AIM to Start Ninth in Miami
Wilkins Quick Despite Steering Problem

2007.03.23: AIM Autosport will start ninth in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday. Mark Wilkins of Toronto drove the No. 61 Lexus-powered Riley Mk XI to ninth in the Daytona Prototype class with a time of one minute 15.753 seconds on the 2.3-mile track.

Mark Wilkins had his hands full as the prototype car's power steering failed at the start of the qualifying session and he had only two laps.

"I've never driven the car without power steering – it's a workout and a half, especially with the load on the banking. A couple of times I had to lift out of it to avoid coasting up into the wall because I couldn't feed any more steering into the car," he said. "But we have a great car – ninth is a testament to how good our car really is. In two laps, to be there is pretty remarkable. We definitely had a top-five car without that little glitch."

AIM Autosport is one of the few Rolex Series teams that uses spotters at every race. Brothers Brian and Burt Frisselle alternate races co-driving with Mark. The driver with the weekend off spots with their father, Brad, who is chief spotter at every race.

"From a driver standpoint, especially on a track like this where you're running part of an oval, having a spotter is so essential," Burt explained. "It so helpful to have an extra set of eyes that's just focused on protecting you. My dad's been doing it for me for a long time. I'm used to his style and I know I can trust the information. I think it's decreased the amount of incidents and accidents – I've had very little contact in this series and I think part of that is due to spotters. On a track like this, where you can see every inch of the course, it's just so valuable. There's no little advantage that you don't want to have."

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