Gainsco car tops Grand-Am practice
Gurney turned a best lap at 1:21.285 (99.118 mph) around the 2.258-mile circuit in the car he shares with Jon Fogarty to lead the way on Friday. Daytona Prototype points co-leader Scott Pruett – who led the Friday morning session – was second quick in the afternoon at 1:21.657 (98.666 mph) in the No. 01 TELMEX BMW/Riley he co-drives with Memo Rojas.
Ryan Dalziel, who is the closest pursuer to Pruett and Rojas in DP title chase, was third at 1:21.903 (98.370 mph) in the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport Ford/Riley. Dalziel is once again sharing the ride this weekend with IndyCar star Alex Tagliani.
Returning to Rolex Series competition for the first time since the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, Beretta clocked a best lap at 1:28.031 (91.522 mph) in the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458. Beretta’s co-driver is Alessandro Balzan.
Second in GT was Jeff Segal at 1:28.192 (91.355 mph) in the No. 69 FXDD Ferrari 458, followed by Eric Foss in third at 1:28.230 (91.316 mph) in the No. 73 Neo Synthetics/Carbotech Performance Porsche GT3.
The Continental Tire Sports Car Festival’s featured 2-3/4-hour sprint is Round 12 of 13 races on the 2012 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series schedule and can be seen live on SPEED on Sunday, September 9, at 3 p.m. EDT/12 p.m. PDT.
After clocking in second fastest in this morning’s first practice, Gurney turned the top lap of the day in the afternoon session with a time of 1:21.285 (99.118 mph).
“I think the car was pretty good," Gurney said. “We have been in this position before, so it strangely doesn’t feel that good actually, the car has been fast on Fridays a lot and now we just have to seal the deal, but so far so good. I think maybe some of the Fords may have a little bit more down force than they have been letting on."