Crown Royal 200 At The Glen - 9ª Fecha Del Campeonato Grand Am
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Agosto 6-7, 2009.
Carrera: Viernes 7 de Agosto.
Circuito: Watkins Glen International.
Propietario: International Speedway Corporation.
Abierto desde 1953.
Superficie: Asfalto/Concreto.
Longitud: 2.45 Millas.
Nº De Curvas: 11.
Duracion: 200millas o 2:00hrs.
Esta vez la serie Gran Am utilizara el circuito corto (11 curvas)
Repeticiones por SPEED: Sabado 29 de Agosto a las 12:00md y Sabado 19 de Setiembre a las 3:30pm...
Última edición por OscarF21 el 07 Ago 2009 18:44, editado 7 veces en total.
Grand-Am: Nueva cita de García en Watkins Glen- Previo La ajetreada temporada de Antonio García sigue su curso en Estados Unidos. El piloto madrileño disputará una nueva carrera del campeonato Grand-Am, la Crown Royal 200 at the Glen, y como ya ha hecho en pruebas anteriores participará al volante del Coyote-Porsche de Spirit of Daytona Racing, teniendo como compañero de equipo al norteamericano Buddy Rice.
García y Rice dispondrán en esta ocasión del chasis Coyote más evolucionado que usaron en la Brumos Porsche 250 en Daytona y que, tras el accidente sufrido por el piloto español al pinchar un neumático, no pudieron utilizar en Alabama. García, que debutó con Spirit of Daytona Racing en Watkins Glen el pasado mes de Junio aunque en otra de las variantes del trazado de Nueva York, cuenta como mejor clasificación con un cuarto puesto logrado hace tres semanas en el Barber Motorsports Park. Para este fin de semana García y Rice tendrán con numerosas papeletas para luchar por el podio en Watkins Glen.
La lista de inscritos cuenta con 33 vehículos, con 17 Daytona Prototype y 16 GT. Entre los primeros los favoritos a la victoria serán los colíderes del campeonato, empatados a 216 puntos, Chip Ganassi Racing con el Riley-Lexus pilotado por Scott Pruett / Memo Rojas y Bob Stallings Racing con un Riley-Pontiac para Alex Gurney / Jon Fogarty. Además también son candidatos a la victoria Brian Frisselle / Max Angelelli con un Dallara-Ford inscrito por SunTrust Racing, el Riley-Ford de AIM Autosport de Burt Frisselle / Mark Wilkins, el Riley-Porsche de Brumos Racing para Darren Law / David Donohue o el Lola-Ford de Krohn Racing para Nic Jonsson / Ricardo Zonta.
Entre los GT Dirk Werner y Leh Keen defenderán el liderato que ostentan con el Porsche 911 GT3 Cup de Farnbacher Loles Racing, pues la dupla de Gregory Loles cuenta con 247 puntos por los 222 de Kelly Collins y Paul Edwards, estos últimos con un Pontiac GXP.R de Banner Racing, ahora bajo el nombre de Team Drinkin' Mate. Nick Ham y Sylvain Tremblay, con un Mazda RX-8 de Speed Source, ocupan la tercera posición provisional. Entre las novedades, en lo positivo la presencia del BMW M6 de PR1 Motorsports, pilotado por Max Hyatt y Jess Westphal, y de Marco Holzer con Farnbacher Loles Racing sustituyendo a Wolf Henzler. En lo negativo la reducción de cuatro a tres coches por parte de The Racers Group.
La carrera está programada a 200 millas o un límite temporal de dos horas, una duración inferior al resto de pruebas del campeonato. Además la calificación será el Jueves mientras la carrera tendrá lugar el Viernes.
MEMO ROJAS, A SEGUIR LA RACHA TRIUNFADORA EN WATKINS GLEN El campeón defensor de los Prototipos Daytona de la Grand-Am Series, el mexicano Memo Rojas, conjuntamente con su coequipero Scott Pruett en el TELMEX 01 de Chip Ganassi Racing con Félix Sabates, nuevamente enfrenta el circuito de Watkins Glen, en Nueva York, esta vez en la versión corta, y lo hace con el objetivo de continuar la racha ganadora que se tiene en esta pista.
Hay que recordar que tanto el pasado año como en la edición 2009 de “Las 6 Horas de Glen”, la dupla Rojas/Pruett se alzaron con la victoria, en compromisos que han sido muy disputados y con el ingrediente de la adrenalina hasta el top, como en junio pasado, cuando se ganó con apenas el combustible suficiente para recibir la bandera a cuadros.
Y hoy, de cara a la novena fecha de la temporada, la competencia se ha puesto al rojo vivo, dado que la tabla de clasificación de pilotos está muy cerrada, con un empate en la cima entre las duplas Rojas/Pruett y Fogarty/Gurney en los 216 puntos, luego que la organización en días pasados decidiera sancionar a ambos equipos por irregularidad en una pieza del tanque de abastecimiento de combustible, con menos 15 unidades cada uno.
Así, la dupla Frisselle/Angelelli se acercó a los punteros de manera contundente, ya que los separa sólo un punto. Y eso le lleva a decir al campeón reinante de la clase, Memo Rojas que: “El campeonato se ha puesto muy reñido, las distancias se han acortado entre los pilotos y equipos y ahora el asunto estribará en no cometer error alguno. Y ése será el factor para avanzar en el campeonato y estar en mejor posición de pelear el título”
“Claro que en este contexto nadie puede ceder ni aflojar un ápice: hay que trabajar con el acelerador a fondo y con un grado máximo de concentración, porque de ahí se derivará el no cometer fallas que nos lleven a perder lugares”, precisa Memo Rojas.
“Por ello mismo, estamos trabajando previo a la carrera con la precisión de un relojero, y con la mentalidad de salir a darlo todo por la victoria. No hay más”, finaliza Rojas.
Youtube <object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8-YiGbWORC4&hl ... ram><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8-YiGbWORC4&hl ... 2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object>[/youtube_hd] Andy Lally piloto del TRG Porsche Nº67 comenta sobre el circuito largo vs el circuito corto en Watkins Glen y la preparacion de su auto para este viernes.
Quotes from Max Angelelli, co-driver of the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Ford Dallara:
The SunTrust Ford Dallara was working well for you at the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen in June. Do you expect the same kind of success on the shorter track this weekend?
"Watkins Glen, the short track, is always a compromise. It's not that cut-and-dried like Daytona. At Daytona, you go one way with your setup. You don't have many options. At The Glen, you have different options. All options point toward low downforce. But the point is, how low you can go — how low do you want to go? So, really, we'll decide after the three practices. We'll see where we are, what we need. We'll check the other cars' top speeds and we will make our decision. From my perspective, my experience, it will be great to go really low on downforce, have a good top speed, and basically command the race. But in order to do that, we need to start in front and be leading the race."
The Rolex Series takes you to some very historic tracks, like Watkins Glen and Daytona. And you also race at some very impressive new circuits like Barber and New Jersey. Do you sense the history when you arrive at a track for a race?
"When we go to the Glen, we always stop under the bridge, going under the track, and look at the blue rail. You know, the barriers. We tell ourselves that they are still the same, the ones they were using in the Formula 1 days. We love history. We love talking about the old days, the NASCAR old days, the Formula 1 old days. There is so much history at The Glen and Daytona, the battles between Ferrari and Ford and Porsche, the Daytona 24-Hour. Going to Daytona, for example, we remind ourselves and think about 20 years ago, 30 years ago, what those people were doing. We are so proud to be part of that and remind ourselves of it all the time. But then, when we go to Barber and other racetracks that are brand new, I think we would like to make history. We think about how, when we talk to our children and grandchildren about going to Barber 20 years from now, we are writing history at the moment, I think, for those tracks."
Quotes from Brian Frisselle, co-driver of the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Ford Dallara:
What's on your mind as you head back to The Glen this weekend?
"I just want to have a good, solid race and kind of redeem myself for what happened at Barber. We need to get as many points as possible because the championship is tight and it's getting to be crunch time. Hopefully, we can come away with a win but, if nothing else, we need to stay as close as we can in the points with the other guys. The (No.) 99 guys always seem to be strong at The Glen. The (No.) 01, as well. We learned some things in the test (day after the race) at Barber, so the SunTrust car can be considerably better than the last time we tested on the short track at Watkins Glen (in June)."
Take us back to a year ago this weekend, when you and Mark Wilkins simply dominated the race in the No. 61 AIM Autosport Ford Riley. Was it as easy as it looked?
"It was a great weekend. Mark and I were just so focused on trying to win the race on pace after Montreal because we got a bit lucky there and wanted to show everybody we could beat them straight up. We came to The Glen and the car was an absolute dream to drive. I had the pole by a half-second on entire field. It was one of those special weekends where everything worked, everything clicked. I'm definitely looking to reproduce that with the SunTrust team this weekend."
How similar, or different, is the approach to racing on the NASCAR short course at The Glen versus the long course you race on in the six-hour event?
"The car's setup is quite a bit different for the short course at The Glen. The downforce level is different. It's much lower on the short course, and that changes things quite a bit. The GTs will be racing with us, which definitely changes the complexion of the race. They could make for an interesting race and very difficult because our closing speeds on the short course are very huge, especially in the uphill esses. We'll have to be extra careful in the race. Traffic is going to be a big thing. During my second stint at the six-hour, the (No. 12) Penske car was in front of me leaving the pits and got by one of the GTs that just came out of pit lane, and I didn't. He built a four- to five-second gap right away, and the gap stayed that way the rest of my stint. You can't afford to lose that kind of time to any of the top guys. So there may be a little bit of a sense of desperation to get by the GTs during the race for some people. But for me, in the starting role, I've just got to be smart and bring the car back in good condition and let Max do his thing."
Quotes from Wayne Taylor, co-driver and owner of the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Ford Dallara team:
You head to The Glen with just one point separating the top-three teams in the championship. How important is Friday night's Crown Royal 200?
"Like every event we go to, it's really important. The points are so tight, and it's not really just the three of us up front. There are two other teams (No. 12 Penske Racing and No. 6 Michael Shank Racing) that are only 16 points behind. This is one of the events we love doing. Obviously, Watkins Glen has been good to Max and Brian and me, and to SunTrust over the years. It's imperative that we win some races from here on out because there's not a big spread between first and third. Going on what's happened in the last couple of races, it always seems to be the same cars up front. We really have to do everything 100 percent correct —, pit stops, driver changes, everything. It's incredibly important that we leave Watkins Glen in the vicinity of where we are now in the points, hopefully ahead. Even if it is ahead, it's not going to be a lot ahead because the point differential between finishing positions is not very much."
With Friday's race being 200 miles or two hours, is there more of a sense of desperation?
"The thing about these Grand-Am events now, no matter what event you watch, I think you'll see that everybody is driving at ten-tenths, and everybody on every team is doing everything at ten-tenths. The series is so competitive. I've never seen any series as competitive as this. The big thing is, track position is everything. It is incredibly hard to pass cars in these types of races, so track position is key. Where we start the race is key, and our pit stops have got to be absolutely flawless. Whether it's a two-hour, a three-hour, or a six-hour, we approach them all the same."
- Dos pilotos nuevos tomaran parte de la carrera este viernes con el equipo Farnbacher Loles Racing.
- John Tancredi junto a Jim Pace seran los que se encarguen del Porsche #84 Farnbacher Loles/Tancredi Racing.
- El auto llevara un logo de Children’s Tumor Foundation.
ScottPruett's Blog - Champion's Corner: Watkins Glen is Strong For Us By: ScottPruett
Well, it’s starting to come down to the wire with just four races to go, and we head to Watkins Glen this weekend.
We always like going to Watkins Glen as we usually run strong there. With the win in the spring, we’ve now won four times there in a Grand-Am car since 2004. Of course, my history at The Glen goes back a little further. It seems like I’ve driven just about everything you can imagine there outside of Indy cars. Beginning in the mid ‘80s, I’ve had the opportunity to run IMSA GTU, GTO, GTP, Trans-Am, Daytona Prototypes, IROC, Nationwide and Sprint Cup – all at The Glen.
In fact, I’ve had weekends where I drove Grand-Am, Nationwide and Cup all in the same weekend. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with all the free time on my hands this weekend. Seriously, it’s one of the great road courses in America and it’s just steeped with tradition.
This weekend is a lot different than running the Six Hours preparation-wise. Running with the Cup guys makes for a quick weekend. We get an hour-and-a-half to practice Thursday, then we qualify and have a final practice late that afternoon and then we race Friday night. With so little time on the track, you really have to roll off the truck fast because there’s just not enough time to play catch-up.
We know we have a good set-up for Watkins Glen. Our No. 01 Telmex Lexus was very, very good there for the Six Hours. Of course, the spring race was run on the long course and we’ll be on the short course this weekend. It’s a lot faster and it really reminds me more of an oval, so we’re going to have to offset the car a little bit. We’ll change the camber, tow and corner weights because virtually all the turns are right-handers.
It’s been an unpredictable year in terms of results, but in some ways, it appears to be more of the same. I guess it’s not really a surprise that it’s going to come down to our No. 01 Lexus, the No. 99 and the No. 10. It seems like the same story every year. That’s three very experienced and very talented teams and all blessed with great ownership. It’s pretty easy to see it all begins at the top with those three teams with Chip (Ganassi), Bob Stallings and Wayne Taylor.
It’s going to be a fight to the finish. It’s really hard to imagine that two-thirds of the way through the season that you have three cars separated by all of one point. At this point, it’s really our own little “Chase” – a four-race run where whoever runs the best in these races, wins the championship. The fact that we ran here so well in the spring bodes well for this week, but you still have to stay out of trouble and be flawless in the pits as well. Unfortunately at Barber, we had a faulty air-jack that probably cost us the race.
Leading up to the race as I was asked recently, what’s your favorite memory at Watkins Glen? I really had to think about that. I’ve been fortunate enough to win some races there and I also had my best Cup finish there with a second. Yet, I think it very well may be winning there in the spring because the car was so dominant and so much fun to drive. The Ganassi guys did a great job during the race and I can honestly say it was one of the best race cars I’ve ever had to drive in my racing career. You don’t get cars that good very often.
Well, let’s hope we can make a few more memories this weekend. Thanks for stopping by and we’ll see you at the race track.
Hasta el momento han transcurrido 40 minutos y 20 vueltas y Scott Pruett de la Escuderia Telmex con Chip Ganassi Racing tiene el mejor tiempo de la mañana con un 1:05.884 y en GT Jeff Segal en el Mazda RX8 de Speedsource con el 1:12.764...
Hoy la Clasificacion de la DP sera a las 2:00PM y luego a las 2:25 vendra la GT, ambas duraran 15 minutos y las puede seguir por el LiveTiming & Scoring...
- Este fin de semana sera el debut del BMW M6 del equipo PR1 Motorsports que anteriormente corrian un Pontiac GXP.R!
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Jon Fogarty se lleva la Pole Position para el equipo GAINSCO/Bob Satllings Racing en DP!!!
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Leh Keen logro la Pole Position para el Equipo Farnbacher Loles Racing en el Porsche #87.
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Este fin de semana el piloto del equipo Drinkin' Mate Paul Edwards no estara presente debido a una lesion en el hombro mientras andaba en bicicleta que lo dejo fuera de esta carrera, Edwards espera estar de vuelta para la proxima cita en Montreal.
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Paul Edwards (No.07 Drinkin’ Mate Pontiac GXP.R): "I just got overconfident on a bicycle. It's
amazing. I've been racing cars for 13 years - never missed a race, never got any injury a Band-aid
couldn't heal. Never hurt in a race car, and then two wheels without a motor took me out of this race. I
got a sprain and tore about 50 percent of the ligaments in my (right) shoulder. I had elbow and knee
pads on and a helmet, just taking it easy, but my shoulder took the brunt of the fall. My car was only
four miles away. Everybody heals a little bit differently. In the textbooks, soft tissue takes four-six
weeks to heal. I'm doing everything I can. I've got 16 theropy sessions lined up when I get home. My goal
is to be back in the car at Montreal. Only time will tell."
- Jeff Segal (No. 69 Speedsource FXDD Mazda RX-8) ah establecido esta mañana durante las practicas un nuevo record con una vuelta rapida de 1:12.74 (121.213mph).
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