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AIM & Doncaster - Mexico qualifying |
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Saturday, 03 March 2007 |
passing ahead
AIM Autosport will start from the back of the Daytona Prototype grid for the Saturday Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, after an electrical failure foiled the Canadian team's qualifying effort.
Mark Wilkins of Toronto was set to qualify the No. 61 Lexus-powered Riley Mk XI. He had a clear track and a strong car, but lost all power at the beginning of his first lap. He switched the car's battery and attempted to restart to no avail, so was forced to the sidelines.
Wilkins will drive the first race stint in the gold car, backed by
Exchange Traded Gold, Barrick Gold Corporation, RBC Financial Group and
Telus' Mike Network. Brian Frisselle of Lynchburg, Va., will finish the
race.
"It's pretty disappointing," Wilkins said. "We were coming up to speed
– Brian was very fast this morning and I think we could have qualified
quite well today. We had a great car. Unfortunately, we had what seems
like an electrical failure. We'll be starting from the back tomorrow
and I promise a lot of passing and a good race."
fore!
Greg Wilkins of Toronto made it a father-son qualifying round on
Friday, but fared better than his son Mark. He slotted the No. 17
MineStar / Tim Hortons Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car 10th in the GT class
with a lap of one minute, 30.233 seconds on the 2.5-mile road course.
Dave Lacey of Toronto will share driving duty in the car, with
preparation by Doncaster Racing.
Wilkins snapped off a quick fifth-place time on his first lap, but the
field was then slowed for an odd caution period, called because of a
golf cart parked on the track. When the session resumed, Wilkins
settled into 10th place. He was happy with the team's progress.
"It was bit weird to go around the first lap and find a golf cart and a
guy still in the Stadium turn, under green. I don't know what the heck
was going on with that," he said.
"It's a real rhythm track and very line-dependant. We've been quicker
every session by a few tenths [of a second] and we were seven-tenths
faster in qualifying than we'd been over the weekend, so I'm really
pleased with the qualifying run. One thing about our team is that we
really run consistently. We're not the best qualifiers in the world, so
if this is the best these other guys can do in qualifying, I'm
optimistic for the race."
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