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| Watkins Glen Preview: Pontiac |
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Pontiac Daytona Prototype (DP) teams are heading directly to Watkins Glen International Raceway from Montreal for round 12 of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve to be run on Friday, August 10.
The teams will use the 2.45-mile, 12-turn Watkins Glen Short Course - the same layout that the NASCAR teams will use on the weekend. Pontiac will be looking to extend a perfect 11 for 11 pole position streak on the DP season. Also with just three races remaining the manufacturers title is well within grasp.
Following a strong weekend at Montreal, where the top four positions in the DP race were filled by Pontiac powered cars, the winning entry of Wayne Taylor's SunTrust racing team has Max Angelelli in a good position for the drivers championship, just two out. Joining Angelelli behind the wheel will be Memo Gidley for his second race with the No. 10 gang. In his first outing he helped the bankers finish ? at Barber Motorsport Park.
Max and I had a great first weekend at Barber. I felt like we had been together a long time, Gidley said. The SunTrust team really has a focus on winning. Not all teams do. It is a drivers dream to run with a top team like SunTrust. They are a fixture at the front in Grand-Am. I love high speed, tight and twisty and that is Watkins Glen, especially the short course. I am going to go out there and have some fun and help Max get closer to that championship. The team is always competitive at The Glen, so I am excited for the race and look forward to having a strong weekend.
Hot on the heels of their second place finish last weekend in Montreal, the No. 91 Riley-Mathews Pontiac team is looking for another solid run at Watkins Glen. Marc Goosens and Jim Mathews are inspired for another podium finish.
We had a good weekend at Montreal, Goosens said. We really had everything down, the car was good and the strategy was right on. We need another performance like that this weekend. I like the Watkins Glen circuit. I like it better when we run the full road course. The short layout has fast laps and really the short course is pretty simple. The technical part is when we run the Boot section. With the fast laps we can't afford a mistake on the track or in the pits.
Christian Fittipaldi and the Cheever Racing Crown Royal Special Reserve and their Fabcar Pontiac put in an excellent drive at Montreal. Combined with newcomer Antonio Garcia, the duo led a lot of laps and was a factor up front all race, finally finishing fourth.
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