Cleveland: Jim Osborn qualifying notes

T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital #7 GTO Cleveland Qualifying Report

Osborn will make debut World Challenge GT start in 22nd

Cleveland -- June 26, 2005 The #7 T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital GTO, driven by Jim Osborn, will start 22nd in the car's first GT event for Sunday's SPEED World Challenge race. The SPEED World Challenge Series is part of the Grand Prix of Cleveland at Burke Lakefront Airport, June 23-26.

"This GTO is a great car," said Osborn. "It was pretty quick right out of the box. The guys at Autosport Development really got it right. After a couple of laps I started to get a feel for the car and progressively got a little quicker. I guess now it's up to me."

"The big change for me will be the power," Osborn continued. "This is a lot more car than our #24 BMW. Both have their own characteristics-- but the big change is the power. It's pretty impressive."

"Our plan is go out and get some laps under our belt," Osborn said. "We don't need to be heroes. We're scheduled for six races this season, so we'll take it one race at a time. Our goals are pretty clear. Our Chili Pepper racing guys are working in lockstep with Autosport Development and we're all on the same page on how to move the program along. One thing is for sure, we're having a lot of fun!"

Osborn's #24 Chili Pepper Racing BMW qualified 13th for Saturday's Touring Car race and finished 25th. Osborn retired late in the race with mechanical difficulties.

The Cleveland Grand Prix schedule calls for the SPEED Touring Car race to run on Saturday at 5:45pm and the GT race to run Sunday at 4pm. The Touring Car race will air Sunday at 4pm and the GT race will run one-hour tape delayed at 5pm, on SPEED.

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