Sears Point: J3 Racing race report

J3 Racing Finishes Sixth at Infineon

Sonoma, Calif. -- J3 Racing finished a disappointing sixth in round four of the American Le Mans Series Race at Infineon Raceway today.

Tim Sugden qualified the number 79/J3 Racing/Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in tenth with a time of 1:35.985 and a speed of 95 mph. The qualifying run was the worst for the team this season.

Due to the qualifying effort the team made some adjustments to the car for the warm-up and then a few more for the race. Sugden started the race from the eleventh row. The Leeds England driver pitted the car under the first caution on lap 22 after moving car up the field to sixth place. The J3 crew made some adjustments which vastly improved the cars handling. Handing over to teammate Justin Jackson, he took the track turning some of his most competitive lap times of the season.

On lap 98 with Sugden back at the wheel, he was hit in the right rear by James Weaver in the Lola prototype which resulted in a puncture. "I was gaining on the Ferrari that was ahead of us and I knew I could get by him with the time that we had left in the race. I was just going through eleven, fully aware of the Lola coming up and he must have just gotten in too deep and hit me puncturing the tire. It then took me, what seemed to be an hour, to go around the track and not hurt the car. Prior to that the adjustments that the team made and the job that Justin was doing set me up for a good run at the top four."

Teammate Justin Jackson turned some of the most competitive laps of the season. "I had a great drive today. The car felt good and I was able to really push hard. We ran a little different tire combination and I think that really helped with the handling of the car. We were on our way to a fourth place finish until the puncture."

The team transporter leaves tonight for the next weeks round five of the American Le Mans Series to be run at Portland Raceway.

-j3r-