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GRAND-AM
GRAND-AM: Fogarty Quickest In Final Practice At Montreal
GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing paces Practice 3 at Montreal...
GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing paced the third and final practice prior to qualifying for tomorrow's Montreal 200. (Photo: Brian Cleary/GRAND-AM)
With a series-record 22 career poles to his credit, GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing pilot Jon Fogarty has long shown himself to be the man to watch every time the green flag flies to set the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series grid.
Fogarty will will look to once again post a pole performance this afternoon at the Circuit Gilles- Villeneuve for Saturday’s Montreal 200 (SPEED, 7 PM ET), and he reminded the paddock of his intentions in the final practice as he posted a fast lap time of 1:32.202-seconds to top the time sheets.
Four of Fogarty’s 22 pole efforts have been tallied in Montreal, and the GAINSCO squad enters the event as the defending race winner. But with a 2012 season that has featured fits and starts, GAINSCO will be anxious to return to victory lane again on Saturday after not having won since 2011.
Despite the track seeing light drizzle ahead of the session, the continued progression of the temporary-use island facility was on display, and the times continued to fall through the weekend as the 2.75-mile circuit takes on rubber from both the NASCAR Nationwide and Canadian Tire Series.
Close behind Fogarty was the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Corvette with a 1:33.689-seconds lap from Max Angelelli. The time marked a considerable comeback for the team, as braking issues prevented the team from taking part in Thursday’s final practice session as Angelelli will once again be tapped for qualifying duty.
The Rolex Series GT Class saw a new name atop the sheets for the weekend, but for the Montreal race fans it was hardly surprising as Robin Liddell improved to a 1:39.385-seconds lap in the No. 57 Camaro GT.R he’ll share with Jon Edwards for Stevenson Motorsports. The team has three Montreal race wins and will look for a fourth on Saturday, although despite the speed in practice Liddell was circumspect about an easy return run to victory.
“We’ve had a good bit of success here in Montreal as a team, no question,” said Liddell. “Even without having such a great record here, we just love coming here to Montreal. It has a great atmosphere and great fans and it’s a really fun track to drive. It could be a challenge as the Porsches and BMW have had some changes recently so they should be stronger here.
"But our Camaro is very good under braking, and also over the curbs. I don’t think that we’ve got the top speed that a lot of the guys have, so we are likely to be defending. It was a shame how Watkins Glen played out for us, not to even really get to race. But hopefully we can come back and rebound with a good finish here tomorrow.”
The Montreal race is being held under an intensifying championship focus as teams and drivers will soon run out of points-paying opportunities, and the GT Class time sheets were also reflective of that as the Championship-leading No. 69 AIM Autosport Team FXDD Ferrari was second in the order with a 1:39.609 lap in pracice.
The No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 was third fastest before an issue stranded the machine on course in the closing stages of the session.
Qualifying will set the grid at 4 p.m. ET. Stay tuned for results.
RESULTS: Practice 3
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
Fogarty will will look to once again post a pole performance this afternoon at the Circuit Gilles- Villeneuve for Saturday’s Montreal 200 (SPEED, 7 PM ET), and he reminded the paddock of his intentions in the final practice as he posted a fast lap time of 1:32.202-seconds to top the time sheets.
Four of Fogarty’s 22 pole efforts have been tallied in Montreal, and the GAINSCO squad enters the event as the defending race winner. But with a 2012 season that has featured fits and starts, GAINSCO will be anxious to return to victory lane again on Saturday after not having won since 2011.
Despite the track seeing light drizzle ahead of the session, the continued progression of the temporary-use island facility was on display, and the times continued to fall through the weekend as the 2.75-mile circuit takes on rubber from both the NASCAR Nationwide and Canadian Tire Series.
Close behind Fogarty was the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Corvette with a 1:33.689-seconds lap from Max Angelelli. The time marked a considerable comeback for the team, as braking issues prevented the team from taking part in Thursday’s final practice session as Angelelli will once again be tapped for qualifying duty.
The Rolex Series GT Class saw a new name atop the sheets for the weekend, but for the Montreal race fans it was hardly surprising as Robin Liddell improved to a 1:39.385-seconds lap in the No. 57 Camaro GT.R he’ll share with Jon Edwards for Stevenson Motorsports. The team has three Montreal race wins and will look for a fourth on Saturday, although despite the speed in practice Liddell was circumspect about an easy return run to victory.
“We’ve had a good bit of success here in Montreal as a team, no question,” said Liddell. “Even without having such a great record here, we just love coming here to Montreal. It has a great atmosphere and great fans and it’s a really fun track to drive. It could be a challenge as the Porsches and BMW have had some changes recently so they should be stronger here.
"But our Camaro is very good under braking, and also over the curbs. I don’t think that we’ve got the top speed that a lot of the guys have, so we are likely to be defending. It was a shame how Watkins Glen played out for us, not to even really get to race. But hopefully we can come back and rebound with a good finish here tomorrow.”
The Montreal race is being held under an intensifying championship focus as teams and drivers will soon run out of points-paying opportunities, and the GT Class time sheets were also reflective of that as the Championship-leading No. 69 AIM Autosport Team FXDD Ferrari was second in the order with a 1:39.609 lap in pracice.
The No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 was third fastest before an issue stranded the machine on course in the closing stages of the session.
Qualifying will set the grid at 4 p.m. ET. Stay tuned for results.
RESULTS: Practice 3
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
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