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Pacific Mobile/Biosign car qualifies 3rd Lexington, Ohio (2010.06.18) The day ended much better than it started for the Pacific Mobile/Biosign No. 61 Ford Riley as Burt Frisselle reeled off a series of quick laps at the end of a very hot day (86ºF/30ºC) to put the car on the second row for The EMCO Gears Classic Presented by Keybank. His time of 1:17.911 @ 104.334 mph was quick enough for a third-place start, making it three years in a row that AIM Autosport's car has started from the third position on the grid. It was a satisfying comeback as the team struggled in early practice, never breaking out of the 1:18s. "It just wasn't there this morning", offered Mark Wilkins. "After such strong runs at Lime Rock and Watkins Glen, we expected the car to be fast off the truck, but after session one, everyone on the team knew we had some work to do. We improved in session two but still not enough." Between practice sessions, the engineers and crew set about finding as much in the car as possible and with the improvement, knew they were going in the right direction. A bit more work before qualifying and the team felt they could give Burt a chance to shoot for a top spot in qualifying. "The guys did an awesome job", Burt said after qualifying. "The car was almost perfect and now we just need to find a couple of tenths in the car and I know where I can make up some time. Get that together and we should be able to hand over to Mark with good track position in the race. "It was very hot out there and that certainly affects the balance of the car," he continued, "But we have a plan for final practice that will allow us to see what the car will do later in each stint under these kinds of conditions." It is expected to be close to 89ºF/32ºC for the start of the race, but as in years past, weather always comes into play at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. There is a 30% chance thunderstorms which also means the possibility of high winds. There is a final 30-minute practice on Saturday morning at 8:40am ET with the EMCO Gears Classic Presented by Keybank scheduled to start at 5:00pm ET. The race will be broadcast live on SPEED and MRN (Motor Racing Network) available via affiliates and on the Sirius Satellite Network.
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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. |
