The pilots of car no. 23 Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team Porsche Crawford, Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long helped to settle down a new record in the Series Grand-A.m. Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve when becoming the fifth winning equipment in the five disputed races in which he goes of season, after climbing until highest of podio in the U.S. Sports Car Invitational delivered by Luggage Express that carried out Sunday in the Mazda Raceway Dry Lagoon.

Green Banderazo in the track of Dry Lagoon

Bergmeister cleared the commando to him of the race to Jon Fogarty (no. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley) when this last one entered to pits to 32 returns of the end, to give the vehicle to its coequipero Alex Gurney. Although in the last returns the cars that occupied the second, third and fourth place filled up their rear view mirrors, Bergmeister maintained the control to conserve fuel and power to finish.
The great moment of Bergmeister arrived in the return 89 of a competition of when Matthew 91 Alhadeff caused seventh and last yellow flag of the day when sliding with 05 car no. Luggage Express Team Sigalsport BMW Riley towards the gravel trap in curve 4. Nevertheless, still there were some moments of nervousness since the equipment had to arrive in the end with the fuel that was. When doing it the German became the fifth different winner in five races, breaking the previous record that stayed from season 2004.
“We sent the dice”, said Bergmeister. “Whichever fuel Really did not know was left me in the car. During the return with white flag I had a signal of warning of little combustible and was sure that there we remained. When I knew that they were going to be about six minutes I thought: “This is going to be close”. But it worked well, in the last one even started. He was really little of fuel and it tried to conserve it as much as it could. We had high strategy and we really needed this. We had a very difficult beginning of season and is good for being of return”.
This is the first victory of car no. 23 Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team since Long and Mike Rockenfeller gained 400 VIR the past year. In addition it was the first triumph of Bergmeister from the event in Barber Motorsports Park in 2006, the last one of three victories took that it to crown themselves like champion of the Daytona Prototypes. The result surpasses its better previous end in 2007, a fifth place in City of Mexico.

Long/Bergmeister de Alex Job Racing

“Personally, one feels huge by the equipment”, assured Long. “They have been of the 12 more humiliating months of our races, but that is what causes that this is much more sweet. We needed a little luck the Gods of the races with respect to the fuel strategy. I do not know if my stomach can hold many more races of these. We had a car that could last all the weekend and is the first time that we felt there of consistent form during all the sessions of the weekend. So that is something positive. Those are boys like those in Ganassi that make us work much more it last and I repeat, the humiliating experience after all the adversity that we have happened. He is huge to be of return and we hoped to be able to take this impulse to the rest of the season and to run every week with those boys”.
The second place of car no. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley that handle the 2004 champion, Red Scott Pruett and Memo, and 15º place obtained by the runners of the 10 no. SunTrust Pontiac Riley, Jan Magnussen and Max Angelelli, leaves again to Pruett in the first place of the championship with an advantage of five points (148-143) with respect to Angelelli and Magnussen. Pruett led a return while the last sequence of shutdowns in pits was developed and maintained the pressure on Bergmeister in the final stages of the competition.

Red Pruett/of TELMEX Ganassi Chip with Felix Sabates

“We listened on the situation of the car (no. 23) with the fuel and that was its preoccupation”, said Pruett. “Unfortunately there was a car that left and was good for them and it does not stop we. More than nothing, we looked for to gain points so we were not going to make nothing risky. This was a track in which the advancements were difficult. With the boys of Ganassi always we worked in the car, taking care of the rims that are very old woman and in the second shutdown in pits we did not put rims. We had good you escape, but they were there and was close and sometimes you cannot arriesgarte thus. Simply it would end your day. You must be extremely careful with the advancements in this track, but the TELMEX car ran very well and we are happy for having returned to podio and the end of the championship”.
This podio of the season for “coequiperos” Pruett and Rojas is the second as and is the third party of Pruett and the equipment of car no. 01 since they gained the first race of the year, the 24 Rolex AT Daytona in which Pablo Montoya and Salvador Durán competed next to Juan. In that Red occasion it shared the responsibilities of handling of car no. 02 Target/TELMEX Lexus Riley with the champions of IndyCar Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon. The one of this Sunday is in addition the best result to Red in the Rolex Series. Best the previous one was a third party in the Homestead-Miami Speedway, in March.
“I feel very happy”, said Red. “I want to congratulate to the equipment and Scott by its incredible work of this weekend. The classification was very closed. To escape in this circuit is quite difficult. We had to be intelligent with our decisions in the track and to hope that everything came out well for us. I made first half of the race and soon Scott did a great work. Scott returned to recover the points and I feel very happy by all the equipment TELMEX”.

Patterson/Negri Jr of Michael Shank Racing

Oswaldo Negri Jr. and Mark Patterson Michael Shank Racing Lexus Riley completed podio with a third place to the controls of 60 car no. Patterson handled the first portion of the competition before passing the car to Negri, that obtained first podio of the equipment since he and Patterson won in the last competition of 2006 of the Rolex Series in the Miller Motorsports Park. They started in position 12 and finished to third parties, obtaining the prize “SunTrust Improve Your Position Award”.
“The car was very well”, said Negri. “We studied with much attention our strategy. We had very different ideas and we stayed faithfuls to which we thought that he was the correct thing. But it was extremely difficult to happen. I had to be very precise you exceed in them and without striking to anybody. I feel very, very happy”.
“It is very good for returning here”, added Patterson. “To be here with these boys it is very good. It was a great race and it started very fast. It could have been a disaster in curve 1 of the first return but all were very “clean”, so it is good”.
The pilots of car no. 58 Red Bull/Waxes Racing Porsche Riley, Darren Law and David Donohue continued their gust of wind of successes when obtaining a fourth place in the U.S. Sports Car Invitational delivered by Luggage Express. Law and Donohue finished to third parties in 400 VIR the past month and have finalized between the six first in four consecutive events.
Ryan Dalziel and Patrick Carpentier completed the five group of first the controls of the no. 11 CITGO/SAMAX Pontiac Riley. As much Dalziel as Carpentier has finished between the five first in three of the events of the Rolex Series in 2007. Its better result until now has been a second place in Rolex 24 AT Daytona.

Fight by position in the demanding one drawing up of Dry Lagoon

Fogarty was the one that led major number of returns (38) but problems in clutch of car no. to 99 relegated - him and to Gurney- to the sixth place. John Pew and Ian James, also of the equipment Michael Shank Racing, happened in front of the flag to pictures in the seventh place with 6 car no. Playboy Lexus Riley, whereas Colins Braun and Max Papis finished a hard weekend in the eighth position with the 75 no. Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley. In spite of to have run in the third place in some point of the race, Burt Frisselle and Mark Wilkins they finalized ninth with the 61 no. Exchange Traded Gold/AIM Autosport Lexus Riley, and Memo Gidley and Guy Cosmo (77 no. Kodak/Gilds Racing Ford Gild) they completed the group of the 10 first.
Christian Fittipaldi led 20 returns with car no. 39 Crown Royal Special Reserve/Cheever Racing Porsche Fabcar, but an exit of track of its coequipero, Harrison left them to Brix in 11º. The same happened with Angelelli that thanks to an exit of the circuit finished 15º.