Gurney/Fogarty top Grand-Am practice

Preparing for tomorrow’s Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Montréal 400k, Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty once again collaborated on a winning setup in practice at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. On his final trip around the 2.7-mile island road course, behind the wheel of the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Pontiac-powered Riley, the second-generation star clicked off a lap of 1:36.344, at an average speed of 101.225 mph – the quickest time of the day, more than two-tenths of a second ahead of second-placed Bill Auberlen. Fogarty’s best lap wasn’t far adrift, and that puts him in strong position for qualifying tomorrow morning, where he’ll look to seize his sixth and the team’s eighth pole of the 2007 season. With just four races remaining in the 2007 season, the GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing team is seeking to close a 13-point gap in the championship points. But weather forecasts report a threat of rain on raceday, which could throw all the team’s hard work out the window.

Fogarty will make that pole attempt in a 15-minute session, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time, which is quickly followed by a 30-minute final practice at 10:50 a.m. The 92-lap, two-hour, 30-minute Montréal 400k is set to go green at 4:15 p.m., with same-day-delay television coverage beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern time on SPEED Channel. Live timing and scoring and Internet radio coverage will be available at http://www.grand-am.com.

Driver Quotes:

Alex Gurney: “It was a good first day for the GAINSCO team – we got through a few setup things and the track kept getting better all day, so again the No. 99 was there at the end. We’re pretty happy with the car, but the weather is a big question mark – everyone will be going in blind if the rain comes down. The 99 seems like it’s hooked up relative to everyone else, so we should be good. With the GT traffic in this race, it’s a lot different than the DP-only events we ran. It was very difficult to get a clear lap in practice, and getting around the GTs will be a big challenge in the race. It’s probably good that we got some of that today, because now we know some of the good spots to pass, and where you’ll be held up."

Jon Fogarty: “Track conditions were quite interesting this morning – going out in the beginning, the track was very slippery, but it’s gotten a lot better since then and I think it’ll continue to improve – which could mean we want to turn fast laps later on in qualifying. We have to balance that with making sure the tires are at their best. This circuit has an interesting rhythm – straightaway, heavy braking, straightaway, heavy braking, repeat. That creates an accordion effect, which makes it difficult with the GT cars, because they accelerate pretty decently. With the linked left-right-left-right corners, they really only have one option for a line, so if they get off-line to let a prototype by, it screws up the whole section for them. It’s quite different from most of the other circuits we visit, and it’s a fun track to drive, especially with the GAINSCO car working well again."