SCC: Watkins Glen: Rum Bum Racing qualifying report

Bacardi Notches Best-Ever Qualifying at Watkins Glen

Watkins Glen, NY-(4 June 2010) By racing in the top Grand Sports (GS) class of GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competition, Gian Bacardi has taken a big step up in his rookie year. But with a natural-born talent, an experienced coach and co-driver, and a championship-caliber team behind him, the Florida youngster has made the move up look almost easy as he's already visited victory lane and made a habit of passing his competition.

Bacardi's continued progress hit another benchmark on Friday as he scored his career-best to date GRAND-AM qualifying result with a run to 11th on the Continental Tire 150 grid. Driving the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing BMW M3 that he will share on race day with Matt Plumb, Bacardi's fast lap time of 2:05.437-seconds will see him start on the inside of row six for Saturday's 2.5-hour race.

"I just focused on hitting my marks and worked on going as deep into the corners before braking as I could, and it worked out pretty well," said Bacardi after his post-session team debriefing. "The car has been good since we got here and the team has just been improving it every time we go out. I'm confident about the race tomorrow, and I hope I can move up in my stint and give Matt the car in a good position for him to go out and do the work that he does out there!"

The qualifying was another strong performance for the team, which has made a habit of topping the timing sheets. Last weekend's race at Lime Rock Park had a disappointing early conclusion, and the squad is looking to bounce back with another strong performance on race day.

"Gian did a great job in qualifying," said Plumb. "For him to come and just jump into this car with almost no experience on this track and then go out and put down the times that he has been setting so far, it's been a very impressive first visit to Watkins Glen. He's learning a lot, and hopefully we can just avoid any bad luck at race time. Joe (Varde) knows this track inside and out, and the entire Rum Bum crew has put together an awesome car for us again, hopefully we can be this strong in the race tomorrow."

-source: rbr