Grand-Am

VIR: Series qualifying report

ROJAS CAPTURES THIRD STRAIGHT POLE AT VIR IN GANASSI BMW RILEY Jordan Taylor Takes First GT Pole For Racers Edge Motorsports DANVILLE, Va. (April 23, 2010) - Memo Rojas drove the No. 01 TELMEX BMW Riley to his second consecutive pole position at ...

Published: Apr 24, 2010, 6:20 AM

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ROJAS CAPTURES THIRD STRAIGHT POLE AT VIR IN GANASSI BMW RILEY
Jordan Taylor Takes First GT Pole For Racers Edge Motorsports

DANVILLE, Va. (April 23, 2010) - Memo Rojas drove the No. 01 TELMEX BMW Riley to his second consecutive pole position at Virginia International Raceway in Friday's qualifying with a lap of 1:41.796 (115.643 mph), and will lead the field to the green flag in Saturday's Bosch Engineering 250.

Rojas and Pruett will be seeking their third consecutive victory of the season in Saturday's fourth round of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16. The race takes the green flag at noon ET, with SPEED flag-to-flag coverage beginning at 2 p.m. ET.

Jordan Taylor captured his first career pole in Rolex Series GT competition - also the first for Racers Edge Motorsports - with a lap of 1:51.319 (106.709 mph) in the No. 30 Mazda RX-8.

"VIR is one of my (most fun) tracks," said Rojas, who scored two of his five career poles at the 3.27-mile circuit. "It's like riding a roller coaster, up and down. Winning the pole is all about good preparation and getting a fast lap. The car was good. I think I had a faster lap going at the end, but I got a little greedy and I drove off in the grass."

Rojas and Pruett, winners of the two most recent Rolex Series races, hold an 11-point lead (102-91) in the Daytona Prototype championship standings.

Mark Wilkins will start on the outside of the front row, running a lap of 1:42.121 (115.275 mph) in the No. 61 AIM Autosport Ford Riley he shares with Burt Frisselle.

"We came a long way today," Wilkins said. "We rolled off the trailer with an awesome car, which we were lacking in recent races. Burt did a great job setting it up - I just got in and drove."

Brian Frisselle will start third in the No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley co-driven by Michael Valiante. Defending Daytona Prototype champion and 2009 VIR winner Jon Fogarty qualified fourth in the No. 99 GAINSCO Chevrolet Riley, running 1:42.652 (114.678 mph) in the car he shares with Alex Gurney.

Ricky Taylor, Daytona Prototype pole winner in the most recent race at Barber Motorsports Park, will start fifth, while his younger brother will start from the GT pole.

"I was waiting to get bumped off again," said Jordan Taylor, who lost potential poles at Daytona and Barber in the final minute of qualifying. "When Jonathan (Bomarito) turned his fastest lap, I really didn't think we had enough, so I was really pleased to see our time."

Rookie Bomarito will start second in the No. 70 Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8 co-driven by Sylvain Tremblay, 1:50.665 (106.375 mph).

"Being my first year in the series, it's better for me to qualify and run the first half of the race," said Bomarito, winner of the 2010 Rolex 24 At Daytona. "Then I can turn it over to Sylvain, who's been racing for a lot of years."

Motorcycle legend Scott Russell qualified third in the No. 07 Airjax.com Corvette co-driven by Paul Edwards, running a lap of 1:51.557 (106.709 mph).

Andrew Davis will start fourth in the No. 57 BryanMark Financial/Vin Solutions Camaro, with Davis and Robin Liddell winning the last two years at VIR. James Gue and defending GT champion Leh Keen start fifth in the No. 41 Dempsey Racing/Team Seattle Mazda RX-8.

Emil Assentato, who brings a two-race winning streak in the No. 69 FXDD Mazda RX-8 co-driven by Jeff Segal, qualified 14th, one position behind racer/actor Patrick Dempsey.

Final Rolex Series practice will be held at 8:30 a.m. ET Saturday. The Bosch Engineering 250, a two-hour, 45-minute race, will be followed at 3:30 p.m. by a two-hour, 30-minute GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge event.

-source: grand-am

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