boonton Twp, N.J., Dodge Viper, 1:31.695,
88.650.

24, (76), John Bourassa, Jupiter Island, Fla., Porsche 911 Turbo,
1:31.753, 88.594.

25, (40), Greg Weirick(R), Malibu, Calif., Chevrolet Corvette C6,
1:31.931, 88.422.

26, (35), David Farmer, Albemarle, N.C., Corvette C6, 1:31.999, 88.357.

27, (43), Tom Papadopoulos, East Hills, N.Y., Aston Martin DB9,
1:33.123, 87.291.

28, (33), Michael Solley, Destin, Fla., Porsche 911 GT3, 1:33.859,
86.606.

29, (32), Ed Braswell(R), Key West, Fla., Chevrolet Corvette C5,
1:38.640, 82.408.

30, (69), Igor Sushko(R), Kiev UKR, Nissan Skyline GT-R, 2:01.500,
66.903.

31, (13), Bob Woodhouse, Blair, Neb., Dodge Viper, no time.