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GRAND-AM
GRAND-AM: Watkins Glen 6H Preview
John Dagys looks ahead to the second round of the North American Endurance Championship...
The Rolex Sports Car Series heads into historic Watkins Glen this weekend for the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen. (Photo: John Dagys)
From one of the shortest GRAND-AM races of the year to its second longest, the Rolex Sports Car Series gears up for this weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.
While serving as the eighth race of the 2012 season, the half-around-the-clock enduro also doubles as the second round of the new North American Endurance Championship, adding even more importance to Sunday’s battle. (11 a.m. ET, Live! SPEED).
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas extended their championship lead following the pair’s victory last weekend at Road America, which broke a nine-race winless streak for the defending Daytona Prototype champions.
But the surprise from Elkhart Lake perhaps came from a sweep of the podium by Riley-chassied DPs, with the Rolex 24-winning Michael Shank Racing Riley-Ford of Ozz Negri and John Pew recording their third top-three finish of the season.
The duo head into the weekend as title leaders in the NAEC, which will see double points scored at the three and six-hour marks. Next month’s highly anticipated race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will serve as the third and final round of the championship.
“Coming off of a race where we didn’t really feel like we had the pace we were looking for, but still able to earn a podium, we really want to make the most of this weekend at the Glen,” Negri said.
“We were able to get a good result from some good strategy and being right there when others had problems, so we want to focus on maximizing our chances again this weekend. Six hours is a long race and anything can happen--we’ve seen that at the Glen so many times!”
Negri and Pew sit fourth in the overall point standings, trailing the No. 01 Riley-BMW of Pruett and Rojas by 14 markers, with the third Riley to reach the podium, the No. 8 Starworks entry of Ryan Dalziel and Enzo Potolicchio, only 5 points behind the Ganassi pair in second.
The recent 24 Hours of Le Mans class winners are joined by open-wheel and sports car ace Sebastien Bourdais this weekend, with the aim of delivering the Peter Baron-led team’s first Rolex Series victory of the season.
Other teams to go with a three-driver approach include Spirit of Daytona Racing, with Corvette driver Oliver Gavin rejoining Richard Westbrook and Antonio Garcia in the No. 90 Corvette DP following the their tough outing at Road America.
The only two Gen-2 DPs in the 11-car field will also take advantage of a three-driver lineup.
Brian Frisselle teams with Dr. Jim Lowe and Paul Tracy in the No. 77 Doran Racing Dallara-Ford, last seen in New Jersey, while Mark Wilkins joins Colin Braun and Scott Mayer in Starworks’ No. 7 Riley-Ford, which finished fifth last weekend.
Much of the success Braun and co. had at Road America, though, could be credited to the misfortunes and spells of bad luck from the Corvette bunch.
The No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing entry of Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty dropped out early with suspension failure while Garcia had a coming together with a GT-class Mazda, losing eight laps for repairs to his Coyote-chassied Corvette.
While the No. 9 Action Express Corvette of Joao Barbosa was taken out following a late-race clash with Negri, perhaps the biggest heartbreak came from the SunTrust bunch, which saw Ricky Taylor lose control of his Corvette while in the lead under the safety car with less than 20 minutes to go.
There’s no doubt that 22-year-old Taylor, along with the contingent of fellow Corvette drivers, will be looking for redemption and better fortunes this weekend. After all, Taylor and co-driver Max Angelelli are defending winners of this event.
While serving as the eighth race of the 2012 season, the half-around-the-clock enduro also doubles as the second round of the new North American Endurance Championship, adding even more importance to Sunday’s battle. (11 a.m. ET, Live! SPEED).
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas extended their championship lead following the pair’s victory last weekend at Road America, which broke a nine-race winless streak for the defending Daytona Prototype champions.
But the surprise from Elkhart Lake perhaps came from a sweep of the podium by Riley-chassied DPs, with the Rolex 24-winning Michael Shank Racing Riley-Ford of Ozz Negri and John Pew recording their third top-three finish of the season.
The duo head into the weekend as title leaders in the NAEC, which will see double points scored at the three and six-hour marks. Next month’s highly anticipated race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will serve as the third and final round of the championship.
“Coming off of a race where we didn’t really feel like we had the pace we were looking for, but still able to earn a podium, we really want to make the most of this weekend at the Glen,” Negri said.
“We were able to get a good result from some good strategy and being right there when others had problems, so we want to focus on maximizing our chances again this weekend. Six hours is a long race and anything can happen--we’ve seen that at the Glen so many times!”
Negri and Pew sit fourth in the overall point standings, trailing the No. 01 Riley-BMW of Pruett and Rojas by 14 markers, with the third Riley to reach the podium, the No. 8 Starworks entry of Ryan Dalziel and Enzo Potolicchio, only 5 points behind the Ganassi pair in second.
The recent 24 Hours of Le Mans class winners are joined by open-wheel and sports car ace Sebastien Bourdais this weekend, with the aim of delivering the Peter Baron-led team’s first Rolex Series victory of the season.
Other teams to go with a three-driver approach include Spirit of Daytona Racing, with Corvette driver Oliver Gavin rejoining Richard Westbrook and Antonio Garcia in the No. 90 Corvette DP following the their tough outing at Road America.
The only two Gen-2 DPs in the 11-car field will also take advantage of a three-driver lineup.
Brian Frisselle teams with Dr. Jim Lowe and Paul Tracy in the No. 77 Doran Racing Dallara-Ford, last seen in New Jersey, while Mark Wilkins joins Colin Braun and Scott Mayer in Starworks’ No. 7 Riley-Ford, which finished fifth last weekend.
Much of the success Braun and co. had at Road America, though, could be credited to the misfortunes and spells of bad luck from the Corvette bunch.
The No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing entry of Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty dropped out early with suspension failure while Garcia had a coming together with a GT-class Mazda, losing eight laps for repairs to his Coyote-chassied Corvette.
While the No. 9 Action Express Corvette of Joao Barbosa was taken out following a late-race clash with Negri, perhaps the biggest heartbreak came from the SunTrust bunch, which saw Ricky Taylor lose control of his Corvette while in the lead under the safety car with less than 20 minutes to go.
There’s no doubt that 22-year-old Taylor, along with the contingent of fellow Corvette drivers, will be looking for redemption and better fortunes this weekend. After all, Taylor and co-driver Max Angelelli are defending winners of this event.
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