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AIM Autosport turned in a flawless
top-five performance through almost seven hours of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car
Series finale on Saturday, but contact from another competitor turned it into an
11th-place finish just two minutes from the finish. It was a
disappointing end to a strong season for the rookie team backed by Exchange
Traded Gold, Barrick Gold Corporation, RBC Financial Group and Telus' Mike
Network.
Brian Frisselle and Burt Frisselle
of Lynchburg, Va., and Mark Wilkins of Toronto alternated driving the No. 61
Lexus-powered Riley Mk XI, keeping it at or near the front of the field through
the six-hour 51-minute race on the 4.486-mile Miller Motorsports Park road
course in Tooele, Utah. With superior fuel strategy, the gold-backed Daytona
Prototype car led three times. Burt Frisselle was running sixth when he was hit
by another car about 45 minutes before the finish. The contact ultimately broke
the car's driveshaft and he dropped back through the field in the last two
minutes to finish 11th.
Doncaster Racing had a better
finish, starting 12th in the GT class and finishing fifth. Dave Lacey
of Toronto drove the No. 17 MineStar / Tim Hortons Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car
first, trying a new helmet system that didn't provide sufficient air. He finished his stint with an elevated
carbon-monoxide level that didn't allow him to get back behind the wheel. Greg
Wilkins of Toronto drove two stints, with Tom Papadopoulos of East Hills, N.Y.,
taking a stint between. Darren Law of Phoenix, whose Daytona Prototype car went
out of the race early, substituted for Lacey and drove the final hour, securing
fifth place for the team.
race
report
car
time
driver
action
17
start
Lacey
1h23
change
pit – Greg Wilkins in, four tires, fuel
2h39
change
pit – Papadopoulos in, four tires, fuel, cool suit
ice
4h43
change
pit – Greg Wilkins in, four tires, fuel, cool suit
ice
5h44
change
pit – Law in, four tires, fuel
61
start
Brian Frisselle
1h30
change
pit – Burt Frisselle in, four tires, fuel
3h00
change
pit – Mark Wilkins in, four tires, fuel, cool suit
ice
4h38
change
pit – Brian Frisselle in, four tires, fuel
5h36
change
pit – Burt Frisselle in, four tires, fuel
6h04
Burt Frisselle
hit by 23 car, turn 1
Andrew Bordin (AIM
co-owner): "I'm really proud of everybody. Our
drivers really evolved this year; they're becoming world-class drivers. We all
worked hard, we've learned as a team and our team has done really well. We
showed well today. If we didn't have any bad luck – which is a huge part of the
equation in racing – we would have done well. There's all of next year and the
year after that and the year after that and the year after that, so it will come
around for us."
Brian Frisselle: "It's the end of the year now and it's a
little bit disappointing way to end it. We showed a lot of potential all year
and during this race. It's a great group of guys; I love working with them. I've
got to thank Exchange Traded Gold, Performance Drink, CDOC, Lexus, all our
supporters for making this all possible. It was a fun year, it was a learning
year for the team and for all of us. It's not the way we wanted to end it, but
it's not always perfect. We'll come back next year and hopefully win some
races."
Burt Frisselle: "The last hour was absolutely chaos out
there, but all in all, it was a good day and I'm happy with the team's
performance. A lap and a half from the end, we broke a half-shaft after some
contact with the 23 car, but I was proud to be part of the team this year. I
think today we showed our performance and next year, the sky's the limit for
AIM."
Mark Wilkins: "The guys worked so hard and I was
really, really hoping for a top-five this weekend. For the majority of the race,
that's the way it was going. We had a really good setup, a really good car, all
three of us drove the wheels off it. It's a shame that the car didn't make the
end. It's definitely a tough one to end the year."
John Lacey (Doncaster
partner): "I'm very pleased with a fifth-place
finish. David got some carbon-monoxide poisoning after doing a great drive, Greg
filled in nicely and Tom did a good job. We were able to get Darren Law to fill
in for David at the end. Hopefully, this fifth place will get Darren the win in
the Porsche championship worldwide. That would be a terrific cap to the
season."
Dave Lacey: "We tried a new helmet ventilation
system this weekend and think we got it wrong because as soon as I got out of
the car, I just felt absolutely queasy, like I'd been breathing carbon monoxide
for an hour and a half. I went to race medical and they did some blood tests and
the carbon-monoxide levels were elevated. I got some oxygen and I felt like I
was coming back a little bit, but race medical suggested that I should not get
back in the car. I'm really happy with the fifth place. We didn't know where we
were going to end up – we made a lot of changes overnight and they turned out
well."
Darren Law: "I have to say thanks to John Lacey,
Greg Wilkins and all the guys at Doncaster for allowing me to do that. That's
the second time this season they let me jump in their car to try to run for
Porsche points, and hopefully it helped them keep it out front and get a good
finish, as well."
Tom Papadopoulos: "It's an absolutely wonderful way to end
the year. We were consistent and clean the whole race. It was fun, it was great!
I hope to do it many more times like this."
Greg Wilkins: "We had a great race today. Everybody
just drove a really consistent race and kept the car clean. We weren't really
that quick over the qualifying and practice, but it's a long race and we had a
consistent base. It's a nice way to end the season."
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