Laguna Seca GT qualifying report
MONTEREY, Calif. (Sept. 8, 2001)-- Peter Cunningham, of W. Bend, Wis., took his fifth Superchips Pole of the season, but first since having his Acura NSX SC boost reduced, and will lead the field for Sunday's SCCA Pro Racing Speedvision World ...
MONTEREY, Calif. (Sept. 8, 2001)-- Peter Cunningham, of W. Bend, Wis., took his fifth Superchips Pole of the season, but first since having his Acura NSX SC boost reduced, and will lead the field for Sunday's SCCA Pro Racing Speedvision World Challenge GT Championship Round Eight race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Johannes van Overbeek, of Danville, Calif., and defending race winner Mike Fitzgerald, of Phoenix, Ariz., completed the top three.
Driving the No. 42 RealTime Racing entry, Cunningham turned a lap of 1:38.176 (82.064 mph) around the 2.238-mile circuit late in the session, after a stoppage to remove a disabled car, to jump ahead of van Overbeek's No. 81 Flextronics/Intel Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Van Overbeek's fastest lap was a 1:38.389 (81.887 mph). The extra points for the pole pull Cunningham to within 29 of Championship-leading Michael Galati.
"That was unbelievable," said Cunningham, who is honeymooning this weekend after being married last Sunday. "Those conditions were unbelievable. There were areas I had to be very careful. I was following Johannes [van Overbeek] early on and using him as a guide.
"On the lap I took the pole, I felt [van Overbeek] was actually holding me up a bit. It took me a long time to get the spot, but I'm satisfied we got it done. The Porsches will be strong in the race, and Galati is always dangerous."
Fitzgerald also turned his fast lap after the full course black flag of 1:38.459 (81.829 mph) in the No. 38 Petersen Motorsports/Westward Ho Casino Vegas Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Galati jumped to fourth on his last lap in his Audi S4 Competition, and Boris Said's Ford Mustang completed the top five.
The Speedvision GT race takes the green light for a standing start Sunday afternoon, at 3:10 p.m., Pacific.
-SCCA/SCCA ProRacing-
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