Reese Scores Second SPEED GT Pole of Season At Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
For Immediate Release Reese Scores Second SPEED GT Pole of Season At Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca MONTEREY, Calif. (Oct. 21, 2006) - Leighton Reese, of Minnetonka, Minn., captured his second SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT pole of the season today at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and will lead the field for Sunday's season finale, part of the Monterey Sports Car Championships. Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., will complete the front row. Driving the No. 6 Banner Engineering Chevrolet Corvette C6, Reese turned a fastest lap of 1:28.463 (91.075 mph) around the undulating 2.238-mile circuit to score the fourth pole position of his career, book-ending the 2006 season after recording pole at the season-opening round at Sebring in March. "I'm thrilled, and here's the funny thing. I made two little mistakes on my first lap. On the second lap, I made no mistakes, yet it was eight-tenths slower," Reese said. "The tires are great tires and they stay under you, but you get one extraordinary lap and if you can work the traffic and not make any mistakes, it's really to your advantage. I'm not sure how good of a car we have for a long run, but certainly for a short run in qualifying, it's pretty good. We were in the top five the whole weekend. There has been remarkable parity, especially in positions three through seven here in the GT field. We just got a good lap in. I've been having a tough time with the starts in World Challenge so I better rectify that situation by tomorrow. If we can get a clean start, we can go out there and fight for the win." Pobst, who was brought in to assist Porsche's effort in securing the Manufacturers' Championship Presented by RACER Magazine, kept turning laps in an attempt to secure the pole in his No. 23 At Speed Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3, but could only get to within 0.077-second of Reese, with a 1:28.540 (90.996 mph). Monaco's Max Angelelli, who was also brought in for this race in an attempt to help in the Manufacturers' Championship, but for Cadillac, will start Sunday's race third in his No. 12 XM/Mobil 1/Motorola/On Star Cadillac CTS-V after turning a lap of 1:29.110 (90.414 mph). James Sofronas, of Huntington Beach, Calif., will start fourth in his No. 14 Global Motorsports Group Porsche 911 GT3 and Ricardo Imery, of Caracas, Ven., completed the top five in the qualifying session in his No. 64 AXA Financial/Cavenas Elevators Porsche 911 GT3. Dodge enters the race with a five-point advantage over both Cadillac and Porsche in the fight for the Manufacturers' title. However, the best Dodge in qualifying was Michael McCann, of N. Canton, Ohio, in seventh, behind the three Porsches and the Cadillacs of Angelelli and O'Connell (sixth). Tommy Archer (Dodge Viper) will start eighth, followed by Andy Pilgrim (Cadillac) and Lawson Aschenbach (Porsche). Aschenbach leads the Drivers' Championship standings by seven over Pilgrim. Lou Gigliotti, who qualified 14th in his Corvette, is third, eight out of the lead. Imery (24 back) and Archer (28 back) are also still mathematically eligible for the Drivers' Championship, with 32 points remaining in Sunday's race. Sunday's race, which makes its standing start at 2 p.m. (Pacific), will be broadcast Saturday, Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. (Eastern). Live Timing & Scoring presented by SRT and live race notes are available on the SCCA Pit Board through www.world-challenge.com <http://www.world-challenge.com/> . Click on the event link from the series' home page. -30- MONTEREY, Calif. - Starting lineup for Sunday's SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship Round 10 race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, part of the Monterey Sports Car Championships, 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, 1:28.463, 91.075. 2, (23), Randy Pobst, Gainesville, Ga., Porsche 911 Cup, 1:28.540, 90.996. 3, (12), Max Angelelli, Monte Carlo, Monaco, Cadillac CTS-V, 1:29.110, 90.414. 4, (14), James Sofronas, Newport Beach, Calif., Porsche 911 GT3, 1:29.163, 90.360. 5, (64), Ricardo Imery(R), Caracas, VN, Porsche 911 GT3, 1:29.308, 90.213. 6, (16), Johnny O'Connell, Flowery Branch, Ga., Cadillac CTS-V, 1:29.386, 90.135. 7, (82), Mike McCann, N. Canton, Ohio, Dodge Viper, 1:29.662, 89.857. 8, (5), Tommy Archer, Duluth, Minn., Dodge Viper, 1:29.684, 89.835. 9, (1), Andy Pilgrim, Boca Raton, Fla., Cadillac CTS-V, 1:29.951, 89.568. 10, (66), Lawson Aschenbach(R), Gaithersburg, Md., Porsche 911 GT3, 1:29.990, 89.530. 11, (13), Bob Woodhouse, Blair, Neb., Dodge Viper, 1:30.198, 89.323. 12, (87), Tomy Drissi, Hollywood, Calif., Chevrolet Corvette C6, 1:30.217, 89.304. 13, (44), Johnny Mowlem, Charvil Berkshire, England, Aston Martin DB9, 1:30.234, 89.287. 14, (28), Lou Gigliotti, Dallas, Texas, Chevrolet Corvette C6, 1:30.392, 89.131. 15, (17), Rob Foster(R), Phoenix, Ariz., Dodge Viper, 1:30.821, 88.710. 16, (83), Jim McCann_Jr, Canton, Ohio, Dodge Viper, 1:31.219, 88.323. 17, (56), Ritch Marziale, Tempe, Ariz., Dodge Viper, 1:31.311, 88.234. 18, (31), Sonny Whelen, Old Saybrook, Conn., Chevrolet Corvette C6, 1:31.584, 87.971. 19, (68), Keith Videtto, San Ramon, Calif., Chevrolet Corvette C5, 1:31.728, 87.833. 20, (43), Tom Papadopoulos, East Hills, N.Y., Aston Martin DB9, 1:31.742, 87.820. 21, (11), Mike Davis, Huntington Beach, Calif., Ford Mustang Cobra, 1:31.905, 87.664. 22, (34), Tony Gaples, Libertyville, Ill., Chevrolet Corvette C6, 1:32.040, 87.535. 23, (26), Claudio Burtin, Atlanta, Ga., Chevrolet Corvette C6, 1:32.465, 87.133. 24, (10), Brandon Davis, Denver, Colo., Ford Mustang Cobra, 1:32.697, 86.915. 25, (25), Brian Kubinski, Plainfield, Ill., Chevrolet Corvette C6, 1:33.086, 86.552. 26, (40), Greg Weirick(R), Malibu, Calif., Chevrolet Corvette C6, 1:33.481, 86.186. 27, (2), John Boos, Anoka, Minn., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:33.627, 86.052. 28, (77), Brett Pearson(R), Orlando, Fla., Dodge Viper, 1:33.975, 85.733. 29, (51), Joel Feinberg, Hollywood, Fla., Dodge Viper, 1:35.102, 84.717. 30, (00), Al Becera(R), San Jose, Calif., Dodge Viper, 1:35.446, 84.412. 31, (57), Stu Frederick, Del Mar, Calif., Dodge Viper GTS, 1:35.476, 84.385. 32, (24), Michael Galati, Olmsted, Ohio, Volvo S60R, 1:40.289, 80.335. 33, (67), Kevin Chambers, Hollister, Calif., Chevrolet Corvette C5, 1:59.387, 67.484. 34, (69), Igor Sushko(R), Kiev, Ukraine, Nissan Skyline GT-R, no time. Attached: Image of Leighton Reese's No. 6 Banner Corvette at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Credit: (c) 2006 Mark Weber/SCCA _______________________ 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/>