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Laguna Seca - Friday
Practice and Qualifying Report The Exchange Traded Gold #61 Ford Riley was quick in early practice on Friday with Brian Frisselle taking the controls early and working on car setup. Despite rising temperatures and a dusty track, Brian would post the second fastest lap in the morning session. Mark Wilkins would complete the session and put the car though its paces to work out the balance on the car. Everyone in the AIM Autosport paddock was pleased with the performance of the car and expressed confidence for the afternoon session. By session two, the temperatures had climbed into the high 90's with a track temperature approaching 125 F. Brian would take the car out in preparation for qualifying and immediately jump to the top of the charts. He would continue to improve and with a 1:20.991, the #61 Ford Riley would end the session P1. On aggregate time, the car sat P2 on the day. By qualifying, temperatures had dropped to a more manageable 82 F. Brian was feeling very good about the car and hoped the session would go well. He would find clear track and went P2 early and stay there for a few laps when a caution brought everyone into the pits. With just minutes to go in the short, fifteen-minute qualifying session, Brian would have to deal with traffic and a dirty track. He final run was marred when another car had a moment ahead of him on the track and he had to go wide over the final few corners effectively ending his last lap charge. The Exchange Traded Gold #61 Ford Riley ended the day P5 and will now start on the inside of row three Saturday afternoon. "We had a good run early and had momentum when the caution came out" Brian commented. "From there it was a matter of trying to work around traffic and get a clear run. Unfortunately, that was more difficult than we would have liked." He continued, "In the end, we left a bit on the table but we are very happy with the car. It is very strong and we certainly have the speed. We are looking forward to the race where we can use time to our advantage." |
Established in 1995 with a mandate to identify, train and manage emerging motorsport talent AIM operates multi-car teams competing in the Formula BMW USA Championship and the Star Mazda Series North American Championship. Among those drivers who have graduated from AIM Autosport are former series and rookie champions james hinchcliffe, Andrew Ranger, Andrew Bordin, J.F.Veilleux, Jonathan Macri, L.P. Dumoulin, Anthony Simone and Dan Burchill. Other notable AIM graduates include, Sam Hornish Jr., Billy Asaro, mark wilkins, Ashley Taws, Paul Dana, Tom Dyer, Josh Schreiber, Dan McMullen and Antoine Bessette. |
