Mosport: Series qualifying two report

Pobst, McQuarrie and Herr Claim Race Two World Challenge Pole Positions At Mosport

CANADA (May 23, 2010) -- Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., was the quickest GT class qualifier by more than a second on Sunday morning, earning the pole position for the second World Challenge Championships race of the Victoria Day Speedfest presented by Optima Batteries weekend at Mosport International Raceway. Tyler McQuarrie, of Walnut Creek, Calif., and Chip Herr, of Lilitz, Pa., earned the GTS and Touring Car poles, respectively for the afternoon race -- Round Five in the 12-race championship.

Pobst, who took the checkered flag during Saturday's race one, turned a fast time of 1:22.765 (106.958 mph) in the No. 6 K-Pax Racing Volvo S60 to top the time sheets by 1.044-seconds over his closest competitors.

"I'm pumped right now and I've got a lot of adrenaline going right now because this morning's lap in the K-Pax Volvo was just one of those perfect moments," Pobst said. "It was one of those rare, perfect laps. Everything was right. Will Moody, my engineer, got the car just perfect. The Toyo Tires were just in the right state for when it was time to lay down that lap. The stars aligned and it felt so good! The second lap, I bailed out and said 'I'm not going to do that time again. That's it. If anybody beats that time, I'll shake their hand.'

"I benefitted from my teammate Andy Pilgrim's data from yesterday. He was killing me in a couple of places and learning that helped me. I'm looking forward to the race--I want another win."

Local favorite Ron Fellows, of nearby Mississauga, Ontario, had prior commitments that prevented him from being at the track for Saturday's race one or any of the weekend practice sessions. That didn't prevent him from posting a fast time of 1:23.809 (105.626 mph) at his home track in the No. 2 Carlisle Companies/Cragar Chevrolet Corvette, placing him on the front row for this afternoon's standing start.

Montreal's Kuno Wittmer, the race one runner-up, will start third after a time of 1:23.840 (105.587 mph) in the No. 13 Dodge Motorsports Dodge Viper. Wittmer's flying lap came on lap seven of the eight he ran in the 20-minute session, leaving him just 0.031-second short of a second-consecutive front row starting position.

Pobst's teammate Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., will start fourth in the No. 8 K-Pax Racing Volvo S60 after turning a best time of 1:23.949 (105.587 mph).

Four different manufacturers qualified in the top five of the GT class when No. 4 Centric Parts/Stoptech/GMG Porsche 911 GT3 piloted by Dino Crescentini, of Manhattan Beach, Calif., posted a best time of 1:24.238 (105.088 mph).

The top three of the GTS class was covered by 0.183-second, with McQuarrie's No. 19 LPL/DRS/Switcars/LCS/Dayco/M&T Lotus Exige S leading the way with a time of 1:30.478 (97.840 mph). McQuarrie is looking to move up one spot from his runner-up finish in the first race of the weekend.

"After the race yesterday, we made a lot of changes," McQuarrie said. "The car was so loose that we knew we had to make changes. My fast lap was even with a little bit of traffic. Starting where I am now, will hopefully set things up where those guys [Heinricy and Cunningham] can battle it out and I can get away.

"On the first lap, though, Heinricy is going to be there and his car is so fast down the straightaway. I came out of Turn Five right on his bumper in practice and he put, like, 10 car lengths on me. It must be even more on Cunningham because I can put five or six car-lengths on him. But Peter's car is really fast through these corners. These three cars are so different and I predict it'll be a cat-and-mouse game like it was for PD and I yesterday."

Race one GTS winner John Heinricy, of Holly, Mich., posted a time of 1:30.558 (97.754 mph) in the No. 35 Torvec/Phoenix/Hawk Chevrolet Corvette to miss the pole position by just 0.080-second.

Peter Cunningham, of Milwaukee, Wis., starts third after posting a qualifying time of 1:30.661 (97.643 mph) in the No. 43 Acura/RealTime Racing Acura TSX. Cunningham is joined on row two by Nick Esayian, of San Diego, Calif., in the No. 34 Acura/RealTime Racing Acura TSX to complete the all-RealTime row.

The Touring Car class is also set up for a close race, with the top five drivers separated by 0.541-second.

Herr, Saturday's race winner in the No. 50 Irish Mike's Racing Volkswagen Jetta GLI, will start on pole after posting a lap of 1:36.089 (92.172 mph) on his third of four laps in the 20-minute session.

"The car is great," Herr said. "I learned a lot doing the full race yesterday, seeing how the tires react when they get warm. Mike [Flynn] and the team have been great. They know a lot from running these cars in Grand-Am, but this is a whole different tire to learn. The car handles great and feels good.

"This is big for Irish Mike's and for Volkswagen in the Manufacturers' Championship. Special thanks to Powerflex Bushings and Summit Financial Partners to help us get here this weekend."

Starting alongside Herr on the front row is Robert Stout, of Brownsburg, Ind., who turned a lap of 1:36.333 (91.894 mph) in the No. 18 DG-Spec/Scion/TRD/Lucas Oil Scion tC to finish 0.244-second behind Herr.

Row two belongs to a pair of Volkswagens, with Robb Holland, of Denver, Colo., starting third after posting a time of 1:36.516 (91.720 mph) in the No. 22 Track Pro/Emich VW Volkswagen GTI. Greg Shaffer, of Harrisonburg, Va., missed the third spot by 0.011-second after a lap of 1:36.527 (91.709 mph) in the No. 49 Irish Mike's Racing Volkswagen Jetta GLI to start fourth.

Race one runner-up Tom Lepper, of Benecia, Calif., will start fifth in Touring Car in the No. 36 DG-Spec/Scion/TRD/Lepper & Associates Scion tC after posting a best time of 1:36.630 (91.611 mph).

The World Challenge Championships Round Five takes place at Mosport Sunday afternoon at 1:10 p.m. (EDT).

-source: scca pro racing