Continuing a run of top finishes that stretches back for nearly a full year, No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Riley co-drivers Max Angelelli and Jan Magnussen took over the 2007 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve Daytona Prototype points lead with their first victory of the season in the VIR 400 at Virginia International Raceway.
Angelelli, the 2005 Daytona Prototype co-champion, took the lead from 2004 Daytona Prototype co-champion Max Papis in Turn 1 with 25 laps remaining and was never seriously challenged over the closing laps en route to a 3.567-second victory over Papis and his No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley co-driver Colin Braun. The victory by Angelelli and Magnussen, coupled with an eighth-place performance by No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley teammates Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, vaulted the No. 10 teammates to an 11-point lead, 127-116, over Pruett with four of 14 races now in the books.
"It's a fantastic feeling," Angelelli said. "We've been always good at this track, but this year is different, with so many different people involved. Up until this morning, we had a terrible car, and luckily we turned everything around and had a good race."
Angelelli--who led the final 25 laps--and Magnussen combined to lead 27 laps on their way to their first win since last May at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. It was the 10th overall victory of Angelelli's career and the fourth for Magnussen, but it was the first triumph for Wayne Taylor Racing, which formed at the conclusion of the 2006 season. As Magnussen will not compete in the upcoming U.S. Sports Car Invitational Delivered by Luggage Express at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on May 20, Angelelli effectively takes over sole possession of the Daytona Prototype points lead. Angelelli and Magnussen have finished inside the top five in their last 11 races as co-drivers.
"I'd like to say how happy I am for the whole team," Magnussen said. "It's been hard work to set up the team for Wayne and Max, and everybody involved, so to get this win was great. We had a shot at getting a win earlier this year, and have been fighting for it every time, so to get it here was good. I have to say that after yesterday in qualifying I didn't think we were going to have a race-winning car. We had some problems all through practice and qualifying, which we sorted out during qualifying this morning luckily. The warm-up was great, and in the race we had a great race car."
Papis and Braun picked up their second runner-up trophy in three races with their second-place performance today. The duo also finished second in the Mexico City 400k last month. After starting from the pole position, Braun led all drivers with 34 laps led, while Papis headed the field for six laps before giving way to Angelelli. The result moved the No. 75 co-drivers just behind Pruett in the championship standings. With 107 points, they trail Pruett by nine points and are 20 in arrears of Angelelli and Magnussen.
"It feels great," Braun said. "The whole team did a great job this weekend. We started with a car that wasn't great, but Max went out there and made it a great car. We focused on a car that wasn't so hard on the tires and would be quick at the end, and I think we did that job pretty well. Nothing big happened during the first stint. I just went out and cruised and tried to save the tires and fuel. I came in and handed it over to Max, and I think he did a great job. It's so tough, it's so tight, and it's such close racing that we have. I think we're going to go to the next one and be even stronger. We're going to go testing, and hopefully come out the next time and challenge for the win."
"I got the lead car from Colin, and we knew it was going to be a short stint and I had to be as fast as possible," Papis added. "It was good for the first couple of laps and after that, it became difficult to keep up the pace. We were quite loose, and it was quite difficult to hold the car, especially turning in. We were struggling a little bit, and I was trying to hold my pace the best I could. When I saw Angelelli try to make his move, I tried to make it a little more difficult, but I knew once he found his way through, it would be difficult to match his pace. I tried to keep pressure on him. Hats off to them; I think the No. 10 car was a little bit better today. Colin did an awesome job and the entire team did an awesome job. It's hard to finish second, but finishing second behind these great drivers, it makes for a pretty good day."
Capping an emotional weekend following the death of Brumos Racing President and CEO Bob Snodgrass on Tuesday evening, No. 58 Red Bull/Brumos Racing Porsche Riley co-drivers Darren Law and David Donohue finished third when the No. 11 South Coast Fish Company/CITGO Pontiac Riley being driven by Ryan Dalziel sputtered on the final lap. It was the first podium result for Brumos Racing since the No. 58 team of Donohue and Mike Borkowski finished third in the 2003 Rolex Series season finale at Daytona International Speedway.
"It's been a tough weekend for everybody," Law said. "We're really proud of the team. They've done a great job. We were up late last night working on the car. I've already said that it's great to have a podium, but it's even more special this weekend because of what's happened to Bob. There were a lot of happy people today."
"As far as on-track today, my racing was truly boring," Donohue contributed. "I was going after the No. 11 car the entire time, and he ran out of gas on the last lap, which is how we got third place. I mean, I really didn't have much for him. He could get me off the corners and I could get him off braking, and we were about even at different places on the track. I was trying to maximize where we were strong and get a run on him under braking, but we just had to come from too far back. As Darren said, we're all overjoyed. Those guys were up until two or three in the morning fixing the car, and to give us a podium car is pretty nice. That kind of effort isn't unique to this weekend. The guys have been putting that kind of effort in for the last four years, and it's nice to see them rewarded with a podium, especially since Bob passed."
Despite running out of fuel on the final lap, Dalziel and his No. 11 co-driver, Jean-Francois Dumoulin, wound up fourth. It was Dalziel's second top-four result in two 2007 Rolex Series starts following a second-place run in the Rolex 24 At Daytona to open the season. The performance also moved the No. 11 SAMAX team to third in the team championship, despite the fact that full-time driver Patrick Carpentier sat out the VIR 400 due to a family emergency and Milka Duno has moved to the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series.
No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley co-drivers Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney battled their way back to a fifth-place result. After starting second, Fogarty took the lead from Braun on the second lap and led through Lap 7, just after making contact with the No. 05 Luggage Express Team Sigalsport BMW Riley of Matthew Alhadeff. Fogarty later damaged the right front bodywork and headlight with a slight off-course excursion and a trip into the tire barrier at Turn 11.
It was also an eventful day for Rojas and Pruett. Rojas emerged from the first round of pit stops under full-course caution with the lead on Lap 8, but lost the lead two laps later and spun off-course in Turn 1shortly thereafter. He turned the car over to Pruett, who also spun in Turn 4 on Lap 24 and battled back to finish eighth. Nevertheless, it is the first time this season that Pruett has not held at least a share of the Daytona Prototype points lead.
NOTEBOOK
The No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team Porsche Crawford co-driven by Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long earned the "SunTrust Improve Your Position Award" for the VIR 400. The No. 23 team improved from its 21st-place starting position to ninth at the finish, an improvement of 12 spots... Pontiac engines powered four of the top five positions. Riley chassis swept the top eight finishing positions. Fifteen cars finished the race on the lead lap and 17 cars finished the race... As a tribute to fallen team owner Bob Snodgrass, who was also Vice Chairman of Grand-Am, the No. 58 Red Bull/Brumos Racing Porsche Riley driven by Darren Law and the No. 59 Brumos Porsche/Kendall Porsche Riley driven by JC France led the field on the first pace lap before dropping back into their grid position. After finishing third, Law's co-driver, David Donohue, pulled to the edge of the course and waited for Hurley Haywood in the No. 59 to catch up, and the two cars completed the cool-down lap and returned to the pits together.
After running near the front of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve GT class throughout the early portion of the 2007 season, No. 87 Marquis Jet/IPC/Recaro Porsche GT3 co-drivers Bryce Miller and Dirk Werner broke through for their first career Rolex Series victory in Saturday's VIR 400.
On Lap 53 of the 76-lap race, Werner passed GT points co-leader Sylvain Tremblay in the No. 70 Mazdaspeed/Mazda RX-8 in Turn 13 and claimed the lead from his Farnbacher Loles Motorsports teammate Dominik Farnbacher in the No. 85 Shoes for Crews/Recaro Porsche GT3 when Farnbacher pulled into the pits for his final stop at the end of the same lap. Werner then fought off challenges from Farnbacher before the No. 85 machine was forced to retire, and pulled away from Tremblay to win by 5.501 seconds.
"During the second pit stop, the team did a very good job, and suddenly we were in front of these guys," Werner said. "I think I could have closed up a little bit, and I think my teammate could have been very fast at the end if he were in the car. I have to say I'm sorry I kicked a little dirt up near the end of the race in front of Dominik, or we could have had a first and second for the team. The team did a very good job though. It's the first time the team is doing a full season, and we have great guys, I have a great teammate, and we'll look forward to the next race."
Miller drove the opening stint of the race before pitting on Lap 22, just inside the race's 45-minute mark, owing to a new Grand-Am rule requiring all teams to make one pit stop within the first 45 minutes. While it was the first victory in Rolex Series competition for Miller and Werner, it was the second Rolex Series victory for the Farnbacher Loles team, which claimed the GT class win in the 2005 Rolex 24 At Daytona.
"With the new 45-minute rule, I still had quite a bit left in myself by the time we pitted," Miller said. "We had a good car, and by the time we switched out, we had a pretty good pit stop that gave Dirk a good advancement. Dirk drove a very measured and calculated race - a very smart race - and was able to establish an advantage over the Mazdas, and most importantly hold that advantage over them until the end."
Tremblay's co-driver Nick Ham, led a race-high 28 laps before turning the Mazda RX-8 over to Tremblay, but the teammates came up short in their bid to claim their third consecutive GT class victory. However, the triumph enabled the duo to maintain its lead in the GT point standings which is now a margin of 18 points, 128-110, over Werner.
"We just didn't have the speed to catch them," said Tremblay. "I got by one of them when he came out of the pits, taking advantage of their cold tires. But the speed of the Porsches was really one of our biggest concerns. They did a great job with the setup and the straightaway speed. We did the best job we could with the package we had, but the championship is what we're all after. We're happy with second. I hate to lose, more than anyone else in this room, but the big picture is that we got some good points."
"The car was very good," Ham added. "It's something we've worked very hard on--to get the car drivable--and we've been able to develop some confidence. I enjoyed following Wolf (Henzler) there at the start, and was just happy to be able to sit back there and wait. He made a mistake at the top of the S's and I got by him, and unfortunately we had slight contact and I think he went off. It was a good stint. We pitted, took advantage of the new rule, stayed in the car, and just tried to get to the point when I could hand the car over to Sylvain and let him do his work and bring the car home. He did a good job; the whole team did a fabulous job. It was a good result for Mazda."
For the first time since the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, No. 07 Banner Engineering Pontiac GXP.R co-drivers Paul Edwards and Kelly Collins earned a podium result with a third-place run. Collins and Edwards battled back from an early off-course excursion by Collins to record its best result since finishing second in class in the Rolex 24.
"It was a good result," Edwards said. "The car is definitely stepping forward at each race track. It's better, but we don't want a third to be a win for us; we want a win to be a win for us. We've got to work toward that, and we have a couple of weeks to prepare for that. Congratulations though to the Mazda and the Porsches; I think we'll be where they've been soon."
"It feels really good to be back on the podium with the Banner Racing," Collins contributed. "Believe it or not, this feels like a win for us. I had the car off today, but luckily, with the new pit stop rule in the first 45 minutes, it just worked out perfect timing. They left me in the car to fix what I started. We did what we could and were very consistent, and the car was definitely reliable for the excursion I had today."
Nathan Swartzbaugh and Andrew Davis picked up their best result of the 2007 season to date with a fourth-place outing in the No. 72 North South Machinery Porsche GT3 for Tafel Racing. Davis also led one lap. Greg Wilkins and Dave Lacey continued their consistent season with a season-best run of fifth in the No. 17 MineStar Solutions/Tim Horton's Porsche GT3. Wilkins and Lacey have now finished inside the top nine in all three of their starts this season.
Keen and Farnbacher started at the tail of the field after failing to take a qualifying time, but were in the top five by the first round of pit stops, and had taken the lead when Werner and Tremblay pitted. The No. 85 car, which scored the event's fastest lap time with Farnbacher behind the wheel, was challenging for the point again when it got off course slightly, leading eventually to a ruptured radiator. With coolant leaking onto the track, Farnbacher was forced into the pits, and the team retired a few moments later.
. That miffs me because it's the race closest to me, and always great fun to attend. I guess that just means I'll have to find my way to another race next year 
. I'm thinking of making a trek to Atlanta for Petit next October, since I can't think of anything better to do with my vacation days 
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