Andy Pilgrim Leads Morning SPEED GT Practice at Mosport

CANADA Aug. 22, 2008 – Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., was the fastest car in the first of two practice sessions for the Mosport SPEED GT Presented by Toyo Tires, part of the Mobil 1 Grand Prix of Mosport at Mosport International Raceway. Eric Curran, of East Hampton, Mass., and Tommy Archer, of Duluth, Minn., were second- and third-fastest, respectively.

After his fiery exit from the Road America race two weeks ago, Pilgrim had no doubt that his No. 8 Remington Shaving Cadillac CTS-V was ready to go this weekend for Round Seven of the SPEED GT Championship at Mosport.

“As far as the blowup goes, we were very lucky not to hurt the car more than we did,” Pilgrim said. “After 10 years with GM Racing, that was my first engine blowup. We don’t know why it happened, it’s just part of racing. We feel very lucky to have done as well as we’ve done and we move on. Hopefully we’ll have a good finish here.”

Pilgrim led the first 20-minute practice session of the day with a lap of 1:23.765 (105.681 mph) around the 10-turn, 2.459-mile course.

“Mosport is about momentum,” Pilgrim said. “You just can’t brake. If you’re on the brakes here, you’re going to lose time everywhere. You’ve got to brake to slow down, but you’ve got to get off the brake as fast as possible and just carry the momentum. With a heavy car like this; we can do a good lap, but to do it for a whole race…we’ll see. As ever, I’m just going to drive 110 percent.”

Defending race winner Curran was second fastest in the session. The No. 30 Whelen Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette driver entered a time of 1:23.872 (105.546 mph).

Road America race winner Archer was third on the time sheets, turning a 1:23.945 (105.454 mph) in the No. 13 Foametix/Woodhouse Performance Dodge Viper.

Current point leader Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., was fourth fastest in the No. 1 K-PAX Racing Porsche 911 GT3. Pobst clocked a fast lap of 1:24.150 (105.197 mph).

Michael McCann, of N. Canton, Ohio, completed the top five in the No. 16 Remington Cadillac CTS-V with a lap of 1:24.466 (104.804 mph).

Michael Galati (Porsche 911 GT3), Jeff Courtney (Dodge Viper), Mike Davis (Ford Mustang Cobra), Jason Daskalos (Dodge Viper) and Sonny Whelen (Chevrolet Corvette) completed the top 10.

The next SCCA SPEED GT practice session is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. (EDT) this evening. Live timing and notes are available at www.world-challenge.com.