-
Home
- TV Shows
- TV Schedule
- NASCAR
-
Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Games
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
- Home
- TV Shows
-
TV Schedule
-
SPEED Showcase
-
- NASCAR
- Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
GRAND-AM
GRAND-AM: Fogarty On Montreal Pole
GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing to start Saturday's Montreal 200 from pole...
GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing's Jon Fogarty took the pole for Saturday's Montreal 200. (Photo: Brian Cleary/GRAND-AM)
Jon Fogarty further burnished his name as the Rolex Series all-time leading qualifier on Friday as he pushed his GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Corvette to pole position for Saturday’s Montreal 200 (Saturday on SPEED, 7PM ET) with a fast lap time of 1:33.135-seconds at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Friday.
The pole is Fogarty’s fourth of the 2012 season, and will force yet another reprint of the record books as he netted his 23rd career pole in Rolex Series competition. The first seven cars posted a time within one second of the pole-winning entry.
Fogarty will open the 2-hour sprint race from behind the wheel before turning the machine over to co-driver Alex Gurney, who will look to bring GAINSCO back into the winners circle for the first time since the 2011 Montreal round.
“It’s great to be up here again. I love coming to this track. It’s always been good to me-- especially in qualifying,” said Fogarty. “I’m just pleased with the way the Chevrolet Corvette was handling. I think we’ve taken a little bit different approach to find a time around here than a lot of the other competitors but it seems to have worked. We had a good pace in the practice earlier in the day and that translated although it was very tight - the 01 seemed to come on strong there at the end.
“I was talking with Paul (Tracy) about trying to figure out how to exactly time a quick lap round here relative to fuel load and tire degradation and all that,” said Fogarty after the session. “But I was able to put one in early when the tires were at their best and I was able to come very close again at the end when the fuel load was light. We’re just happy to be up front. It’s a good place to start especially in a slightly shortened race like we’re havng and hopefully we can just keep it up there.”
While Fogarty’s flier, set early in the session, proved to be unassailable, there was plenty of jostling for the fellow front row starting spot as the position changed hands some six times in the closing segment of the 15-minute session.
Championship leader Memo Rojas held the point at the halfway mark before being dislocated by an eager Alex Tagliani, who was himself knocked off the point by Michael Valiante’s Spirit of Daytona Corvette. The Darren Law-driven No. 9 Corvette then snatched the spot, only to have fellow Chevy pilot Max Angelelli score the position. But the front row photo was far from settled as Tagliani re-staked his claim to a front row start in his home town, only to have Rojas snatch the spot in the closing moments.
The Rolex Series GT Class session that followed didn’t lack for its own drama, with the Montreal superstars Stevenson Motorsports claiming the pole following John Edwards’ 1:39.096-seconds lap edging the effort of Andrew Davis, who went by at 1:39.162-seconds to score the second front row spot.
The GT class has produced some very close times through the weekend, and qualifying proved to be no less competitive, with the marquee players resorting to some gamesmanship in pursuit of P1.
“It was a really tight session,” said Edwards. “We went back and forth with the No. 59 car (Brumos) a little bit. Andrew (Davis) was drafting me a little bit so the guys got on and told me ‘Lift and let him by because every time you turn a good lap he goes about a tenth quicker’.
"Finally I pulled over, but he didn’t want me to draft him so he pulled over that next lap and we were in first gear heading down to the hairpin when we’re normally in fifth because we were both trying to play chicken and get the other guy to lead. Finally I just went and he kept backing off because Boris was behind him. I finally got some clear track and went.”
The team has a collective soft spot for the Montreal track, having proven to be successful on the 2.7-mile circuit time and again.
“We always seem to have decent speed, and even when we’re not on pole we seem to be second or third,” said Edwards about the Stevenson qualifying record to date this season. “I think the thing we need to fight for is keeping the speed over a stint and straightaway speed as well.
"We can definitely turn a lap time, particularly when the tires are new, but we’re a bit harder on tires and are straight line speed isn’t as high. Races are always a tougher fight than qualifying.”
Saturday's two-hour race, the 11th round in the Rolex Series, is scheduled for an 11:15 a.m. ET start. The race airs live on MRN Radio and on SPEED television at 7 p.m. ET Saturday night.
RESULTS: Qualifying
With experience at Skip Barber Racing School, Lime Rock Park, and several IndyCar teams, Matt Cleary has covered open wheel and sports car racing for over a decade. Working for Sunday Group Management, Cleary also provides strategic motorsports consulting for a range of clients in the sport. You can follow him on Twitter @sundaygroup
The pole is Fogarty’s fourth of the 2012 season, and will force yet another reprint of the record books as he netted his 23rd career pole in Rolex Series competition. The first seven cars posted a time within one second of the pole-winning entry.
Fogarty will open the 2-hour sprint race from behind the wheel before turning the machine over to co-driver Alex Gurney, who will look to bring GAINSCO back into the winners circle for the first time since the 2011 Montreal round.
“It’s great to be up here again. I love coming to this track. It’s always been good to me-- especially in qualifying,” said Fogarty. “I’m just pleased with the way the Chevrolet Corvette was handling. I think we’ve taken a little bit different approach to find a time around here than a lot of the other competitors but it seems to have worked. We had a good pace in the practice earlier in the day and that translated although it was very tight - the 01 seemed to come on strong there at the end.
“I was talking with Paul (Tracy) about trying to figure out how to exactly time a quick lap round here relative to fuel load and tire degradation and all that,” said Fogarty after the session. “But I was able to put one in early when the tires were at their best and I was able to come very close again at the end when the fuel load was light. We’re just happy to be up front. It’s a good place to start especially in a slightly shortened race like we’re havng and hopefully we can just keep it up there.”
While Fogarty’s flier, set early in the session, proved to be unassailable, there was plenty of jostling for the fellow front row starting spot as the position changed hands some six times in the closing segment of the 15-minute session.
Championship leader Memo Rojas held the point at the halfway mark before being dislocated by an eager Alex Tagliani, who was himself knocked off the point by Michael Valiante’s Spirit of Daytona Corvette. The Darren Law-driven No. 9 Corvette then snatched the spot, only to have fellow Chevy pilot Max Angelelli score the position. But the front row photo was far from settled as Tagliani re-staked his claim to a front row start in his home town, only to have Rojas snatch the spot in the closing moments.
The Rolex Series GT Class session that followed didn’t lack for its own drama, with the Montreal superstars Stevenson Motorsports claiming the pole following John Edwards’ 1:39.096-seconds lap edging the effort of Andrew Davis, who went by at 1:39.162-seconds to score the second front row spot.
The GT class has produced some very close times through the weekend, and qualifying proved to be no less competitive, with the marquee players resorting to some gamesmanship in pursuit of P1.
“It was a really tight session,” said Edwards. “We went back and forth with the No. 59 car (Brumos) a little bit. Andrew (Davis) was drafting me a little bit so the guys got on and told me ‘Lift and let him by because every time you turn a good lap he goes about a tenth quicker’.
"Finally I pulled over, but he didn’t want me to draft him so he pulled over that next lap and we were in first gear heading down to the hairpin when we’re normally in fifth because we were both trying to play chicken and get the other guy to lead. Finally I just went and he kept backing off because Boris was behind him. I finally got some clear track and went.”
The team has a collective soft spot for the Montreal track, having proven to be successful on the 2.7-mile circuit time and again.
“We always seem to have decent speed, and even when we’re not on pole we seem to be second or third,” said Edwards about the Stevenson qualifying record to date this season. “I think the thing we need to fight for is keeping the speed over a stint and straightaway speed as well.
"We can definitely turn a lap time, particularly when the tires are new, but we’re a bit harder on tires and are straight line speed isn’t as high. Races are always a tougher fight than qualifying.”
Saturday's two-hour race, the 11th round in the Rolex Series, is scheduled for an 11:15 a.m. ET start. The race airs live on MRN Radio and on SPEED television at 7 p.m. ET Saturday night.
RESULTS: Qualifying
With experience at Skip Barber Racing School, Lime Rock Park, and several IndyCar teams, Matt Cleary has covered open wheel and sports car racing for over a decade. Working for Sunday Group Management, Cleary also provides strategic motorsports consulting for a range of clients in the sport. You can follow him on Twitter @sundaygroup
Road Atlanta
LATEST HEADLINES: AUTO-RACING
-
PHOTOS: V8 Supercars COTA Gallery
UPDATED: View more than 150 photos from Austin as V8 Supercars Austin… -
GT: Black Falcon Mercedes Wins Rain-Soaked Nurburgring 24
Sean Edwards, Bernd Schneider, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Nicki Thiim… -
DAGYS: A Bright Future For V8 Supercars In America
John Dagys reflects back on the successful inaugural Austin 400 and… -
GT: Sofronas, Lee Win Sunday's WC GT, GTS Races At COTA
GMG Racing's James Sofronas takes Audi R8 LMS to third Pirelli World… -
MILLER: Carpenter's Simply A Great Story
Regardless of what his detractors might say, Ed Carpenter's mighty… -
V8: Whincup Dominates Austin 400
Red Bull Racing Driver wins three of the four 100km sprints in V8… -
INDYCAR: Newgarden Fastest Sunday Indy 500 Qualifier, Legge Completes…
Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing's Josef Newgarden led Sunday's final… - More News
