Grand-Am

Watkins Glen II: Friday qualifying report

Riggins takes second-straight pole WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (August 7, 2003) -- Tommy Riggins picked up his second-straight Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series overall pole today during qualifying for Friday's Bully Hill Vineyards 250. Riggins ...

Published: Aug 8, 2003, 6:52 PM

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Riggins takes second-straight pole

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (August 7, 2003) -- Tommy Riggins picked up his second-straight Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series overall pole today during qualifying for Friday's Bully Hill Vineyards 250. Riggins clocked a 123.798 mph lap in 1:11.245 at the wheel of the GTS-class Heritage Motorsports No. 48 Mustang, besting the Daytona Prototypes for the top starting position.

In his first qualifying attempt of the season, Mike Borkowski, of Scottsdale, Ariz., put the No. 58 Red Bull Porsche of Brumos Racing on the outside pole with a 1:11.446 lap at 123.450 mph. The points-leading Red Bull machine will lead the Daytona Prototypes field to the green flag for the fifth race this season and will maintain its perfect record of front-row starts for the season.

A pair of Doran JE4 Daytona Prototypes will occupy the second row at the start of the Bully Hill Vineyards 250. In its debut race, the Doran-Lista Racing No. 27 Toyota-powered Doran JE4 will start in the third position after Didier Theys put together a 123.450 mph lap in 1:11.687 during qualifying. The first Doran JE4, the No. 54 Chevy of Bell Motorsports, will start fourth with Forest Barber at the wheel. Barber turned a 1:11.918 lap at 122.640 mph in qualifying.

Cort Wagner earned his sixth GT pole of the season in the Ferrari of Washington No. 33 Ferrari 360GT. Wagner posted a 1:13.736 lap at 119.616 mph during qualifying to top the GT class and take the eighth starting position overall.

Both Riggins and Wagner received a $1,000 bonus from the Acxiom Grand Touring Challenge for turning the fastest qualifying laps in the GTS and GT classes, respectively. Their teams will be eligible for an additional $4,000 if they post the highest finishing position among the GTS and GT competitors during Friday evening's race.

The Bully Hill Vineyards 250 will get underway at approximately 6:30 p.m. following NASCAR Winston Cup qualifying. Tickets for Friday evening's Bully Hill Vineyards 250, as well as the entire SIRIUS at The Glen event weekend, are available at the gate and online at www.theglen.com.

BULLY HILL VINEYARDS 250 QUALIFYING QUOTES

TOMMY RIGGINS, #48 Heritage Ford & Toyota Mustang -- Fastest GTS Qualifier & Fastest Overall --

The 05 Re/Max car had a gear box problem during qualifying and couldn't best your lap?

"We've got to thank them; they only had one lap out there. Those guys are tough here. They run fast, they're good and they've got a good car, good program and some good drivers. The race will be a different deal though. They're gonna be tough competition this weekend."

MIKE BORKOWSKI, #58 Red Bull / Goodyear Porsche FABCAR -- Fastest Daytona Prototype Qualifier --

"My first run was the 11.4-second lap, which we knew was a pretty good lap. Then the second lap was the sweet lap. We were quicker all over the computer. Unfortunately we kind of got caught up in some traffic after that. I think I may have been able to give the Daytona Prototypes the pole. I think (without the traffic) that would have been a significantly better lap. We tried to get more out of the car but you loose that sweet spot on the tires so we were just back down there again."

DIDIER THEYS, #27 Lista Toyota Doran -- Second Fastest Daytona Prototype Qualifier --

"The car felt pretty good for the first time on the race track. We had one day of shaking down the car at Mid-Ohio last week, just to take the bugs out. It ran pretty good that day. This is actually the first practice where we could get more than three or four laps in a row. The car ran pretty well. We haven't locked down the set up yet. We have tried to make the engine better and the set up better with the few laps we did today. This race is going to be a sprint race, and with the pit stops it will be a new ball game. This short track will be a very fast sprint tomorrow."

FOREST BARBER, #54 Fikse / Goodyear Chevrolet Motorsports -- Third Fastest Daytona Prototype Qualifier --

"It was a good lap. The Bell Motorsports team put together a good car and our Doran Chevrolet has been a good consistent runner the last two races. It handles beautifully and Watkins Glen is a great race track."

CORT WAGNER, #33 Ferrari of Washington / Girard Perregaux / Market Scan / Peris Companies / Tubi Style Ferrari 360GT -- Fastest GT Qualifier --

"Qualifying was good, the field is pretty narrow in GT here as far as competitive cars. Our main concern is the competition for the championship, which is the Cunningham and M3 campaign by Marcus Motorsports. It was good. We didn't go as quick as last year. We're down on horsepower a little bit too and this is definitely a horsepower track, so we're really just trying to build a car that's good over the whole stint. That's our focus."

-garra-

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