Chevrolet Unveils 2012 Corvette Daytona Prototype

[Shifty]

I don't know enough about teh GrandAm, but I think I heard teh John Hindaugh mention that teh DP's had to have restrictions until it's proven that teh new body doesn't have an unfair advantage over other cars...

[MOTV8]

How do they "prove" that? Lose every race? The idea was to encourage OEM's to step in to DP with bodywork that emulates traits from street cars and Chevy stepped up with this re-hashed LMP1 project they had collecting dust at P&M. So they get restricted right off the bat? Ricockulous.

"Same as it ever was..." - David Byrne

GRANDAM: Chevrolet Racing Daytona 24H race notes, quotes

Team Chevy Racing press release

The No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype (DP) led the way for Chevrolet bringing home a fifth-place finish in the 50th running of the Rolex 24 Hour at Daytona. In Grand Touring (GT), the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R was the top finisher for Chevrolet crossing the line in fourth place in class and 14th overall. The No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Racing Corvette DP finished eighth, with the No. 9 Action Express Racing Corvette DP crossing the finish line in ninth place. The No. 88 Autohaus Motorsports Camaro GT.R made a hard charge at the end to grab the ninth finishing position in the GT class and 20th overall.

The No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing entry had the distinction of being the first Corvette Daytona Prototype to lead a lap when Alex Gurney drove to the front late in the first hour.

"We’re pretty happy," Gurney said following his first stint. "At the very beginning of the race, you’re always focused on not hitting anything and making sure no one does anything crazy on the start, and (I) was happy about that. … I didn’t have any close calls. A good start for the new Corvette."

Gurney’s father, Dan, won the inaugural series race at Daytona in 1962. The GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Corvette DP, also driven by Jon Fogarty and Memo Gidley, did lead 19 laps but experienced a number of issues and finished 13th in the Daytona Prototype (DP) class.

DARREN LAW, CO-DRIVER WITH DAVID DONOHUE AND CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI, NO. 5 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DP, FINISHED 5TH IN CLASS AND OVERALL: ON THE RACE: “You know what, that was probably one of the toughest 24 Hour I have done. We had a lot of adversity. We had some engine issues prior to the race; we had to miss qualifying. The first probably eight hours of the race, we had an electrical misfire, which really cut the motor back and we struggled. But, the guys worked really hard – Action Express, Chevrolet, Corvette – they all did a great job. I’m proud of the car. I’m proud of the team. You know, I mean, we didn’t get the win, that was what we really wanted. But the other thing I am very proud of is that we were the very first Chevrolet out of all the group out there. A top-five is a good start to the season and we are happy to finish it.”

DID YOU SEE A LOT OF PROMISE FOR THE FUTURE WITH THE NEW CORVETTE DP? “Yes, for sure. There is so much potential in this car. We literally got this car delivered to us the first of December so we barely had any time on it. For us to be in the top-five and run as well as we did; we see a lot of potential.”

YOUR ORGANIZATION HAD TO MAKE HUGE CHANGES TO GO INTO THIS SEASON: “Yes. I would say we’ve got the most adversity out of all the Corvette teams because we shifted chassis, engines and bodywork. Most the guys are just switching over bodywork. We still have a lot to learn, but we are competitive with everybody so we are happy with that.”

JOHN EDWARDS, CO-DRIVER WITH ROBIN LIDDELL AND RONNIE BREMER, NO. 57 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GT.R, FINISHED 4TH IN CLASS AND 14TH OVERALL: A FOURTH-PLACE FINISH IS A VERY GOOD WAY TO START THE SEASON, ISN’T IT? “Yeah, absolutely, especially with the endurance championship that’s going on later in the year. We got some good points for that, but it’s always hard to go through a 24-hour race, be chasing down a podium, but not quite get it. We knew this race we weren’t going to out-race the Porsches, but we tried to out-strategize them a little bit. We cut our fuel close, didn’t have to splash at the end, but in the end we still couldn’t get around or catch up to any of the top three Porsches.”

FOR THE MOST PART, IT SEEMED LIKE A PRETTY CONSISTENT RUN FOR THE TEAM THIS WEEKEND. WAS THAT THE CASE? “It was for the most part, but we actually had an incident shortly after sunrise when I was going around a lapped car in turn one. I drafted by him on the banking and left him room into one, but he must’ve missed a downshift and spun. I saw him spinning and tried to go out wide and not get hit, but he was accelerating across the wrong way of the track for me to avoid him. So, we did get hit and lost a lap from that, but we got our lap back later on.”

THE RACE SEEMED TO BE PRETTY INTENSE FROM START TO FINISH: “There’s always a different mindset in the middle of the night at Daytona or at the start of the first day than there is at the end, so the last stint that I drove was basically like a sprint race, as I was trying to pull away from the Ferrari behind me and catch up to the Porsche in front of me. So that intensity the same as a sprint race. But there is a different mindset to driving and you’re just trying to log laps and stay on the lead lap: You don’t take as many chances in traffic and you’re nicer to the car. We were saving fuel on a lot of stints. But the intensity of hitting your marks and staying focused is always at its peak.”

CAN YOU CARRY ANY MOMENTUM FROM THE RACE TO THE NEXT? “Well, the 24 is a very different race because it is 24 hours and the rest of them are less than three, so I think it’s important to have momentum and keep that going, but a lot of it depends on the tracks, depends on how we can get the car set up at certain tracks and how it’ll suit our car at different places. This track at Daytona is obviously, you know, a Porsche track, it always has been, kind of their place with the high banks and the extra horsepower they have on the straightaways. So a lot of tracks that are a tighter will suit us a little better. I think the street course in Detroit is going to suit us better, which is great because that’s where Pratt and Miller and Chevrolet is based. So, I think we’ll do well at certain places, but we always struggle to keep up at the high banks at Daytona.”

[MOTV8]

I only bring this up again because...well, they qualified well again. And it's on teh TV. So, we'll see....

GRAND-AM: Westbrook Leads Corvette 1-2-3 In Barber Qualifying

Spirit of Daytona Corvette claims DP pole

Having never seen Barber Motorsports Park until this week, Richard Westbrook proved to be a quick learner, as the Spirit of Daytona driver claimed the pole for Saturday's Porsche 250 (4 p.m. ET, SPEED).

Westbrook, piloting the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP, enjoyed a battle with two-time GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series champion Jon Fogarty during the 15-minute Daytona Prototype qualifying session, which saw an early stoppage for the beached SunTrust Corvette of Ricky Taylor.

By the time the track went back green, with less than five minutes remaining, the GM driver reeled off a best lap of 1:21.420, which was good enough to give the Troy Flis-led squad its second consecutive pole at Barber. Co-driver Antonio Garcia claimed the top spot here last year.

"The SDR boys seem to have put a really good car out here," Westbrook said. "It's felt great the last three days and felt really great in race trim, as we saw in the last practice session. But I wasn't sure if we had the overall pace to get a pole. I just got it hooked up and the car felt superb."

The Englishman edged out Fogarty's No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Corvette DP by 0.074 seconds, with Thursday's pace-setting No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette of David Donohue in third with a 1:22.379 lap time, making it a 1-2-3 sweep for the bow-tie.

"We assumed our new Corvette bodywork would be along the lines of last year's Coyote and it looks like that's the case," Fogarty said. "There's just a ton more grip, the high-speed stuff is the most comfortable.

"We have a little bit of work to do, but we're pretty happy that we've closed the gap to these guys. They were pretty much in a class of their own [here] last year."

Defending Rolex Series champions Chip Ganassi Racing was the best of the non-Chevys in fourth, thanks to Memo Rojas' 1:22.946 lap time in his No. 01 Telmex Riley-BMW, while Rolex 24 winner John Pew completed the top five aboard his Michael Shank Racing Riley-Ford.

Taylor, who earned six straight pole positions last year, was not allowed to rejoin following his early session spin, relegating the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Corvette to the ninth and final starting position. It ended the team's streak of nine consecutive front row starts.

In GT, Paul Edwards rebounded from a late practice session accident to put his Autohaus Motorsports Camaro GT.R on pole. The GM driver turned a best lap of 1:30.762 in the GT qualifying session, which was also interrupted early due to an off by the No. 94 Turner Motorsport BMW of Paul Dalla-Lana.

Edwards' Camaro sustained bodywork damage when he drove off course on his in lap during the morning's final practice session.

"It was good the team bounced back and got the car fixed and ready for qualifying," said Edwards, who will share the No. 88 car with Jordan Taylor. "They had 30 minutes before qualifying, so it was really cool to see the boys in action, getting the car fixed.

"Overall, I got a pretty good lap in and good enough to get the pole for Camaro. It's really cool that Chevy is starting first in DP and GT."

The surprise of the day came from 2010 Rolex GT Series champion Emil Assentato, who put the No. 69 AIM Autosport Team FXDD Ferrari F458 Italia on the front row in second, following a 1:30.985 lap time in the red Prancing Horse.

Assentato, who team with Jeff Segal on Saturday, are now considered one of the favorites for the class victory.

Third went to the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R of Ronnie Bremer, who is filling in for the injured John Edwards, while Eric Foss ended up the quickest of the Porsche contingent, pedaling his Horton Autosport 911 GT3 Cup car to fourth.

Dempsey Racing's Charles Espenlaub completed the top five in class.

The Porsche 250, Round 2 of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, gets underway Saturday at 12:15 p.m. CT. Catch the race on SPEED, beginning at 4 p.m. ET.

Vaderism:

http://dlstatic.speedtv.com/imageserve/0fsFcpZdfCeH4/575x459.jpg?fit=scale&background=000000

http://dlstatic.speedtv.com/imageserve/07a10CO5m2blq/575x459.jpg?fit=scale&background=000000

[MOTV8]

Ya like apples?

Garcia, Westbrook Give Spirit of Daytona First Rolex Win

After several seasons of being fast but fragile, Antonio Garcia and Richard Westbrook brought the #90 Spirit of Daytona to the checkered flag ahead of the rest of the field by a margin of 2.362 seconds, winning the team’s first Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series race.

The finishing margin belies the total dominance the Spirit of Daytona car demonstrated. The SoD Corvette-Coyote looked like the Telmex-Ganassi Riley-BMW of the past two seasons, driving away from the rest of the field.

The team had opened a gap of 23 seconds with eight minutes left in the race when debris in Turn 12 brought out a full-course caution, bringing all the cars together. This gave a final chance to Alex Gurney in the #99 Gainsco/Stallings Corvette-Riley and Scott Pruett in the #01 Telmex-Ganassi Riley-BMW, which pitted for fresh tires. Despite his best efforts, Gurney couldn’t catch Antonio Garcia in the #90. Pruett pushed his way from fifth on the restart to third in only two laps, but couldn’t close the gap to Gurney.

In GT Jonathan Bomarito and Sylvain Tremblay took the win in their #70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8. This pair took the lead through pitwork and then opened a 13.5-second gap over the competition by the final caution. Bomarito managed to hold off former teammate Jeff Segal in the #69 AIM-FXDD Ferrari 458 to win the class by .852 seconds.

1st and 2nd for teh DP vettes, how do ya like dem apples?

Da CR kid Jordan Taylor finished 6th in GT in his Camaro.

[Desertdawg]

I have teh race tagged for teh DVR at 10 tonight, and nice teh vadered pics.....

[Shifty]

Is there a site to stream teh race, like teh ALMS?

[Desertdawg]

watched teh race today. Damn that DP tried to play submarine in the grass... Nice coverage !!!!

[MOTV8]

Is there a site to stream teh race, like teh ALMS?

I'm not sure, but Youtube has a 6 minute highlight reel up: Porsche 250 highlights

Teh muddy noseplant was hilarious!

But Angelelli has always been an ass, and if he pulls anymore Vette on Vette crime I'm gonna sic teh Dawg on him.

[MOTV8]

Valiante to Fill In at Spirit of Daytona

Grand-Am and ALMS veteran Michael Valiante will co-drive the Spirit of Daytona Racing Coyote-Corvette Daytona Prototype when regular driver Antonio Garcia has schedule conflicts, according to Grand-Am.com.

Valiante will drive with Richard Westbrook at Rolex Sports car Series events at New Jersey, Detroit, Mid-Ohio, and Montreal.

Valiante drove with SunTrust/Wayne Taylor Racing in 2008 and Michael Shank Racing in 2009–2011, and has driven the JDX GTC Porsche in the American Le Mans Series this season, scoring numerous poles, podiums and fastest laps.

“I’ve had my eye on Valiante for a while now. When we began our search for drivers at the beginning of the season Michael’s name always came up,” said Spirit of Daytona team owner Troy Flis on Grand-Am.com. “I’m excited that we have an opportunity to work together now and feel confident that Michael will be a great fit with our team and will love racing in our Corvette DP.”

“I’m really looking forward to joining Spirit of Daytona for these events. I have had the opportunity to do a little testing with SDR and feel very comfortable with the new Corvette DP and with the team,” added Valiante. “They are fresh off a win at Barber and have a lot of momentum. It’s a very exciting time to be joining the Spirit of Daytona team and Grand Am.

Antonio Garcia, Richard Westbrook’s regular co-driver at SDR, also drives for the ALMS Corvette Racing team. He will be at ALMS events in Laguna Seca while Grand Am is at New Jersey and Road America while Grand Am races at Montreal. Garcia will drive all other Grand Am Rolex races in 2012 including this weekend’s Grand Prix of Miami.

[MOTV8]

PREVIEW: Rolex Series Grand Prix of Miami

As the Grand-Am Rolex Series heads to Homestead for the third round of the 2012 season, maximizing strategy and a balanced setup on the second “roval” is key to success. Homestead's 2.3-mile, 11-turn infield road course and banking is notoriously abrasive on tires for both classes.

“Homestead is different with the 'roval' concept, and you absolutely kill the right side tires on the banking,” explained Jeff Segal of AIM Autosport Team FXDD, driver of one of the Ferrari 458s. “You tend to scorch the tires. The track's gritty, tough and abrasive where wear and degradation is a problem.

“Being good on the banking is critical to lap time and to driver confidence here,” he added. “If you have a car doing something it shouldn't on the banking, it takes it's toll. You can overcome a mistake in a second- or third-gear corner, but a mistake on the banking and you end up with a face full of wall.”

In the Daytona Prototype category, there's a logjam at the top with 10 points separating the top six teams in the championship. Still, it's BMW that's behind, as the only one of the three engine manufacturers without a win so far this year. Telmex Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates' Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas won this race last year with their previous-generation Riley-BMW, but are off to a sluggish start by their own illustrious standards with sixth and third-place results in the first two races.

The Ford-powered contingent leads the standings, with Starworks' Ryan Dalziel and Enzo Potolicchio lead the sister Riley Ford squad Michael Shank Racing by only two points. Shank's team seeks a bounce-back from its strange incident the last race at Barber where a wayward Sahlen's Mazda RX-8 forced John Pew off track.

Meanwhile, Corvette recovered from its Daytona disappointment in a big way at Barber. Spirit of Daytona's Richard Westbrook and Antonio Garcia swept to their first, the team's first, and Corvette's first Daytona Prototype victory from pole position – as Corvette DPs ran 1-2 and finished in three of the top five positions.

Two teams running Corvettes, Action Express and SunTrust Racing, had good Homestead setups a year ago with their older cars, both finishing on the podium, and hope to transfer that over to the cars now running the Corvette bodykits. GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing has yet to record a Homestead victory in its five previous tries, but should still be quick this weekend.

The GT battle should be more enticing than at Barber, where strategy helped propel the SpeedSource RX-8 to victory by a lap. Any of the improving AIM Autosport Team FXDD Ferrari 458, either of the Magnus or TRG Porsches, which should be running 4.0-liter engines as opposed to 3.8-liter ones, the Autohaus or Stevenson Camaros, or defending race champion Turner Motorsport with its BMW M3, figure to be in contention.

Bomarito, who admitted much of SpeedSource's success hinges on a strong strategy, described his expectations heading into Homestead.

“We have to maximize our points at these upcoming races,” Bomarito said. “So far we've been perfect so far, but we have to keep it up to compensate for a relative disadvantage to the field right now. It's next to impossible for us to come back if we have a setback.

“This is a difficult track,” he added. “It's low-speed and low-grip through the corners, but you need a good car through the oval and a good platform. To get the power down, you do need some understeer. The engineers earn their money here.”

Sleepers include the Sahlen's and Dempsey Racing Mazdas, APR Motorsport's Audi R8, and the Horton Autosport Porsche driven by Eric Foss and Patrick Lindsey – Foss qualified fourth with the team's new 2012-spec GT3 Cup at Barber in the team's first start of the year. (Not givin' teh vette or Camaros a chance, eh?)

Extreme Speed Motorsports makes its second start of 2012, with Homestead roughly two hours south of the team's Tequesta, Fla. base. Guy Cosmo and Ed Brown will drive the team's Tequila Patron Ferrari 458.

Oryx Racing has withdrawn its Audi ahead of the race as team owner Humaid Al Masaood will tend to unexpected business commitments, which leaves him and co-driver Steven Kane high and dry.

• The Rolex Series Grand Prix of Miami airs live on SPEED Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern.

[MOTV8]

GRAND-AM: Heavy Rains Cut Final Practice Short

Scott Pruett quickest in abbreviated final practice for today's rain-soaked Grand Prix of Miami...

Final practice for today's Grand Prix of Miami (1 p.m. ET, Live! SPEED) was cut short due to heavy rains that continued to fall around Homestead-Miami Speedway.

With GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series cars aquaplaning around the flooded 2.3-mile roval, with very little to no visibility, officials stopped warmup halfway through the planned 30-minute session.

The No. 01 Telmex Chip Ganassi Racing Riley-BMW of Scott Pruett posted the quickest time of the abbreviated session, a 1:27.929 compared to Robin Liddell's 1:31.018, which led the way in the GT ranks.

Conditions don't appear to be improving, which could make this afternoon's planned two-hour and 45-minute race one of the most unpredictable in recent years.

Qualifying was rained out too so they're lining up by points, could be a demolition derby today...

[Shifty]

Do you folk know of a decent free streaming site for Grand Am?

[MOTV8]

I call it Speed TV.

Spoiler alert.

GRAND-AM: SunTrust Wins Rain-Shortened Grand Prix Of Miami

Max Angelelli, Ricky Taylor give Corvette DP back-to-back Rolex Series wins...

SunTrust Racing's Ricky Taylor and Max Angelelli scored their first GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series victory of the season in what turned into a rain-shortened Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

GRAND-AM officials called the rain-soaked race one hour early following torrential downpours and lack of visibility plagued the opening one hour and 45-minute battle.

AIM Autosport scored top honors in GT.

[Shifty]

[MOTV8]

Such ribald debauchery is unheralded!

[Shifty]

Such ribald debauchery is unheralded!

Are you sure? I'm pretty sure I heralded it...

[MOTV8]

Huh, I haven't seen any herald of imminent boobage. Check your heralder.

Teh recap, if you're into reading...

SunTrust Wins Rain-Shortened Rolex Grand Prix of Miami

HOMESTEAD, Fla.—It didn’t rain steadily throughout the entire Grand Am Rolex Grand Prix of Miami—sometimes it rained very hard. The track was so wet the race had to start under yellow, and soaked when the green flag waved and got wetter with every passing minute. After two hours, the last 37 minutes run under caution, Grand Am officials had to call the race.

The race win went to the series’ odd couple—45-year-old veteran Max Angelelli and 21-year-old rising star Ricky Taylor, driving the #10 SunTrust Dallara-Corvette. Angelelli started ninth and worked his way up to third before handing off to Taylor, who inherited the lead when the second-place car rammed the leader. Taylor dodged the spinning cars and stayed in the lead until the race was stopped.

“Every year we come here, we’re not really looking forward to it because our car doesn’t normally suit this track,” Taylor told the post-race press conference. “Our guys did a great job. Even in the dry we had a winning car.

“I was hoping Max wouldn’t do such a good job so I could get in the car without a lot of pressure and start in the middle of the pack but he did an unbelievable job as always, getting up to third,” Taylor joked. “All I had to do pretty much was avoid the crash in Turn Two and then not crash myself.”

The rain didn’t prevent a full race’s worth of competition. Despite the difficult conditions, the drivers were there to race and they went all out between the frequent caution periods caused by storm cells blowing through.

Enzo Potolicchio in the #8 Starworks Riley Ford started from the pole by dint of having the most championship points, since qualifying was cancelled due to rain. Richard Westbrook in the #90 Spirit of Daytona Coyote Corvette pressed Potolicchio from the green flag, finally pushing past on lap ten.

Potolicchio kept hard after Westbrook, and on lap 28 tried too hard, nudging the SDR Coyote off the track in Turn Two. Ricky Taylor in the #10 SunTrust Dallara-Corvette swept past the two spinning cars to seize the lead. Potoloicchio overtook Taylor on the next lap, but the Starworks driver was handed a stop-and-hold penalty for punting Westbrook. This gave the race lead back to Taylor.

Eight drivers spun off the track in the next ten minutes as the rain intensified and ponds and rivers formed on the course. At 2:23 p.m., after 45 minutes of racing and 30 minutes of caution, the yellow flag waved for the final time.

The field continued to circulate behind the pace car, waiting for the rain to stop, but it got worse instead. At three p.m. the checkered flag waved, giving SunTrust’s Ricky Taylor and Max Angelelli their first win of the 2012 season.

Ferrari made a heralded return to Rolex Series competition this season with its new, GRAND- AM-specific Italia 458 and it took just three races for the prancing horse to return to victory lane in GT competition courtesy of Segal and Assentato in the No. 69 FXDD Ferrari 458. It was the first GT victory for Ferrari since winning the 2003 Rolex Series season finale at Daytona International Speedway.

“I’m just really, really excited about the direction this program is heading,” Segal said. “Obviously, we have a lot of races left to go, but I think everybody is comfortable with the car. We're comfortable with each other, so we're hoping that this is the start of a good run this season.”

The victory also moved 2010 Rolex Series GT champions Segal and Assentato into the points lead by three points, 90-87, over No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche GT3 co-drivers Andy Lally and John Potter, who finished seventh. Dane Cameron and Wayne Nonnamaker finished second in GT in the No. 42 TheRaceSite.com Mazda RX-8, while Robin Liddell and Ronnie Bremer took third in the No. 57 Stevenson Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro GT.R.

The final irony? Half an hour after the race ended, the rain stopped and the sun came out for the first time all weekend.

The Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series heads northeast for its next race, the Global Barter 250 at New Jersey Motorsports Park on May 13.

[Marco]

Such ribald debauchery is unheralded!

Are you sure? I'm pretty sure I heralded it...

As soon as i find a dictionary, I'm gonna kick your ars.

[Shifty]

Such ribald debauchery is unheralded!

Are you sure? I'm pretty sure I heralded it...

As soon as i find a dictionary, I'm gonna kick your ars.

I hope you gots teh big feet to match said over-sized buttocks!

[MOTV8]

Suntrust Corvette DP wins again in NJ

[Desertdawg]

Watched it today, was a fun race... Damn BMW DP took out the Gainseco Corvette with 2 stupid moves at once... And happy the mazda didn't win the GP class, Ferarhhhee got it with a Camaro close behind!

[Big Poppa]

It was a good race today. I don't know what the hell Pruett was thinking with that move....

[MOTV8]

Well, he IS Scott Pruett...

GRAND-AM: Fogarty On Detroit Pole With Gainsco Corvette

After leading the wet first practice session this morning, the Red Dragon claimed pole for tomorrow's Live! Rolex Series race at Detroit on SPEED.

After leading the wet first practice session this morning, the GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing "Red Dragon" Corvette piloted by Jon Fogarty claimed pole for tomorrow's Live! Rolex Series race at Detroit (SPEED, 5 p.m. ET).

The Californian's lap of 1:22.36 just pipped the 1:22.44 set by Italy's Max Angelelli in the SunTrust Racing Corvette.

Terry Borcheller made it a clean sweep for Corvette at General Motors' home race in third with a lap of 1:23.01 seconds in the No. 5 Action Express Racing machine.

In GT, Guy Cosmo scored Extreme Speed's maiden Rolex Series pole with a lap of 1:27.96 in the Ferrari F458.

John Edwards was second at 1:28.49 in the Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R, and Andrew Davis completed the GT top 3 for Brumos Racing in his Porsche with a 1:29.35.

and deep inside teh 'fro...

Q&A: Boris Said on Corvettes and Detroit

Boris Said drives the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Corvette in the Rolex Series GT class, which this weekend will be racing in the Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle.

Q. Could you tell us what role the Detroit Grand Prix has played in your career?

BORIS SAID: Basically, it started my career in racing, because I never watched car racing on TV. I never had any interest in doing it. And I was a motorcycle dealer at the time. A friend of mine who owned a Ford dealership gave me a trip to the Detroit Grand Prix, and from that trip I ended up meeting Bob Sharp and I saw Formula 1 cars on the track. I decided I wanted to go by a Formula 1 car. That's the only thing I was thinking about, how cool it was, and I was completely addicted being there 10 minutes.

Of course, I didn't go out and buy a Formula 1 car. Bob Sharp talked some sense into me about going to Skip Barber and buying a stock car and starting off there. But from that point being there it was just in my – that's all I wanted to do for the rest of my life. And it's pretty much 26, 27 years ago now.

Q. You raced in NASCAR some. How much has of that carries over to racing in the Grand-Am series?

BORIS SAID: NASCAR is a different animal. I mean, it feels almost like a different discipline altogether. Like golf and tennis – they're two separate things.

I mean, driving a car on the edge, that feel you get through your butt is the same. But driving one of those big, heavy cars with all that horsepower is a completely different discipline than driving a Corvette, a lot of grip.

But then saying that, racing's racing. When you're competing and on the track with racing wheel to wheel, I mean, some of that is the same. But it feels like it's as different as golf and tennis to me.

Q. Which of the racing series you've run was the most challenging to adapt to and why?

BORIS SAID: That's a tough question. I've run so many. But racing NASCAR was probably the toughest because I never ran any ovals growing up. Everything I did was sports car racing. So when you step out of your backyard and step out of something as different as stock cars and then to go up against the level of competition stock cars have, that's the biggest thing about NASCAR, is just how deep the field is and how hard it is to even make the races much less try to compete for a win. So that's definitely been the toughest test of my racing career.

Q. This being Grand-Am's first street course race since I believe 2006, when it ran at Long Beach, what are you expecting from your competitors temperament-wise?

BORIS SAID: The one thing is Grand-Am is a lot like NASCAR – you have a lot of temperament in the beginning of the race, but the last 20 minutes or half hour, if you've seen any of these races, I mean, it's kind of like you pull the pin on a hand grenade and put it in a Doberman Pinscher's mouth, it's going to be a street fight.

There's going to be action. There's going to be passing. A lot more passing than you'll see with Indy cars, and it will be some aggressive driving. So I think the tempers will be controlled until that last 20-minute run to the checker.

Q. The last race at New Jersey there was a little bit more door-to-door banging between the DPs and GTs, are you a little more concerned there being no run-off area here at Detroit?

BORIS SAID: No, street races are tough. But the track in New Jersey is a really tough track to pass on for some reason, just the way the circuit is.

And the DPs and the GT cars were closer in time than at most tracks. But in saying that, I mean street courses are just tough because there is no run-off and one little mistake you're in the concrete, and the concrete always wins.

It's definitely going to have to be a game of give and take between the GT cars and the DP cars. But for the most part we get along pretty good. And the good guys there, you know, give the GT cars room when they're racing and we give them room when we see them racing. So I think it will be OK.

Q. Talk a little bit about your experiences racing at Detroit, and I know you ran there in Trans-Am a couple of times. Iis there anything you take from those past experiences to this weekend's event?

BORIS SAID: Street races in general are a little different discipline, again, like a normal race, like when we go to Mid-Ohio or New Jersey or Barber. We go out on the track first on Friday. So the track's going to be really green.

So you really have to be patient and the change you do to the car and how much aggression -- how much you attack the racetrack, because the track will keep getting better and better and better and rubber end, the fastest laps will be probably at the end of the race. You've got to keep your emotions in control so you don't make a mistake and put it in the barriers. That's the biggest thing. A street race, to be fast, you gotta have a lot of confidence and you can't make any mistakes.

And Detroit, as I remember from Trans-Am, it's a pretty tough track. It's really technical. To be fast, you've got to really, really trust yourself and run close to the walls and be in the gas before you can even see the exit.

And there's a lot of camber bits in the past. I don't know if it will be the same. But there's good places to pass. And I'm expecting a really good race. I'm looking at the weather and I'm more concerned about the rain more than the track. I think the rain will even throw another monkey wrench in the equation and make it even tougher.

Q. The DP field seems to dwindle as each year goes by. And I'm wondering whether that's just the effects of the economy or whether there's something else going on there. What are your thoughts on that?

BORIS SAID: I think it's the effects of the economy. Everywhere in America everything is shrinking, whether you go to any sporting event, any race series right now. Corporate America's struggling. So hopefully, this year being an election year and hopefully we'll get some new government in there that can do its job. I'm sure America is going to come back sooner rather than later and when it does, racing will come back, Grand-Am will come back.

You look at the lower ranks of Grand-Am and Continental Challenge, we have 70 cars every weekend. And that's a great series. So as you get up to the higher levels it costs more money and money is scarce. So I think Grand-Am's done an unbelievable job making equal cars that are affordable and having good racing compared to some of the other road race series, America Le Mans where you go there and they have three P1 cars, that's not a race. That's testing with champagne at the end of the day.

So I think Grand-Am has a really good formula, and I think once the economy comes back it's going to thrive even more.

Q. Whenever I have NASCAR fans complain to me about how they don't like the racing because the cars all look the same, and it's like IROC and they long for the good old days when they had stock cars. I always tell them if that's the kind of racing they like, if they really like stock cars they ought this check out the Continental Tire Series and most of them have never heard of it. Do you think it would be good for Grand-Am and for NASCAR in general to promote that series as a more of a true stock car series?

BORIS SAID: I'm not really sure on the business of it. But if that series was brought in front of the masses, I mean, it's exciting. You're going to see cars that you can identify with, because they're pretty much street cars. You're going to see aggressive driving. You're going to see a lot of crashes and a lot of passing.

So it's an exciting series. And I think it's one of the best kept secrets in racing. A lot of guys you've never heard of. Young up-and-coming Americans trying to make a name for themselves in road racing and there's a lot of talent in the Continental Challenge Series. I think Grand-Am has a pretty good ladder system to make it in auto racing right now.

But, yeah, I think it would be cool if the Continental Challenge Series could run at Watkins Glen on a Cup weekend. Logistically it's a problem because there's so many cars, but that's what I would like to see.

Q. Staying with the Continental theme for a second, BMW has had a lot of success the last couple of years, but this year they've been pegged back a little bit by Grand-Am. So much so even some of the teams have gone to a different brand. Is that a concern for you and the Turner guys, or is it a little fun you guys are having before you get back to it?

BORIS SAID: Grand-Am is a tough job when you have so many different kinds of cars, different makes, to try to make them all equal. Somebody's always going to be whining and crying.

BMW can't win every year. And they've been dominant the last couple of years. Mostly because I think just the quality of the teams and the drivers that are in them. But I think it will all come around. I mean, right now it looks like Porsche has a little advantage. Some tracks it won't. But Grand-Am's good about making adjustments and getting it equal. So they're not too quick to react.

They don't make knee-jerk decisions, but they'll always do the right thing and they're always trying to make it like NASCAR where everyone has a equal playing field. We're not too concerned about it. We'll whine about it like everybody else. But I'm sure it will get better as the year goes on.

Q. With rain in the forecast this weekend and three races in the next few weeks, how much is that a concern from the cockpit side to make sure you don't tear up the cars because of the natural wear and tear that's going to go through on the cars and the crew as well over this month of June?

BORIS SAID: As a driver, you can't really think about it. You have to think of each race as the last race you'll ever run. We've got to think about the best job we can do to try to get the best finish we can. And worrying about crashing isn't one of them.

Being patient on the street course is definitely a concern, because in my history of street racing, there's always a lot of cautions. There's always a lot of carnage, and Ernie Irvan told me you need to race the racetrack and you need to be there at the end and I don't think there's a truer statement for a street course. So we'll watch our Ps and Qs but at the end of the race we're going to run it like it's the last time we're ever going to get to drive a car.

Q. How competitive do you expect Whelen's Corvette that you co-drive with Eric Curran this weekend, given the state of the GT class with Ferrari coming in with two straight victories?

BORIS SAID: Yeah, I look at that Ferrari and I think it's one of the best-looking cars ever going down pit lane. When I look at how expensive it is, it should be faster. I think they probably have an advantage right now, but they're new to the series, just like the Continental Challenge I'm sure that Grand-Am will probably have some adjustments to that car if they keep winning races.

But in saying that, I think our Whelen Corvette has been pretty competitive at every racetrack. We've had some problems, some our own doing and some just bad luck, I think -- I expect to be competitive at Detroit.

[P51tj]

"But in saying that, I think our Whelen Corvette has been pretty competitive at every racetrack. We've had some problems, some our own doing and some just bad luck, I think -- I expect to be competitive at Detroit."

May have to think again Boris, sorry but you ALL your "brothers" look to have done well.

I let the regulars fill in all the peticulars!

[MOTV8]

Teh Timmeh burnin on teh fro! Love it!

Give em props, J.T. wins in his Camaro while teh A.E. DP vettes brought it home 1 - 2 overall!

GRAND-AM: Action Express Scores 1-2 Win For Corvette In Detroit

Joao Barbosa leads home an Action Express Racing 1-2 on the streets of Detroit with teammate David Donohue in tow. Jordan Taylor also wins for GM in GT.

Sometimes, change can be good. Action Express made a surprising swap to the team driver line up ahead of Round 5 of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series as the series staged its first-ever race in Detroit on the temporary street circuit on Belle Isle.

That decision proved prescient as the team scored a convincing 1-2 finish for Corvette with Darren Law and Joao Barbosa taking a .440-second victory over teammates Terry Borcheller and David Donahue in the Chevrolet GRAND-AM Detroit 200 on Saturday. Both team cars had to overcome significant track position setbacks on the day, but had the pace to charge to the front in the two hour sprint race that saw dramatic action with two race-leading Corvettes not making it to the finish after contact.

The TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates duo of Memo Rojas and Scott Pruett kept their championship campaign healthy with a run to third place despite having electronic issues with their BMW-Riley.

Autohaus Autosport made it a double celebration for the Chevrolet camp as Jordan Taylor and Paul Edwards made their first visit to the podium of the season with a Rolex GT Class victory in the Camaro GT.R. The MazdaSpeed duo of Sylvain Tremblay and Jonathan Bomarito finished second, with Robin Liddell and John Edwards rounding out the podium with a run to third in their Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro GT.R.

The pole-winning GAINSCO entry opened the race the same way it had run for much of the weekend - out front as Fogarty paced the opening 19 laps. A full course caution triggered a series of pit stops that saw the SunTrust squad get Ricky Taylor in the car and back on track, leaping to the lead as the No. 99 rejoined in eighth.

On the restart, Taylor stretched the advantage with a 12 lap run at the point. But after making a stop during a second caution period, his race was run as he made contact with the wall exiting the pits and damaged the suspension on his Corvette.

“We had a car that I think should’ve won the race,” said a chagrined Taylor. “I just pushed too hard on pit out and I kind of overestimated the grip level of the pit lane and made a mistake and hit the wall. I feel really bad for the whole SunTrust team and hopefully I can make up for it at Mid-Ohio. I just feel really bad because, with how close the championship is, you want to win every race where we’re strong. I just wish I wouldn’t have made a mistake and we could’ve taken advantage of this good car. The pit stops were perfect, the strategy was perfect. The call to pit there was perfect. It was all going well and it was just my mistake.”

The No. 9 of Barbosa moved to pick up the Corvette baton at the front, but confusion through the caution period pit cycles saw both GAINSCO and Action Express suffer as the former skipped a pit thinking the pits were closed and falling to eighth, and the latter getting shuffled back to ninth to the back of the pack after not getting picked up by the pace car.

The sister Action Express No. 5 of Donahue, which had been called to serve a drive though for contact with a GT during Borcheller’s stint, took charge at the front. But the blue Corvette of Richard Westbrook was making a surge to the front as the Spirit of Daytona squad looked to build on their breakthrough victory at Barber Motorsports Park.

Westbrook’s strong run quickly came undone as that same aggression that pushed him to the front cost him as a tangle with GT traffic damaged the Corvette’s suspension after leading a single lap. Meanwhile, Barbosa had shaken off the disappointing track position setback and was now the man on the hunt as he tracked down his Action Express teammate Donahue.

The duo fought for the lead, with Barbosa making a confident pass for the point as the two made side to side contact. A final restart with just 10 minutes to go saw Barbosa fend off his teammate’s charge as he scored his first Rolex Series win of 2012.

“It was a hard race,” said Barbosa. “There was a little confusion entering one of the yellows when I was leading and I ended up being in the back, but the car was quick so I was able to make up ground fast. It was just a perfect race. The car was really good. So I’m really proud to win for Corvette here in Detroit and for the Action Express guys to be first and second here is a really big result for us. It was a big change to our driver line up. Who knows if the outcome was the same if we kept the same line up. It was just a perfect race for us. I mean we are first and second so it couldn’t get any better than that.”

Donahue voiced his displeasure on the team radio during the SPEED broadcast, and anticipates having a conversation with his teammate about the move.

“We’re going to have to aren’t we?” said Donahue. “To be honest, I’m not willing to stick it under my teammate, and he was. So that’s just the way it goes I guess. I always consider myself a team player and think of the big picture. We brought it home 1-2 and that’s what counts. We personally live together on the road so it’s kind of like brothers fighting. We end up making up and whatever. It’s disappointing, but it is what it is.”

Donahue didn’t want the dispute for the lead to take away the hard work that Action Express put into its winning effort.

“I think this team has done the work to be filling the podium long before this race came about,” said Donahue. “We had some adversity early on with the drive-through and the timing of the yellows sort of helped a little bit and we ended up with the track position plus some pretty fast cars. It’s fantastic to do it within eyeshot of the GM headquarters in the 60th anniversary colors of the Corvette in the Chevy sponsored event. So we couldn’t be happier. The team really deserves it - everyone should be proud.”

The GT race saw Guy Cosmo turn his pole position into a nearly 10-second advantage before a balky pit stop and subsequent procedural penalty put paid to the race-winning aspirations he shared with co-driver Scott Sharp. Dion Von Moltke took the lead in his APR Audi, but a quick rain shower saw him spin into the tires. Despite the high-speed hit, the R8 was back on track shortly thereafter.

Patrick Lindsey then pushed his Porsche to the front for Horton Autosport before pitting and turning the lead over to Taylor’s Camaro. Pit strategy saw the Dempsey Racing Mazda of Charles Espenlaub leading eight laps before Taylor retook the lead for the final 25 laps to score the duo’s first podium result of the year.

"Obviously everyone came into the race a little bit blind,” said Taylor, who is already en route to Le Mans to participate in the Test Days with Corvette Racing. “We only got a limited time running in the dry so I think whoever off-loaded the truck the best was going to have a good shot at it, and we definitely had that. It’s great to have a result like this here in Detroit.”

The Rolex Sports Car Series will travel just down the road to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the EMCO Gears Classic, which will be broadcast LIVE on SPEED June 9th at 4:30 PM ET. The weekend will also feature the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series, which will be a feature broadcast on June 17th at 12:00 p.m. ET.

Pos., Car #, Class, Pos. in class, Driver, Team/Car

1 9 DP 1 Joao Barbosa Action Express Racing - Corvette DP

2 5 DP 2 David Donohue Action Express Racing - Corvette DP

3 01 DP 3 Scott Pruett Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates - BMW Riley

4 99 DP 4 Alex Gurney GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing - Corvette DP

5 60 DP 5 Oswaldo Negri Jr Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian - Ford Riley

6 8 DP 6 Ryan Dalziel Starworks Motorsport - Ford Riley

7 2 DP 7 Lucas Luhr Starworks Motorsport - Ford Riley

8 7 DP 8 Colin Braun Starworks Motorsport - Ford Riley

9 88 GT 1 Jordan Taylor Autohaus Motorsports - Camaro GT.R

10 70 GT 2 Jonathan Bomarito SpeedSource - Mazda RX-8

11 57 GT 3 Robin Liddell Stevenson Motorsports - Camaro GT.R

12 69 GT 4 Jeff Segal AIM Autosport Team FXDD with Ferrari - Ferrari 458

13 94 GT 5 Bill Auberlen Turner Motorsport - BMW M3

14 44 GT 6 Andy Lally Magnus Racing - Porsche GT3 Cup

15 03 GT 7 Scott Sharp Extreme Speed Motorsports - Ferrari 458

16 42 GT 8 Dane Cameron Team Sahlen - Mazda RX-8

17 43 GT 9 Wayne Nonnamaker Team Sahlen - Mazda RX-8

18 73 GT 10 Eric Foss Horton Autosport - Porsche GT3 Cup

19 51 GT 11 Dion von Moltke APR Motorsport - Audi R8 GRAND-AM

20 31 GT 12 Eric Curran Marsh Racing - Corvette

21 59 GT 13 Leh Keen Brumos Racing - Porsche GT3 Cup

22 67 GT 14 Spencer Pumpelly TRG - Porsche GT3 Cup

23 90 DP 9 Richard Westbrook Spirit of Daytona Racing - Corvette DP

24 41 GT 15 Charles Espenlaub Dempsey Racing - Mazda RX-8

25 40 GT 16 Joe Foster Dempsey Racing - Mazda RX-8

26 10 DP 10 Ricky Taylor SunTrust Racing - Corvette DP

27 46 GT 17 Jeff Nowicki Michael Baughman Racing - Corvette

Le Mans...can you smell it?