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GRAND-AM: GT Midseason Report
Written by: Grand-Am Communications   http://www.grand-am.com
06/28/2008 - 12:45 PM
Daytona Beach, Fla.
 
Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards (car No. 07) may lead the GT field right now, but the points might be even tighter after Daytona. (LAT photo) ยป More Photos

Eight polesitters in as many races showcases the competitive talent in this year's Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 GT division. The rollercoaster feel for the top teams - as well as the passion to gain points - looks to continue in the remaining five contests of the season.

Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards, who are tied at first with 239 points, are dealing with what some might call a slight setback from Mid-Ohio as they finished outside the top-10 for the first time this season. Unfortunately for them, they don't expect great results in the next race.

"Daytona is going to be abysmal for us and we'll be lucky to be in the top 10," said Edwards, who is slightly more optimistic about the remainder of the season for the No. 07 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R. "Every time there is a restart, we'll get passed by three or four cars and we can't pass anybody. So that one's going to take a chunk of our points lead. We've just got to focus on every race and not get a DNF [did not finish]."

Speaking of the dreaded DNF, one team which hasn't let an earlier retirement in the season stop it from being strong contenders is the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R team and its driving duo of Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell. The pair rebounded well from their disappointment during the second race of the season to win twice, and they are currently tied at fifth place with 207 points.

"Clearly, the low point was early on at Homestead (with) the steering rack problem," Liddell explained. "That was a bit of a low because we didn't finish the grid at all. We know that in this series, to be competitive in points, you have to be consistent all the way through. Having one bad result is about as much as you can stand, and so with two poor finishes earlier this season, we've really taken a bit of a kick. The upshot of that is that we began thinking we've got nothing to lose. Let's just get after it and see what we can do."

That is exactly what they have done. Liddell and Davis have proven
they are strong contenders with back-to-back victories in Mexico and VIR. Last week's Mid-Ohio race was a nail-biting battle in the finale between Liddell and Leh Keen of the No. 86 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3. Keen ultimately took the victory, earning Porsche its first GT win of the season and co-driver Eric Lux his first career Rolex Series victory.

But it did earn the No. 57 drivers the bragging rights of a fifth podium in six races and a bump in points to put them only one point shy from the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 driven by Sylvain Tremblay and Nick Ham, who are tied at third with 208 points. Like Liddell and Davis, Tremblay and Ham are concentrating on catching up to the Collins-Edwards duo, but not losing focus on their own racing to do so.

"The level of competition is such that you can't have an off-race, so the No. 07 car leads because they haven't had an off race and they probably won't," said Tremblay, who doubles as the SpeedSource team owner. "So to make up that deficit is not our focus. Our focus is to try and win races. I can't worry about them having problems like we did. They are a great team. Our team is focused on just getting as many points as possible at every event."

Ham - whose No. 69 FXDD Mazda RX-8 teammates Jeff Segal and Emil Assentato powered to the victory at Watkins Glen International - concurred.

"If we're going to start moving up (in the points), we've got to start making some end-roads into the No. 07 car," he said. "We had a couple bad races with Mexico and VIR. We really want to try and be consistent and Daytona should be good for us. We'll try not to make mistakes and (instead) get good results. We have to play on our strengths and hopefully that will minimize our weaknesses."

That's probably good advice for all the GT drivers who are in the heat of some serious competition this year. Their rollercoaster-like excitement continues next week at the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway, which will air live on SPEED at 8 p.m. ET July 3.
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