AIM/Doncaster Rolex 24 Hour-12 Update
Into the Night

2007.01.28: Veterans of the Rolex 24 At Daytona know a lot can happen during the night hours. AIM Autosport caught a mid-race gremlin when the No. 61 Lexus-powered Riley Mk XI would not restart after a race stoppage at 11h26. Although the car required a push-start to continue, it still held sixth place at half-distance, with Mark Wilkins, Brian Frisselle, Burt Frisselle and David Empringham handling driving duty. The Doncaster Racing car lost a lap to the pace car during a a caution period at 9h25, but regained track position to move up to third after 12 hours. Lance David Arnold, Tom Papadopoulos, Johnny Mowlem, Dave Lacey and Greg Wilkins continued to alternate driving stints.

Race Report, car 61 (6th place)
(time / driver / action)
0h00 / Mark Wilkins / race start
1h02 / Burt Frisselle in / tires, fuel
2h14 / Brian Frisselle in / tires, fuel
3h29 / David Empringham in / tires, fuel
4h40 / Mark Wilkins in / tires, fuel
5h50 / Burt Frisselle in / tires, fuel
7h18 / Brian Frisselle in / tires, fuel
8h25 / David Empringham in / tires, fuel
9h45 / Mark Wilkins in
10h50 / Mark Wilkins continues / fuel
11h26 / Mark Wilkins continues / engine won't restart after race stopage

Race Report, car 17 (3rd place)
(time / driver / action)
0h00 / Dave Lacey driving
1h00 / Greg Wilkins in / tires, fuel
2h02 / Lance David Arnold in / tires, fuel
2h51 / Tom Papadoloulus in / tires, fuel, replaced driver ID
3h55 / Johnny Mowlem in / tires, fuel
4h58 / Dave Lacey in / tires, fuel
6h04 / Greg Wilkins in / tires, fuel
7h15 / Lance David Arnold in / tires, fuel
8h25 / Tom Papadopoulos in / tires, fuel
9h37 / Johnny Mowlem in / tires, fuel
10h40 / Johnny Mowlem continues / fuel, tires
12h10 / Johnny Mowlem continues / fuel, tires

Comments
Ian Willis, AIM co-owner: "We haven't had any problems 'til now. We were under yellow, Burt checked up and the engine stalled. It looks like we've lost either the ring gear or the starter piston because it won't turn over when he engages the starter. Now we'll have to bump-start on each restart, but the SunTrust team has been doing that for a couple of hours. If they can do it, we can do it! We started 27th because the car stalled on the grid, so we're doing all right."

Mark Wilkins: "At the half-distance, I can't believe where we're at. Our main focus is to just keep running the car and hope that luck's on our side. The crew are doing a great job, and Burt, Brian and Dave are just driving the wheels off the car. It's awesome."

Lance David Arnold: "I'm driving consistently and that's important for the first part of the race. We're in a good position, we have good speed, so we'll see what happens in the night."

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