Qualified to Race at The Brickyard -- GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series

Company press release.

A classic Chamber of Commerce day – brilliant sunshine, temperatures in the mid '70s, and a refreshing northeasterly breeze – made a spectacular backdrop for today's GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series practice and qualifying sessions at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). This setup day prior to race eight in this 12-race season is critical for drivers and teams that are in the hunt for the 2013 series titles in Daytona Prototype, Grand Touring and GX classes.

In the DP class four drivers are tied in the series season standings on 194 points: Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli (drivers of the #8 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP) lead the pack, followed by Alex Popow and Ryan Dalziel (drivers of the #2 Starworks BMW Riley). Fifth overall is Christian Fittipaldi, with 190 points. Fittipaldi, in his third season driving for Action Express Racing, has been paired with Joao Barbosa in the #5 Corvette DP since race four of the season at Road Atlanta where their results (12th) were impacted by a collision that pushed Barbosa into the wall. Since then the pair have been on a hot streak finishing 2-1-1 as the action now moves to the Brickyard.

Fittipaldi is returning to the famed Brickyard for the first time in almost 20 years and hoping to bring home a win after a second-place finish in the 1995 Indy 500. Another Indy 500 veteran will compete in Friday's GRAND-AM Rolex Series: current title holder Tony Kanaan who will drive a DP for the first time ever, sharing the duties with Joey Hand in the #02 Chip Ganassi Racing BMW Riley.

In the GT class, Andy Lally and John Potter, drivers of the #44 Magnus Racing Porsche GT3 Cup lead the season points race with 199, followed by John Edwards and Robin Liddell (co drivers in the #57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R) and Alessandro Balzan (from the #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458) each of whom have 193 points. In the GX class, Jim Norman (#38 BGB Motorsports Porsche Cayman), with 233 points, and Joel Miller (#00 Visit Florida Racing Mazda GX), with 222, lead the #70 Mazdaspeed Mazda6 GX team of Sylvain Tremblay and Tom Long who each carry 215 points.

Each class had its own practice session and two combined practices were also run before the all-important Qualifying Sessions got underway.

Jordan Taylor of Apopka, Fla., turned in a best time of 1:22.251 to win pole in the DP class, his third straight pole and eighth overall in GRAND-AM. 'It's a unique track that there's a very long front straight and then a technical section, and so you can either go high downforce or low downforce,' said Taylor who admitted that after trying a few things in practice the team was a little worried but knew they had a good car. 'Most people were on high downforce, which seems to be the trend this year. Either way works, it just depends on track conditions and temperature. I'm sure tomorrow you'll see a big range, cars flying by cars on the front straight and then getting stacked up on the infield, but that will make it interesting for the race. It's pretty low grip on the infield so a lot of people sliding around will just create a lot of opportunities for passing and bumping. That's what GRAND-AM is known for – the good racing and a little bit of rough racing.'

In the GT class, Boris Said of Carlsbad, Calif., drove the #31 Marsh Racing Corvette to a fastest lap of 1:28.374 to qualify for pole, earning his sixth career pole in the process. 'Indy's a special place… it's one of those few tracks that makes the hair on your arms stand up straight when you start looking around at all this and the history. It just adds a cherry on top of the sundae to be able to get the pole in our Whelen Corvette. We were fast when we unloaded and hopefully we'll be fast in the race.'

In the three-car GX class, racing at IMS for the first time, Tom Long of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., took pole honors at the wheel of the #70 Mazdaspeed Mazda6 GX with a lap of 1:33.156. 'We were dealing with a little traffic out there, which is always interesting having the GX guys at the back of the GT field,' said Long. 'We're trying to work through some of the traffic. The team has been working so hard with Mazda's support to get where we are and we're really looking forward to the race tomorrow. Looking to have a smooth, consistent, first couple of hours and then starting to hone in on picking up the pace or whatever needs to happen in order to get to Victory Lane.'

The Brickyard Grand Prix, race eight in the 2013 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, gets underway at 5:30 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 26, from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The three-hour race will be covered on Fox Sports SPEED starting at 7:30 p.m. EDT.

About Rolex  
Leading brand of the Swiss watch industry, Rolex, headquartered in Geneva, enjoys an unrivalled reputation for quality and expertise the world over. Its OYSTER watches, all certified as chronometers for their precision, are symbols of excellence, performance and prestige. Pioneer in the development of the wristwatch as early as 1905, the brand is at the origin of numerous major watchmaking innovations, such as the OYSTER, the first waterproof wristwatch, launched in 1926, and the PERPETUAL rotor self-winding mechanism introduced in 1931. Rolex has registered over 400 patents in the course of its history. A truly integrated manufacturing company, Rolex designs, develops and produces in-house all the essential components of its watches, from the casting of the gold alloys to the machining, crafting, assembly and finishing of the movement, case, dial and bracelet. Rolex is also actively involved in supporting the arts, sports, the spirit of enterprise, and the environment through a broad palette of sponsoring activities as well as philanthropic and patronage programmes.

Image credits:
Photo By: Rolex / Stephan Cooper

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