Archer, Viper qualify third at Mosport

Bowmanville, Ont. -- Tommy Archer will start the number 36 Cinjo Racing / Motorcity True Performance Viper third in Sunday's Trans-Am Series race for the BFGoodrich Cup. The Duluth, Minn., racer qualified in 1:20.616 on the 2.4-mile Mosport International Raceway road course.

Archer's time was just a tenth of a second behind the pole position, in only the third race for the new team. He will start inside the second row behind pole-sitter Paul Gentilozzi, who qualified in 1:20.510, and Brian Simo (1:20.574). Gentilozzi will win the first Motorcity True Performance Pole Award of $2500.

Sunday's race will feature the first pit stops in Trans-Am Series racing since 1991, with a longer race distance of 125 miles. Cinjo Racing hopes to have an edge on the competition because of Archer's experience with pit-stops and endurance racing.

Tommy Archer: "Qualifying was a wild ride. The track had oil-dry from a previous session that got spread all over the track. It was slippery everywhere, so it was just a matter of doing everything we could to put in a good clean lap and try to be smooth and patient."

"It feels good to have the program continue to develop every race. The crew members have been working feverishly to get this Cinjo Viper competitive with the rest of the field. To be within a tenth of a second of the pole in the third race is a very good job by the whole team."

Steven Veeder, Cinjo Racing general manager: "Tommy did a great job, the crew did a great job. Everyone's working together real well, and that's what it's all about."

"You can go into a race with all the strategies you want and something's going to bite you. So the strategy we have is to run a real consistent race and have a car at the end. I believe that Tommy can do that. I'm really looking forward to the race because I think he can wear these guys down and I feel pretty confident about finishing up front."

-sP