MX-5: Series Millville round four qualifying notes

Lamb is Two-For-Two in MX-5 Cup Qualifying at New Jersey

MILLVILLE, N.J. (June 14, 2009) -- Todd Lamb, of Atlanta, Ga., earned his second SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup pole of the weekend, for part two of a series doubleheader at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Justin Piscitell, of Patterson, N.Y., will start second for this afternoon's Round Four race, part of the Mazda Formula X Presented by Cooper Tires weekend.

After establishing a new track record in Saturday's Round Three qualifying session, Lamb was able to further improve his time for Round Four qualifying, resetting his own lap record with a 1:34.244 (85.947 mph). It is the third-straight MX-5 Cup pole for the No. 84 AMG/Traqmate/Luna-C MX-5 driver.

"Yesterday's qualifying times were 34.7s and 34.8s, but the weather is a lot cooler today so we're making good horsepower," Lamb said. "We expected it was going to be a 34.5 or a 34.4, somewhere in there, so we're happy to see a 34.2. The weather is where most of that came from, but we compensated a little bit on the setup based on what we saw this morning. We were on the scales until about 8:40 this morning and then just rolled onto grid.

"The Luna-C/Traqmate Mazda is hooked up for pretty much every corner. To turn times like that, you have to be. That's what we've been focusing on all weekend - having the car as perfect as it can be in every corner. It's pretty close to that right now."

Lamb won Saturday's Round Three event from pole after a spirited battle with Marc Miller. When asked if he was looking forward to a similar race this afternoon, he responded like a true racer.

"No, I'm kind of hoping its going to be a blowout."

Piscitell, who finished third on Saturday will start this afternoon's race on the outside of row one. The driver of the No. 89 ALARA Racing/DAMG Racing/MAZDASPEED MX-5 entered a 1:34.811 (85.433 mph).

Miller, of Holland, Mich., qualified his No. 28 Team MER/MOCA/RaceForAutism/Sparco MX-5 in third. The current point leader turned a 1:34.823 (85.422 mph) around the 14-turn, 2.25-mile course.

Turning a 1:35.042 (85.225 mph), Nick Mancuso, of Mettawa, Ill., qualified a career-best fourth in the No. 29 Team MER/LakeForestSportsCars/Tire Lyna MX-5.

Mark Jenkins, of Fairview, Texas, completed the top five. The No. 25 Team MER/JBR/Traxxas/BFG/Simpson MX-5 driver entered a 1:35.065 (85.204 mph).

Dean Copeland, Brett Smrz, Zach Ply, Chris Rhoades and Ara Malkhassian completed the top 10.

Round Four of the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup will go green at 1:05 p.m. (EDT) today. The race will be broadcast live on HDNet. Live timing and lap notes are available at www.mx-5cup.com.

-credit: scca pro racing