SCC: Watkins Glen: Friday practice summary

Angelelli Clocks Best Practice Lap for Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 10, 2005) -- In Friday's practice sessions at Watkins Glen International, Daytona Prototype co-points leader Max Angelelli logged a best lap of 1:45.097 (116.464 mph) in the No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Riley to top the time charts in preparation for Sunday's Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen (SPEED Channel, Live, Part 1 -- 10:00 a.m. ET, Part 2 -- 12:30 p.m. ET).

In warm and humid conditions, Angelelli's best lap came during the first of the day's two practice sessions. However, co-driver Wayne Taylor was quickest in the afternoon session, albeit with a lap nearly two seconds slower than Angelelli's morning flyer. Taylor and Angelelli are hoping that today's performance is a precursor to a strong weekend as they look to build on their five-point lead in the Daytona Prototype driver standings over Scott Pruett and Luis Diaz (155-150).

"Obviously, I'm very happy with the car and everything," Angelelli said. "We seem to have a nice car for the race. We just plan to carry on and tune a little more, and we're ready to go."

Pruett ran the day's second-fastest lap in the No. 01 CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley, clocking a best time of 1:46.409 (115.028 mph). Pruett--who also turned his best lap in the morning session--and the No. 01 team are the defending champions of the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen. He and Diaz have been chipping away at the No. 10 duo's points lead over the past few races, and a repeat performance of the team's 2004 success could give them the top spot in the standings for the first time all season.

"We have a reasonable race car but are still looking to make a few changes on old tires," Pruett said. "We will see how it is for qualifying tomorrow."

Third-quickest was Jorg Bergmeister in the No. 66 Krohn Racing/TRG Pontiac Riley at 1:46.550 (114.876 mph). The German and his co-driver, Christian Fittipaldi, have been among the fastest drivers throughout the early portion of the 2005 season, but the teammates are still looking for their first victory of the season.

Stefan Johansson made it two Chip Ganassi Racing cars in the top-four positions as he turned-in a best lap of 1:46.919 (114.479 mph) in the No. 02 New Century Mortgage Lexus Riley. Johansson shares the No. 02 with Cort Wagner, and they too are seeking their first victory of the season this weekend.

Porsche factory driver Lucas Luhr completed the top five on the strength of a best lap at 1:47.084 (114.303 mph) in the No. 58 Red Bull Porsche Fabcar for Brumos Racing. Luhr is sharing the No. 58 this weekend with Darren Law and David Donohue, the latter of whom won this race two years ago in the No. 58 machine with co-drivers Mike Borkowski and Scott Goodyear.

Scotland's Ryan Dalziel--who is making just his second career Rolex Series appearance this weekend--turned the fastest lap of GT practice in the No. 71 SAMAX Porsche GT3 Cup at 1:57.679 (104.012 mph). In Dalziel's previous Rolex Series appearance at the Grand Prix of Miami in March, co-driver Bryan Sellers qualified on the pole position and led early on before a mechanical failure ended their day early. Dalziel has been reunited with Sellers this weekend in the car they also share with Mark Greenberg.

"It's really good," Dalziel said. "(Team owner) Peter Barron has been trying to put Bryan and I back in again since Homestead. We've just been kind of waiting for both of our schedules to fit. The car owner, Mark Greenberg, has invited us both back to The Glen to see what we can do. It's my first time here and I'm enjoying it. We're quick and the car is good, so I'm looking forward to a good result."

Dalziel was three tenths of a second quicker than Andrew Davis, who logged the second-fastest GT time of the day at 1:57.979 (103.747 mph) in the No. 73 Tafel Racing Porsche GT3 Cup. Davis is once again paired with regular co-driver Jim Tafel, and the duo welcomes Robin Liddell as a third driver for the weekend.

Joey Hand was third-quickest on the day in BMW Team PTG's No. 21 BMW Financial Services BMW M3 at 1:58.056 (103.680 mph). Hand earned his first Rolex Series GT class victory at Watkins Glen in the Sahlen's 200 last August, while co-driver Bill Auberlen is a defending GT champion in the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen. They will share the No. 22 with Kelly Collins, who is looking for his first career Rolex Series victory at Watkins Glen.

Randy Pobst was fourth in class at 1:58.140 (103.606 mph) in the No. 36 TPC Racing Porsche GT3 Cup that he will share this weekend with team owner Michael Levitas. Wolf Henzler, who started from the pole position and was a GT winner in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, was fifth-quickest in the No. 14 Keen Cap/Toptul Porsche GT3 Cup for Autometrics Motorsports. Henzler is returning to Rolex Series competition for the first time since the Rolex 24 At Daytona and is teamed with Cory Friedman and Leh Keen.

Hot and humid temperatures gave way to thunderstorms late in the afternoon, cutting short practice for the Grand-Am Cup Series. Prior to the rains, the No. 81 Synergy Racing Porsche 996 of Kelly Collins and Brent Martini was quickest overall in practice for Saturday's Chemung Canal Trust 200 with a best lap at 2:06.102 (97.064 mph). The No. 48 WTF Engineering Chevrolet Cobalt of Ed Magner and Rod Strub was quickest in the Sport Touring class at 2:13.076 (91.978 mph).

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