De Quesada Paces Second Trans-Am Series Practice at Trois-Rivieres
In the second practice session in preparation for Sunday's SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres, Carlos de Quesada, of Miami, Fla., overcame contact with another car to top the time charts.
De Quesada made contact with the No. 00 Chevrolet Corvette driven by Doug Harrington, of Kemah, Texas midway through the session. However, de Quesada turned a lap at 1:04.824 (84.469 mph) in the No. 22 Alegra Motorsports/Vitalz Jaguar XKR to lead the early evening session. The lap was just a tick slower than Tony Ave's best lap of 1:04.784 (83.909 mph) set in the day's first practice session.
"I'm having a lot of fun," De Quesada said. "The last time I was here was in 2003 with ALMS in a BMW, but I had forgotten the track. In the first practice, I went out and everything went well. I was just being conservative. In the second practice, I was really trying to push harder just to get ready for qualifying.
"I saw Doug Harrington coming down the front straight and apparently he got a missed shift. I thought he was letting me go through and the next thing you know, he turned in and we had contact. I gathered myself from that and went out and turned another good couple of laps and was able to get a good run. The car is handling great. I'm still being careful here. It's one of these tracks that you don't want to make a big mistake at, but it was a good session."
Ave, of Maiden, N.C., only turned a handful of laps in the session and wound up second in the No. 4 Lamers Racing/Beebe Racing/Optech/PME Chevrolet Corvette. Ave's best lap was a 1:05.050 (84.175 mph).
Amy Ruman, of Kent, Ohio, had an eventful session of her own with a spin in Turn 3. However, she also managed to post the third quickest time of the session at 1:05.567 (83.050 mph) in the No. 23 McNichols/Goodyear/Cenweld Chevrolet Corvette.
Simon Gregg, of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., was fourth at 1:05.794 (83.223 mph) in the No. 59 Derhaag Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette and John Baucom, of Charlotte, N.C., rounded out the top five. Baucom's best lap was a 1:06.541 (82.289 mph) in the No. 86 Baucom Motorsports Ford Mustang.
In his debut weekend of Trans-Am 2 (TA2) competition, Tom Sheehan, of Auburn, N.H., topped the class time charts in the evening session. Sheehan's best lap was a 1:10.491 (77.678 mph) in the No. 65 Guardian Angel Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro.
Next up for the SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series will be a 30-minute qualifying session beginning at 7:50 a.m. ET on Saturday. Saturday's activities also include an all-driver autograph session from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 Noon.
Results
1. TA, (22) Carlos de Quesada, Miami, Fla., Jaguar XKR, 1:04.824, 84.469.
2. TA, (4) Tony Ave, Maiden, N.C., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:05.050, 84.175.
3. TA, (23) Amy Ruman, Kent, Ohio, Chevrolet Corvette, 1:05.567, 83.512.
4. TA, (59) Simon Gregg, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Chevrolet Corvette, 1:05.794, 83.223.
5. TA, (86) John Baucom, Charlotte, N.C., Ford Mustang, 1:06.541, 82.289.
6. TA, (00) Doug Harrington (R), Kemah, Texas, Chevrolet Corvette, 1:06.721, 82.067.
7. TA, (70) David Jans (R), Mundelein, Ill., Ford Mustang, 1:07.609, 80.989.
8. TA2, (65) Tom Sheehan (R), Auburn, N.H., Chevrolet Camaro, 1:10.491, 77.678.
9. TA2, (98) Bob Stretch (R), Arlington, Texas, Chevrolet Camaro, 1:11.706, 76.362.
10. TA2, (32) Bill Prietzel (R), Richfield, Wis., Chevrolet Monte Carlo, 1:12.728, 75.289.