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AIM Autosport - Watkins Glen race |
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Monday, 13 August 2007 |
AIM Autosport gained a position in Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype standings, despite a challenging race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International on Friday evening. Unofficially, the team moved from 10th to ninth, with two races remaining this season.
Mark Wilkins of Toronto started the No. 61 Exchange Traded Gold / Barrick Gold Riley Mk XI from fourth on the 21-car grid and stayed in the top five through most of his stint, leading the charge for Lexus-powered cars. He was running sixth when he pitted after 41 minutes of the two-hour race, handing off to Burt Frisselle of Lynchburg, Va.
Frisselle took the race restart from eighth place, but dropped back to
10th as he struggled with a new set of tires and oversteer. He spun off
track 30 minutes before the finish and lost six positions before he was
able to rejoin the race. After stopping for new tires, he charged back
on track, setting the team's fastest lap of the race and regaining two
positions to finish 14th.
The team will travel to Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, for a
two-day test this week in preparation for the season-ending 1000-km
race.
Burt Frisselle: "The AIM car was pretty darn solid; we were running
really strong all week. We had a tire issue and I made a mistake and
went off. I feel bad about that because it cost us a top-10 finish. But
I'm looking forward to testing this week. As a new team, we haven't had
as much opportunity to test, so a two-day test is exactly what we need
right now."
Mark Wilkins: "The start wasn't the greatest – I kind of got hung out
to dry – but my drive was good. The car was very well-balanced, I was
running consistent times with the leaders and I went quicker and
quicker as the race went on. The crew did great pitstops, as usual. It
was fun to run with the front guys! I hope we can continue that trend."
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