MX-5: Trois-Rivieres practice two notes

Buras Leads the Way in MX-5 Cup Practice at Trois-Rivières

TROIS-RIVIERES, Canada (Aug. 15, 2008) -- After topping the morning practice session, Todd Buras, of Melbourne, Fla., continued to be quickest in the afternoon session as well for Round Five of the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières. Christian Franck, of Simi Valley, Calif., and Eric Foss, of Fort Worth, Texas, completed the top three.

As the sun came out and the temperatures rose for the second MX-5 Cup practice session of the day at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, Buras improved on his morning time by 0.11-second in the No. 56 Hooverspeed/Pancreaticcure.org MX-5. He topped the 20-minute session with a lap of 1:16.832 (71.267 mph).

"After looking at data and video from the first session, we decided to start from scratch," Buras said. "We made a ton of changes in the car. The car was good throughout the whole run. The temperature must have gone up about 10 to 15 degrees, so to make the car faster for that second session, the changes really worked. I'm really happy with the car. It was good from the beginning to the end and it never went away.

"Tomorrow morning for qualifying, it's going to be a bit cooler, but I think we'll keep the changes we made; they improved the overall grip. Hooverspeed went to town and worked hard in between the sessions, and we picked up some time. Once again, Hooverspeed and Pancreaticcure.org have just been awesome!"

Driving the No. 16 Alara Racing/Select Painting MX-5, Franck also improved on his morning time. He entered a 1:16.852 (71.248 mph) to end the session in second.

Foss' fastest lap improved as well, to a 1:16.865 (71.236 mph), but as in the morning session, he remained behind Buras and Franck on the time sheets driving the No. 28 Team MER/Autobarn Mazda MX-5.

Brad Rampelberg, of San Jose, Calif., found nearly a second from the morning session to the afternoon session in his No. 14 Hooverspeed/Mazda/Patron Tequila MX-5. He climbed to fourth in the afternoon session with a 1:16.931 (71.175 mph).

Similarly, Ara Malkhassian, of Sonoma, Calif., improved on his morning time by nearly a second to finish the afternoon session in fifth. Malkhassian piloted his No. 11 Alara Racing MX-5 to a fast lap of 1:17.234 (70.896 mph).

Robert Huffmaster, Ryan Schimsk, Robert Michaelian, Elivan Goulart and Deborah Loth completed the top 10 in the afternoon session. All, with the exception of Goulart, improved on their morning times.

Qualifying for Round Five of the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup will take play Saturday, Aug. 16, at 9:30 a.m. (EDT). The 45-minute race will take place later that same day, at 3:35 p.m. Live timing and lap notes are available throughout the weekend at www.mx-5cup.com.

-credit: scca pro racing