Long Beach: Tyler McQuarrie Saturday report

McQuarrie and Lotus continue to impress in Long Beach

April 18, 2010 (Long Beach, Calif.) -- Proving that his speed in the opening practice session for this weekend's Toyo Tires World Challenge at Long Beach presented by Bondurant was no fluke, Tyler McQuarrie topped the timesheets in the GTS class in Saturday morning practice in his LPL/DRS/Switchcars.com Lotus Exige S.

Setting a quick time early in the session, and enjoying a few traffic-free laps, McQuarrie left no doubt about his speed -- and the speed of his Lotus, making its debut in World Challenge -- on the challenging downtown Long Beach circuit.

"The car definitely went the right way from the first practice to the second," said McQuarrie following the session. "We have a car that is very fast, but also one that is going to take care of its tires throughout the race. It is very quick through turns one through five, and I think it will be very quick for qualifying tomorrow morning."

Putting a damper on the day for the team was a part failure in the session that led to the replacement of the gearbox in McQuarrie's car. The LPL team had a replacement quickly installed and the car was pronounced ready for Sunday morning qualifying.

"Well, the gearbox breaking wasn't something we were excited about, because it cost us a bit of track time," continued McQuarrie. "We learn something new every lap, and with this being the car's first event we need to gather as much data as possible. But I'm excited about what we've done so far, and really looking forward to qualifying and racing tomorrow morning."

-source: tylermcquarrie.com