RacingNation.com

Pruett And Rojas Win In The Heat At Mid-Ohio

Lexington, Ohio – On a hot day at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas powered to victory in the EMCO Gears Classic, the seventh race of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series season.

The dynamic duo won for the fifth time in seven races, leading 64 of the 107 laps around the 2.25-mile road course. In winning, they extended their series point lead to 32 markers over third-place finishers Burt Frisselle and Mark Wilkins.

The victors drove the finely tuned TELMEX BMW Riley fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Ganassi was on hand to greet his drivers in victory lane.

A BMW also won the GT class, giving the engine manufacturer its first sweep in Rolex Series history.

Said Pruett about the race, “It was a great day for us today and winning at this track means a lot to me, as I lived in the area for four years while running IndyCars. Because of the interesting strategies used today, we fell to seventh at one point, and I had to work hard to work my way back to the front. Getting there, we worked our tires very hard and drove some crazy lines. At the end, we were holding on by a thread.”

Rojas, who started the race, stated, “At the start, we were all trying to stay out of trouble. The car was great and we probably had the best set-up we have had all year.”

John Pew and Oswaldo Negri Jr. started 10th and finished a hard-fought second in a Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley.

Pew said, “The track was bad during my first stint and the car was a handful.” He made contact with a slower car on the 15th lap and was assessed a penalty for doing so. Later on, he apologized to the GT driver for his action.

Said Negri, who appeared worn out from the excessive heat, “This track is very physically demanding, but we had a great strategy and because of it, I was able to save a lot of fuel. At the end, I was driving as hard as I could.”

Grabbing third place in the closing minutes were AIM Autosport Ford Riley drivers Frisselle and Wilkins.

The second Michael Shank Racing entry, a new Ford Dallara completed this week, nearly finished a podium until falling to fourth at the end. It was driven by Michael Valiante and Brian Frisselle.

Fifth place went to one-time leader Buddy Rice and Antonio Garcia in the Spirit of Daytona Porsche Coyote.

The GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Chevrolet took sixth place ahead of the Doran Racing Ford Dallara of Memo Gidley and Dion von Moltke.

In the GT class, Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand drove the Turner Motorsports BMW M6 to victory, beating out a trio of Mazda RX-8s.

According to drivers Auberlen and Hand, the heat inside the car was so extreme they each drove two stints, to conserve their energy.

“You do what you have to do,” Hand said of his race. “I love to drive these BMWs, and it was a hard-fought race. I would call these cars nuclear inside as they get so hot.”

Added Auberlen, “The car was so hot we split the driving stints. When I got in the last time, the car was so good I was able to go to the front. It ran like a freight train at times.”

Second place went to the SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 of John Edwards and Adam Christodoulou.

Third was garnered by the Racers Edge Motorsports Mazda RX-8 duo of Jordan Taylor and Jade Buford.

Share Button