Pontiac Daytona Prototype (DP) and GT teams will have their first natural road course race of the season to be held at the Virginia International Raceway (VIR) on April 28 and 29. Crown Royal Special Reserve will present round four of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series which will witness separate GT and DP races.
Ten Pontiac powered race vehicles will compete in two-hour-and-thirty-minute races. Seven of which are Daytona Prototypes (DP) and three of which are GT cars. The will compete separately: GT on Saturday and DP on Sunday. The VIR road course is made up of 17-turns and runs 3.27-miles in length.
Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney, members of the team from Texas have their own list going with three front row starting positions on the season. They would like to add another win to their record on the season. They bagged the first place in the field at Mexico City as their very first victory.
Fogarty said the speed of the car has so far been really good this season. They have been able to get that little extra from it in qualifying to start on the front row in the first three races. The racer further commented VIR was not good to them last year. They were racing a borrowed car. They went down a lap early and then got a penalty. He said the track is one of his favorites; it has a nice combination of turns and some really nice fast stuff. He is anticipating getting back to a natural road course.
Tracy Krohn is looking forward to getting his No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley back to VIR. Their Texan teammates Max Papis and Colin Braun are currently fourth in DP points.
Krohn thinks VIR is a great track. He always looks forward to going there and it will be nice to get to a natural road course after two modified ovals. The high speed eases are good barometers for the way the car is setup.
Noted sports car racer Justin Bell will be joining the DP ranks as a full time driver partnering Roger Schramm in the No. 12 RVO Motor sports Pontiac Riley.
Bell raced with Roger and Bill Lester at Daytona. They came back and wanted him to do the rest of the year starting at VIR. He will be finishing out the season with the team. He said he is very pleased because it has been a strange last three years, since Trans Am disappeared. He added he missed the Grand-Am boat, it set sail with out me, and so it is nice to be back with a full time program. He has been to VIR in Trans-Am and finished second there, so he is continuing the season on familiar ground."
Around the twists and turns of VIR, Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards will be looking to maximize the handling of their Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R.
Collins said Banner Racing and the engineering team have improved the setup every race with regard to cornering. They just cannot hang down the straight. So behind the wheel they do the best that they can. The track's high speed turns will suit the cars ability, the long straight does not right now.
Expecting a strong battle in the GT race at VIR is Leighton Reese in the No. 06 Pontiac GXP.R. He said VIR has got a lot of turns. He is comparing it to Mexico City a little bit. The car likes big, broad, fast turns, but they tend to lose ground down the straights. According to him, the cars handle fantastic and they are a pleasure to drive. There are 12 fast Porsches out there and the Mazda has come a long way and they now have the support for the effort and they are going fast. The competition in the GT class is real strong right now. Their team wants to be a part of the fight at the front.
Jon Mirachi, No. 30 GXP.R Racers Edge team owner, has had the opportunity to test since Homestead and has sportscar hot shoe James Gue behind the wheel for VIR. Gue will partner Canadian Mark Pavan at VIR.
Mirachi said they are happy to have been able to secure James Gue for VIR. According to him, James is a talented and experienced young driver who has a lot of agility. Following the race event at Homestead, they went to VIR and had an extremely successful test. He said the test really increases their level of confidence going into the event for both Pontiac Rolex GT teams, Racers Edge Motor sports and Banner Racing, as both GXP.R drivers Paul Edwards and Mark Pavan participated in the test.
Another racer said will play a huge task during the race.
The GT race from VIR will run on Saturday, April 28th and will be televised the same day on the SPEED Channel. A delayed telecast will be shown in ET at 8:30 in the evening. The DP race will be televised live on the SPEED Channel starting 1:00 in the afternoon.
