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Practice report

Patrick Dempsey, Andy Lally return to site of team’s best 2012 finish at Road America

Lally, Dempsey near top of GTC field in No. 27 Tully’s Coffee Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in Friday practice sessions

#27 Dempsey Del Piero Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: Patrick Dempsey, Andy Lally

#27 Dempsey Del Piero Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: Patrick Dempsey, Andy Lally

Michael Tan

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (August 9, 2013) – Patrick Dempsey, Andy Lally and Dempsey Del Piero Racing in the No. 27 Tully’s Coffee Porsche 911 GT3 Cup return to historic Road America this weekend in the GTC class, seeking a repeat or better result of Dempsey’s best 2012 finish.

While driving a P2 class Lola Judd coupe a year ago, Dempsey and Joe Foster finished second in class at Road America. Now, Dempsey and Lally look to go one spot better in what would beat their best result of 2013 – second at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in May – at the 4.048-mile road course.

“Really, everything’s different about it,” Dempsey said. “From downforce to braking, you can’t really compare the two. There’s a lot more movement in the GT car, but I really love driving the Porsche. I liked doing the LMP2 car, but I never had enough seat time to feel really comfortable. Now we’re able to get the most out of the car, with Andy’s coaching and Joe’s coaching in the corners.”

#27 Dempsey Del Piero Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: Patrick Dempsey, Andy Lally
#27 Dempsey Del Piero Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: Patrick Dempsey, Andy Lally

Photo by: Michael Tan

Dempsey arrived at Elkhart Lake early Friday morning off of a red-eye flight after getting off a shoot on Thursday.

“I was just trying to stay calm really,” Dempsey said. “Yesterday was a really long day on a shoot. Grey’s Anatomy worked really hard to get me out. We went to Chicago this morning, drove up to Milwaukee, and were back here in plenty of time.”

Lally set the pace in Friday’s first one-hour practice session, at a best lap of 2:13.750. In the afternoon, Lally improved his time to a 2:13.629, which ranked fifth in class. Lally is expected to qualify the No. 27 Tully’s Coffee Porsche on Saturday.

“Yeah, I can’t complain,” Lally said. “It’s a very good start to the weekend for the Dempsey Del Piero team. We came out of the box with a very good setup straightaway. The guys made two changes; the first one helped to improve grip and the second one really helped stabilize the platform on the third heat cycle on those tires. We’re very happy with that, because usually our fastest lap is right out of the box on our first set of tires.”

Dempsey, Lally and the No. 27 team are looking for a rebound at Road America after a pair of challenging races in July. They finished seventh at Lime Rock Park after a string of issues and saw a likely podium result at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park slip to a fourth-place finish after a problem on a pit stop.

Entering the weekend, Dempsey ranks fifth in the GTC class driver points standings with 48, just three behind a pair ahead of him in fourth place.

Next up for Dempsey Del Piero Racing is GTC qualifying Saturday morning at 9:40 a.m. CDT.

Dempsey Del Piero Racing

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