Teammates Pobst and Pilgrim Top Charts In Wet SPEED GT Practice At New Jersey Motorsports Park

MILLVILLE, May 1, 2009: K-Pax Racing teammates Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., and Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., turned the top two times, respectively, in this morning’s wet SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT practice at New Jersey Motorsports Park Thunderbolt Raceway. Brandon Davis, of Huntington Beach, Calif., was third.

In preparation for Saturday’s Round Three race, Pobst and Pilgrim used their all-wheel drive K-Pax Racing Volvo S60s to power their way to the top of the speed charts in wet conditions. Pobst turned a top time of 1:37.060 (84.453 mph), while Pilgrim was only 0.024-second behind with a 1:37.084 (83.433 mph).

“It was expected that these cars would run well, but we’ve never tried them before [in the wet],” Pobst said. “The major player in the field is K-Pax/3R Racing. The Volvos are still very new and they are working well. The all-wheel drive, combined with the Toyos in the wet, allows us to use all the power we’ve got – that is where all-wheel drive has its advantages. It handled well. It was an enjoyable experience.

“I ran with Eric Curran a little bit in the Corvette. He was strong on the way into the corner, in terms of handling, but off the corner, he didn’t have a chance. It was two-wheel drive versus four-wheel drive. The traction advantage is amazing. Also, our Volvos have turbos on them and the engines ran really well in wet weather.”

“Randy went out on the dries and I went out on the rain tires because I had new rain tires to scrub in,” Pilgrim said. “Later in the session, I told them [the crew] I needed to come in because I was going to ruin the rain tires. At the beginning, I was quick because it was a little more wet and then it dried out. I never got to put the other tires [dry] on. So, in the end, we almost ran the same times. I had a great time. It was a blast. I’ve never raced four-wheel drive before. You always dream about four-wheel drive when it is wet and now I’ve experienced it. It was phenomenal.”

Davis, who is coming off of back-to-back third place finishes, powered his No. 10 Applied Comp Solutions/SunMicro/Ford Mustang Cobra to the third quickest time, the best of the two-wheel drive cars, with a 1:40.750 (80.397 mph).

Current SPEED GT point leader, Eric Curran, of East Hampton, Mass., turned the fourth fastest time in his No. 30 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Corvette with a 1:41.518 (79.788 mph). Tony Rivera, of Missouri City, Texas, was fifth with a 1:41.607 (79.719 mph) in the No. 97 Tax Masters/Mirage Group Porsche 911 GT3.

Tony Gaples (Chevrolet Corvette), James Sofronas (Porsche 911 GT3), Gunter Schaldach (Dodge Viper), Joey Scarallo (Pontiac GTO) and Mike Hartley (Dodge Viper) completed the top 10.

The second SPEED GT practice is set for 5:30 p.m. (EDT) Friday, immediately followed by SPEED GT qualifying at 6:15 p.m. Live timing and lap notes for both sessions are available at www.world-challenge.com.