SAMAX Race Day Cut Short with Engine Problem (zz04)

Grand-Am Rolex Series SAMAX Watkins Glen Race Report

SAMAX MOTORSPORTS RACE DAY CUT SHORT WITH ENGINE PROBLEM


Saturday, June 9, 2007 -  SAMAX Motorsports race day was cut short 
with an engine problem at the Six Hours of the Glen, held Saturday at 
Watkins Glen International road course in Western New York. Czech 
Republic driver Tomas Enge qualified the #11 SAMAX Pontiac Riley 
Daytona Prototype in eighth place on Friday and was scheduled as the 
starting driver. He would share the car with Canadian drivers Patrick 
Carpentier and Antoine Bessette.

Fifteen laps into round 6 of the 14-race Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car 
Series schedule, Enge brought the Pontiac Riley into the pits with a 
broken engine, The SAMAX crew had a quick look and pushed the car out 
of pit lane and into the transporter. The Six Hours of the Glen 
lasted just 30 minutes for the South Florida-based team.

"I was really enjoying this ride," said Enge. "The car sounded great 
until the engine just gave up on lap 15. It is just a shame because 
the team had prepared a good car. When I drove into the pits, the 
crew looked at the engine and said we were done for the day. I was 
hoping for a full race because I enjoy driving the Daytona 
Prototypes. A full race would have been a good test for my left elbow 
that was broken back in March in a racing accident. Now I will have 
to wait until next week at the 24 Hours of Le Mans to see if it has 
completely healed."

Tomas will fly to France, along with another dozen or so Grand-Am 
Rolex drivers. Testing will begin on Wednesday, June 13 in 
preparation for the 75th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The race 
is scheduled to start Saturday June 16 at 3:00 p.m. local time.

Newcomer Antoine Bessette got his first taste of the SAMAX Pontiac 
prototype during Saturday's warm-up, posting the 12th fastest time of 
the 20-minute session. The French Canadian driver was due to take 
over from Enge. As for Patrick Carpentier, he was disappointed by the 
outcome of this race.

"This is quite a short weekend indeed," said Carpentier. "It is also 
very disappointing because the team usually gives us a very 
competitive car for each race and it looked good out there. The team 
was assessing whether it was a lifter, a rocker arm or a dropped 
valve that caused the engine failure. It is quite unusual to have 
engine problems in the Grand-Am series. This one only had four hours 
of track time. In the past, we have run them without problems for 24 
to 26 hours. I really don't know what happened"

Round seven of the 2007 14-race Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series 
schedule will be held at Mid-Ohio sports Car Course in Lexington, 
Ohio, the weekend of June 23-24, 2007.

SAMAX Motorsport, based in Pompano Beach, Florida, is in its third 
year of competition in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. More 
information on SAMAX Motorsport is available at 
www.samaxmotorsport.com. Learn more about Grand-Am at www.grand-am.com

Information
Max d'Orsonnens: 514-990-4988

PHOTO:
The #11 SAMAX Pontiac Riley on track at Watkins Glen during the race warm-up.
Photo Credit: SAMAX Motorsport