USRRC: Qualifying from Lime Rock Park
30 May 1999
WEAVER TAKES LIME ROCK PARK CAN-AM POLE BARBOSA SETS GT2 MARK, SAID LEADS GT3 BMW QUALIFYING SWEEP LAKEVILLE, Conn. – James Weaver, of England, edged teammate Butch Leitzinger to take the USRRC Can-Am Championship pole for Monday's two-hour, 15-minute USRRC Championship Round Two race at Lime Rock Park. Joao Barbosa, of Portugal, and Boris Said, of Carlsbad, Calif., earned the poles for the GT2 and GT3 classes, respectively. Weaver, sharing the No. 16 Goodyear/Hella/Bosch Riley & Scott Ford with fellow Englishman Andy Wallace, turned a lap of 0:50.130 (110.592 mph) to edge Leitzinger, of State College, Pa., by 0.044-second in the No. 20 Goodyear/Hella/Bosch Riley & Scott Ford shared with Elliott Forbes-Robinson. This is Weaver's second Can-Am pole of the year and fourth in his career. "Winters here are so hard that every year the track gets harder and more slippery," said Weaver. "Goodyear has done an enormous amount of work on the tires and that's given us a huge advantage over the Ferrari. It's such a short lap here and it's so easy to make a mistake you can never let up. We've always had great races here at Lime Rock Park and this one should be no exception." Following the two cars from the Dyson Racing stables were the No. 27 Lista/Michelin/MOMO Ferrari 333 SP of Didier Theys and Fredy Lienhard, the No. 36 Michelin/MOMO Ferrari 333 SP of Mauro Baldi and Jim Matthews and the No. 8 Support Net Riley & Scott Ford of Scott Schubot and Henry Camferdam. Barbosa, who got the call to drive the No. 30 Mosler Automotive Mosler Intruder just five days ago, set the GT2 qualifying record with an electrifying lap of 0:55.868 (99.233 mph), breaking Dirk Layer's 1997 mark of 0:56.249 (97.870 mph). "I still don't know the car well and I think there's still a lot more speed left in it," said Barbosa, who shares the car with Canadian Stephane Roy and Frenchman Loic Depailler. "This is a new team, but the car is very good." Said drove the No. 10 Yokohama/Flextronics/Level One BMW M3 to a BMW top-four sweep in GT3 with a lap of 0:57.693 (96.094 mph). The Prototype Technology Group factory BMWs swept the top-three spots, with the customer Aspen Knolls Racing team qualifying fourth. "It went pretty smooth today," said Said, who will share driving duties with Austrian Hans Stuck. "Our cars are dialed in and this is BMWs corporate home track. It's a tough track in traffic. We don't have team orders and we'll race real hard. Hopefully the best car will win." LAKEVILLE, Conn.–Starting Grid for Monday's two-hour, 15-minute USRRC Can-Am and GT Championship Round Two Race, part of the Dodge Dealers Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park with starting position, car number, team, drivers with hometowns, class, car, fastest time and speed in miles-per-hour. 1. (16), Dyson Racing Team Inc., Andy Wallace, England, James Weaver, England, Rob Dyson, Pleasant Valley, N.Y., CA, Riley & Scott Ford, 0:50.130, 110.592. 2. (20), Dyson Racing Team Inc., Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Sherrils Ford, N.C., Butch Leitzinger, State College, Pa., Rob Dyson, Pleasant Valley, N.Y., CA, Riley & Scott Ford, 0:50.174, 110.495. 3. (27), Doran Lista Racing, Fredy Lienhard, Erlan Switzerland, Didier Theys, Scottsdale, Ariz., CA, Ferrari 333SP, 0:50.810, 109.112. 4. (36), Doran Matthews Racing, Mauro Baldi, Italy, Jim Matthews, Warsaw, N.C., CA, Ferrari 333SP, 0:50.888, 108.945. 5. (8), Supportnet Racing, Henry Camferdam, Indianapolis, Ind., Scott Schubot, W. Palm Beach, Fla., CA, Riley & Scott Ford, 0:51.089, 108.516. 6. (28), Intersport Racing, Jon Field, Dublin, Ohio, Nick Johnson, Newport Beach, Fla., CA, Lola Ford, 0:51.375, 107.912. 7. (63), Downing/Atlanta Inc, Jim Downing, Atlanta, Ga., Howard Katz, New York, N.Y., CA, Kudzu DLY Mazda, 0:54.809, 101.151. 8. (29), Intersport Racing, Samual A. Brown, Fairfield, Conn., Andy Petery, Grenwich, Conn., CA, Riley & Scott Ford, 0:55.098, 100.620. 9. (30), Mosler Automotive, Loic Depailler, Chermont-Ferrand, France, Stephane Roy, Quebec, Canada, Joao Barbosa, Portugal, GT2, Mosler Intruder, 0:55.868, 99.233. 10. (92), Executive Auto Sport, Gerry Green, Somerset, N.J., A.J. Smith, Vorhees, N.J., CA, Kudzu, 0:57.127, 97.046. 11. (10), Prototype Technology Group, Boris Said, Carlsbad, Calif., Hans Stuck, Austria, GT3, BMW M3, 0:57.693, 96.094. 12. (6), Prototype Technology Group, Peter Cunningham, W. Bend, Wis., Mark Simo, Carlsbad, Calif., GT3, BMW M3, 0:57.840, 95.850. 13. (7), Prototype Technology Group, Brian Cunningham, Danville, Ky., Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, Calif., GT3, BMW M3, 0:58.342, 95.025. 14. (83), Ross Racing, Dr. Stephen Earle, San Atonio, Texas, Michael Schrom, Ghent, N.Y., GT2, Porsche GT2, 0:58.527, 94.725. 15. (51), Aspen Knolls Racing, Shane Lewis, Stewart, Fla., Bob Mazzuoccola, Statten Island, N.Y., GT3, BMW M3, 0:58.587, 94.628. 16. (90), Millennium Motorsports, David Friedman, New York, N.Y., Cort Wagner, Los Angeles, Calif., GT3, Porsche 911 RSR, 0:59.915, 92.531. 17. (64), Spencer Pumpelly Racing, Spencer Pumpelly, Baltimore, Md., Josh Rehm, Plymouth, Mass., GT3, Porsche 911, 1:00.143, 92.180. 18. (61), Paragon Motorsports, Scott Brunk, Federick, Md., Keith Fisher, Hamburg, N.Y., GT3, Porsche 964, 1:00.254, 92.010. 19. (57), Kryderacing, Reed Kryder, Canal Fulton, Ohio, John Steinmetz, New York, N.Y., GT3, Nissan 240 SX, 1:02.307, 88.978. 20. (71), Dura Motorsports, Michael DeFontes, Baltimore, Md., Chris Thompson, Trumbull, Conn., Jerry Thompson, Manheim, Pa., GT2, Chevrolet Camaro, 1:02.436, 88.794. 21. (01), Greycliff/Netts Racing, John Drew, Chestnut Hill, Mass., Mark Greenberg, Boston, Mass., GT3, Porsche 911, 1:02.750, 88.350. 22. (4), SSZ Motorcars, John Engel, Naples, Fla., Mark Knepper, Forest Lake, Minn., GT2, SSZ Stradale, 1:03.819, 86.870. 23. (80), Extreme Motor Racing, Dean K. Clark, Scarborough, Ma., Dave Gulpin, Nottingham, N.H., Glenn Seward, Brownsville, Vt., GT2, Chevrolet Corvette, 1:04.061, 86.542. 24. (08), G & W Motorsports, Danny Marshall, Danville, Va., Steve Marshall, Christiansburg, Va., GT3, Porsche 911, 1:07.214, 82.482. 25. (17), Jacobs Motorsports Ltd., Frank Del Vecchio, Trumbull, Conn., Michael A. Jacobs, Stamford, N.Y., Jacek Mucha, Montreal Canada, CA, Courage Chevrolet, 3:03.153, 30.269. 26. (3), Toad Hall Motor Racing, Peter Kitchak, Excelsior, Minn., TBA, GT3, Porsche 911 RSR, no time. 27. (43), A.F. Works Racing Inc, Alan Friedman, Hillsdale, N.Y., Todd Snyder, Sheffield, Mass., GT3, Porsche 911, no time.