Curran Edges Cunningham For Top SPEED Touring Denver Practice Time
For Immediate Release Curran Edges Cunningham For Top SPEED Touring Denver Practice Time DENVER (Aug. 11, 2006) - Eric Curran, of E. Hampton, Mass., edged out teammate Peter Cunningham, of Grafton, Wis., to take top honors in practice for this weekend's SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship Round Six race, part of the Grand Prix of Denver. Driving the No. 43 Acura Certified Pre-Owned/RealTime Racing Acura RSX, Curran navigated the 1.657-mile temporary street circuit in 1:21.529 to average 73.166 mph. The lap was just 0.055-second quicker than teammate Cunningham, in his No. 1 Acura Certified Pre-Owned/RealTime Racing Acura TSX. "It's good to get the RSX back up there again," Curran said of putting his two-door car ahead of the team's four-door sedans. "I've always liked street circuits, and my goal is obviously to duplicate my win here last year. "The beginning of the season was not very good. The way my year was going, it's nice to see it begin to turn around." Curran started the season off with an 11th at Sebring, a startline crash at St. Petersburg and a somewhat off the pace ninth at Mid-Ohio. He worked back into the top five at Infineon and scored his first podium of the year with a third at Miller Motorsports Park. Cunningham led the first session, but was just edged by his teammate on the afternoon's quicker track. Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., was third in his No. 73 Mazdaspeed/Tri-Point Motorsports Mazda 6 with a fast time of 1:21.715 (73 mph). Pobst led the race here early last year before a spin dropped him back. Denver's Brandon Davis was fourth in his RealTime Acura TSX, followed by point leader and teammate Pierre Kleinubing. Jeff Altenburg (Mazda 6), Charles Espenlaub (Mazda 6), Dino Crescentini (Mazda 6), Denver's Robb Holland (Dodge SRT4) and Chip Herr (Audi A4) completed the top 10. Qualifying for Sunday's race is scheduled to begin Saturday at 11:30 a.m. (MDT). To follow the live action via Live Timing and Scoring Presented by SRT and live lap notes, please visit the SCCA Pit Board through www.world-challenge.com <http://www.world-challenge.com/> . -30- Attached: Eric Curran led SPEED Touring Car practice in Denver in his Acura RSX. Credit: (c) 2006 Mark Weber/SCCA DENVER, Colo. - Combined practice results for Sunday's SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Round Six race, part of the Grand Prix of Denver, with position, car number in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, fastest lap time, and speed in miles per hour. 1, (43), Eric Curran, East Hampton, Mass., Acura RSX, 1:21.529, 73.166. 2, (1), Peter Cunningham, Grafton, Wis., Acura TSX, 1:21.584, 73.117. 3, (73), Randy Pobst, Gainesville, Ga., Mazda 6, 1:21.715, 73.000. 4, (20), Brandon Davis, Denver, Colo., Acura TSX, 1:21.878, 72.854. 5, (42), Pierre Kleinubing, Coconut Creek, Fla., Acura TSX, 1:22.044, 72.707. 6, (72), Jeff Altenburg, Ellicott City, Md., Mazda 6, 1:22.142, 72.620. 7, (97), Charles Espenlaub, Lutz, Fla., Mazda 6, 1:22.160, 72.604. 8, (74), Dino Crescentini, Malibu, Calif., Mazda 6, 1:22.162, 72.603. 9, (67), Robb Holland(R), Denver, Colo., Dodge SRT-4, 1:22.220, 72.551. 10, (17), Chip Herr, Lititz, Pa., Audi A4, 1:22.347, 72.439. 11, (34), Nick Esayian, Encinitas, Calif., Acura RSX, 1:22.654, 72.170. 12, (66), Dan Aweida(R), Boulder, Colo., Dodge SRT-4, 1:22.782, 72.059. 13, (18), Adam Pecorari(R), Aston, Pa., Audi A4, 1:22.803, 72.040. 14, (06), Kuno Wittmer, Montreal, Canada, Mercedes-Benz C230, 1:22.891, 71.964. 15, (99), Jeff Courtney(R), Slinger, Wis., Audi A4, 1:23.080, 71.800. 16, (38), Seth Thomas, Cumming, Ga., BMW 325i, 1:23.649, 71.312. 17, (96), Charlie Putman(R), Mills, Wyo., Mazda 6, 1:24.089, 70.939. 18, (25), Christian Miller(R), Newark, Calif., Volkswagen Jetta, 1:24.397, 70.680. 19, (36), James Clay, Radford, Va., BMW 325i, 1:24.570, 70.535. 20, (11), Jon Prall, Los Gatos, Calif., BMW 325Ci, 1:24.680, 70.444. 21, (94), Mary Katharine(R), Delray Beach, Fla., Mazda Protege, 1:26.452, 69.000. 22, (49), Branden Peterson, Breckenridge, Colo., Honda Civic Si, 1:32.417, 64.546. 23, (86), Kenny Yim, Hong Kong, China, Honda Civic Si, no time. _______________________ Eric Prill Director of Marketing 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.world-challenge.com <http://www.world-challenge.com/>