Curran Fastest In Opening Mosport SPEED GT Practice
For Immediate Release Curran Fastest In Opening Mosport SPEED GT Practice CANADA (Aug. 24, 2007) – Coming off his third win of the season, Eric Curran, of East Hampton, Mass., was fastest in Friday’s opening practice for this weekend’s Round Eight SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship race, part of the Mobil 1 Presents the Grand Prix of Mosport weekend. Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., and defending race winner Michael Galati, of Olmsted, Ohio, completed the top three. Driving the No. 30 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Corvette, Curran turned a fastest lap of 1:23.000 (106.655 mph) around the 2.459-mile (3.957 km), 10-turn circuit. Curran led the session from the completion of his first lap, and lowered the fast time 14 minutes into the 20-minute session. “The car feels great,” Curran said. “In typical fashion, the Whelen Motorsports crew is doing a heck of a job trying to keep this car up front. It’s gotten a little bit harder, because now the car has 80 pounds of R.E.W.A.R.D.S. weight. We pushed real hard in the session to get a handle on what the car is going to do for race day. We’re a little bit worried that rain is going to be a problem today, so we wanted to make sure we got a good dry session in this morning and make sure we’re ready for qualifying tomorrow. I think we might have pushed a little harder than some of the other teams did, but the Whelen Corvette is feeling better than ever.” Pilgrim was second fastest in his No. 8 XM/Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V with a fast time of 1:23.501 (106.015 mph), 0.011-second faster than the No. 23 K-PAX Racing/Jim Haughey Porsche 911 GT3 of Galati. Galati won a wet race at Mosport in 2006, lapping all but second place in his Volvo S60 R. Pilgrim’s Team Cadillac stable mates, Lawson Aschenbach (No. 1 XM/Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose) and Ron Fellows (No. 16 XM/Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose) completed the top five with best times of 1:23.597 (105.893 mph) and 1:23.692 (105.773 mph), respectively. Lou Gigliotti (Chevrolet Corvette), Randy Pobst (Porsche 911 GT3), Michael McCann (Dodge Viper), Brian Kubinski (Chevrolet Corvette) and James Sofronas (Porsche 911 GT3) completed the top ten. The second practice session for Saturday evening’s race is scheduled for 5:50 p.m. (EDT). To follow the session via live timing and scoring and notes via the SCCA Pit Board, visit www.world-challenge.com. -30- BOWMANVILLE, Ontario - Results from the first practice session for Sunday's Round Seven SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT race, part of the Mobil 1 Presents the Grand Prix of Mosport at Mosport International Raceway, with position, car number in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, fastest lap time, and speed in miles per hour. 1, (30), Eric Curran, East Hampton, Mass., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:23.000, 106.655. 2, (8), Andy Pilgrim, Boca Raton, Fla., Cadillac CTS-V, 1:23.501, 106.015. 3, (23), Michael Galati, Olmsted, Ohio, Porsche 911 GT-3, 1:23.512, 106.001. 4, (1), Lawson Aschenbach, W. Palm Beach, Fla., Cadillac CTS-V, 1:23.597, 105.893. 5, (16), Ron Fellows, Mississauga, Ontario, Cadillac CTS-V, 1:23.692, 105.773. 6, (28), Lou Gigliotti, Dallas, Texas, Chevrolet Corvette, 1:23.850, 105.574. 7, (22), Randy Pobst, Gainesville, Ga., Porsche 911 GT-3, 1:24.115, 105.241. 8, (82), Michael McCann, North Canton, Ohio, Dodge Viper, 1:24.577, 104.666. 9, (12), Brian Kubinski(R), Plainfield, Ill., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:24.813, 104.375. 10, (14), James Sofronas(T), Newport Beach, Calif., Porsche 911 GT-3, 1:24.952, 104.204. 11, (34), Tony Gaples, Libertyville, Ill., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:25.165, 103.944. 12, (87), Doug Peterson, Bonita Springs, Fla., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:25.273, 103.812. 13, (2), Cindi Lux(R), Aloha, Ore., Dodge Viper, 1:25.585, 103.434. 14, (3), Scotty B. White, Puyallup, Wash., Dodge Viper, 1:25.640, 103.367. 15, (99), Jeff Courtney, Slinger, Wis., Dodge Viper, 1:25.935, 103.012. 16, (05), Jason Daskalos(R), Albuquerque, N.M., Dodge Viper, 1:26.216, 102.677. 17, (17), Rob Foster(T), Phoenix, Ariz., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:26.439, 102.412. 18, (51), Lenny Diller(T), Garden City, N.Y., Dodge Viper, 1:27.228, 101.485. 19, (76), John Bourassa(T), Jupiter Island, Fla., Porsche 911 Turbo, 1:27.968, 100.632. 20, (31), Sonny Whelen(T), Old Saybrook, Conn., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:28.054, 100.533. 21, (13), Nick Majors(R), Oakville, Ontario, Dodge Viper, 1:28.516, 100.009. 22, (20), Dane Moxlow(R), Grosse Ile, Mich., Pontiac GTO, 1:28.880, 99.599. 23, (6), Jeffrey Robbins(R), Southfield, Mich., Dodge Viper, 1:28.928, 99.545. This communication may contain information that is confidential, privileged, or proprietary. If you are not the intended recipient, please note that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. Anyone who receives this message in error should notify the sender immediately by telephone or by return e-mail and delete it.