SunTrust Racing will start on pole position when the Daytona 24 Hours gets underway on Saturday, after a superb lap by Max Angelelli in today’s qualifying session.

The Italian – who will share SunTrust’s #10 Dallara-Ford with Pedro Lamy, Ricky Taylor and team boss Wayne Taylor – set a time of 1m40.681s, nearly half a second clear of nearest rival Oswaldro Negri Jr.

“It was important to get the pole, I can’t deny that. We wanted pole badly,” said Angelelli.

“I was pretty confident. Our Dallara chassis and Ford engine are always good. Now it is up to us drivers to make it happen.”

Behind Angelelli, less than a tenth of a second covered the next four cars, with the two Michael Shank Racing Riley-Fords lining up ahead of Ganassi’s two Riley-BMWs.

Christophe Bouchut put the best of the Level 5 Riley-BMWs on the outside of row three, while last year’s winning team Brumos will start seventh with Darren Law, Hurley Haywood, David Donohue, Raphael Matos and Butch Leitzinger.

Former Grand-Am champion team GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing missed qualifying completely after NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson crashed its #99 Riley-Chevrolet while avoiding a GT car in practice. After initially thinking it would have to bring in a replacement car, the team is rebuilding the chassis with a new rear end. Johnson, who will share the car with Alex Gurney, Jon Fogarty and Jimmy Vasser, is having the new section flown in using his private plane.

SpeedSource took GT class pole for the third straight year, although this time it was Jeff Segal in the #69 Mazda who claimed the top spot, with double class polesitter Sylvain Trembley only third in the sister car, behind the Racers Edge Mazda.

Pos  Drivers                                    Car             Time

 1.  Angelelli/Lamy/Taylor/Taylor               Dallara-Ford    1m40.681s

 2.  Frisselle/Negri/Pew/Wilkins                Riley-Ford      1m41.100s

 3.  Allmendinger/Frisselle/Patterson/Valiante  Riley-Ford      1m41.110s

 4.  Dixon/Franchitti/McMurray/Montoya          Riley-BMW       1m41.147s

 5.  Papis/Pruett/Rojas/Wilson                  Riley-BMW       1m41.164s

 6.  Bouchut/Bourdais/Collard/Maassen/Tucker    Riley-BMW       1m41.463s

 7.  Donohue/Haywood/Law/Leitzinger/Matos       Riley-Porsche   1m41.513s

 8.  Barbosa/Borcheller/Dalziel/Rockenfeller    Riley-Porsche   1m41.603s

 9.  Braun/Jonsson/Krohn/Zonta                  Lola-Ford       1m42.060s

10.  Garcia/Manning/Menard/Rice                 Coyote-Porsche  1m42.074s

Porsche has placed factory driver and former GT2 champion Wolf Henzler at the Falken team for the 2010 American Le Mans Series.

After winning the 2008 ALMS GT2 title with Jorg Bergmeister at Flying Lizard, Henzler moved to Farnbacher Loles last season. But with that team’s future in doubt, the German will partner Bryan Sellers at the Falken Porsche squad, which is backed by and uses rubber from the tyre manufacturer of the same name.

Henzler will be one of three factory Porsche drivers in the ALMS, with 2009 GT2 champions Bergmeister and Patrick Long already confirmed for another season with Flying Lizard.

Porsche has also announced that its Le Mans Series GT2 champions Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz will stay with Felbermayr-Proton, with Patrick Pilet remaining at IMSA Performance.

But it has dropped Emmanuel Collard and Sascha Maassen from its line-up of factory-supported drivers, and does not currently have a full-time programme for its former ALMS LMP2 champions Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, who raced in Grand-Am with Penske last year.

The pair remain contracted to Porsche and will focus on test and development work initially, but are confirmed to race in the Nurburgring 24 Hours.

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates has announced a star-studded line up for its assault in the upcoming 24 Hours of Daytona, where the team will field two BMW-powered Riley prototypes.

Ganassi, which has won three of the past four editions of the legendary endurance event, will have arguably the strongest line-up on the grid, fielding former IndyCar Series champions and Indianapolis 500 winners Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon – all former Daytona 24 Hours winners as well – in the #02 car, where NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Jamie McMurray will also take turns behind the wheel.

The #01 car will be driven by former Grand-Am champions and Daytona event winners Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, joined by IndyCar race-winner Justin Wilson and American Le Mans regular Marino Franchitti.

This year the team has switched to BMW power following the departure of Lexus from the series. The V8 powerplants are built by California-based engine tuner Dinan, which has won Grand-Am events in the past.

“We have been fortunate to have experienced a lot of success in the Grand-Am series over the last six years,” said team owner Chip Ganassi.

“That success stems from a number of factors – like having great drivers behind the wheel, taking great equipment to the track, having great people in the shop and finding great partners. I am pleased to say that once again we will have all of that.”

The team has been among the pace-setters in this weekend’s official test at Daytona, posting the fastest time in one of the afternoon sessions on Saturday with its #02 car.

Last year Ganassi finished second in the event with the #01 car driven by Montoya, Pruett and Rojas as the Brumos team denied it a fourth consecutive victory.

When the 2010 MX-5 Cup schedule was previously announced, Road America appeared as Round Eight, on Aug. 20 – 22. With the addition of the Nationwide Series to the 2010 Road America calendar, Mazda has chosen to move the MX-5 Cup race to the June 18 – 20 weekend. It will be the first time MX-5 Cup has raced alongside the Nationwide Series. MX-5 Cup will complete a line up that also includes the SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series.

“Though we hate to change the schedule so soon after announcing it at PRI, switching the Road America dates had several benefits,” Alternative Marketing Manager for Mazda North American Operations Jim Jordan said. “Having raced on the August weekend at Road America for the past two years, we know how full that schedule can be, putting track time at a premium. Taking MX-5 Cup to the new June event with Nationwide will ensure the teams have all the track time they need, not to mention a huge crowd on hand to watch.”

“MX-5 Cup always puts on a good show at Road America, so we’re happy they could join us for this exciting new weekend,” Road America President George Bruggenthies said. “With the addition of this great spec series, the Road America 200 weekend is shaping up to be a great show for race fans.”

The SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup will continue to hold a total of 11 races at eight venues.

2010 SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup Schedule

April 23 – 25
VIRginia International Raceway (w/Grand-Am)
Alton, Va.

April 30 – May 2
Road Atlanta (w/Mitty Historic Races)
Braselton, Ga.

May 21 – 23
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (w/ALMS)
Monterey, Ca,

June 18 – 20
Road America (w/NASCAR Nationwide)
Elkhart Lake, Wis.

June 25 – 27
New Jersey Motorsports Park* (Mazda Weekend)
Millville, N.J.

July 30 – Aug. 1
Autobahn Country Club* (Mazda Weekend)
Joliet, Ill.

Aug. 27 – 29
Mosport International Raceway (w/ALMS)
Bowmanville, Ont. (Canada)

Sept. 10 – 12
Miller Motorsports Park* (w/Grand-Am)
Tooele, Utah

* – doubleheader

Excerpt from:
MX-5 Cup Changes Road America Date

In creating the 2010 schedule, Mazda sought to reduce travel costs for MX-5 Cup teams while increasing the amount of track time. It was also important to minimize conflicts with other major race weekends and give MX-5 Cup participants the opportunity to experience the best race tracks in North America. With a total of 11 races on eight weekends, it appears as though Mazda has done just that.

“Developing a schedule is a complex task and Mazda appreciates the efforts of the tracks and sanctioning bodies in meeting our racers needs,” Alternative Marketing Manager for Mazda North American Operations Jim Jordan said. “The use of three doubleheader weekends allows our teams to maximize race time, while minimizing travel costs. With our partners at Playboy, BFGoodrich Tires, and SCCA Pro Racing, we have a well developed program and are looking forward to another great year of racing.”

The 2010 MX-5 Cup season will begin where 2009 ended, in Alton, Va., at VIRginia International Raceway. MX-5 Cup will race alongside the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series on April 23 – 25.

The series has a quick trip south to Braselton, Ga., the following weekend. There, MX-5 Cup will take part in the Classic Motorsports Mitty at Road Atlanta for the fourth year in-a-row, April 30 – May 2.

MX-5 Cup will return to its birthplace, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, in Monterey, Calif., May 21 – 23. Round Three of the series will be a part of the Monterey Sports Car Championships Presented by Patron with the American Le Mans Series.

The first of three doubleheaders will take place at New Jersey Motorsports Park, in Millville, N.J., June 25 – 27. MX-5 Cup will once again be part of an all-Mazdaspeed weekend.

The series will have a month off before the next doubleheader, July 30 – Aug. 1, at Autobahn Country Club, located just outside of Chicago, Ill. Like New Jersey, the event will host all of the Mazdaspeed Ladder series, including two MX-5 Cup races.

MX-5 Cup then begins a northward trek, first stopping at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., Aug. 20 – 22, before crossing the Canadian border the following weekend to race at Mosport international Raceway, Aug. 27 – 29. Both events are with the American Le Mans Series.

Just like 2009, the 2010 season will end with a doubleheader. Rounds 10 and 11 will be held at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. The MX-5 Cup finale will run alongside the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series finale, Sept. 10 – 12.

2010 SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup Calendar

April 23 – 25
VIRginia International Raceway (with Grand-Am)
Alton, Va.

April 30 – May 2
Road Atlanta (with Mitty Historic Races)
Braselton, Ga.

May 21 – 23
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca  (with ALMS)
Monterey, Ca.

June 25 – 27*
New Jersey Motorsports Park (Mazda Weekend)
Millville, N.J.

July 30 – Aug. 1*
Autobahn Country Club (Mazda Weekend)
Joliet, Ill.

Aug. 20 – 22
Road America (ALMS)
Elkhart Lake, Wis.

Aug. 27 – 29
Mosport International Raceway (ALMS)
Bowmanville, Ont. (Canada)

Sept. 10 – 12*
Miller Motorsports Park (Grand-Am)
Tooele, Utah

* Double race weekend

Races from the 2009 MX-5 Cup season continue to air in syndication on various cable and satellite networks. A full schedule is available on the series Web site. All MX-5 Cup TV programming form the 2009 season is also available on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/MazdaMX5Cup). The latest MX-5 Cup news is available at www.mx-5cup.com and on Twitter @MazdaMX5Cup)

Originally posted here:
Mazda Releases 2010 MX-5 Cup Schedule

Volkswagen motorsport head Hans-Joachim Stuck visited the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season finale at Homestead this weekend, but denied press reports suggesting the German brand is considering the series as a future platform.

Stuck said he is simply taking advantage of a holiday trip to visit NASCAR. He met with some series officials during the weekend, but was quick to deny any speculation in the American media suggesting that VW saw NASCAR as an option for the near future.

“I’m here number one because I’m a great NASCAR fan and I’m here on holiday,” Stuck told AUTOSPORT. “Of course we investigate everything. We’re opening a plant here in Chattanooga within the next two years and we’re visiting here. I’ve heard some reports but there have been no talks, nothing about it. Unfortunately when you have a face that is well known, people bring up some ideas.

“I’m enjoying my visit and I will report what’s going on. But in any way there has been nothing, no serious talks about coming here.”

Stuck praised NASCAR’s spectacle and considers it provides the best racing and gives fans value for money. He also perceives the sport as being less political than Formula 1, but said it probably does not fit with Volkswagen’s approach to motorsport.

“To me this year NASCAR is the best racing you’d be looking at,” said Stuck. “Forty-three cars on the grid, you see what the car is doing, see how they handle, there’s no ‘BS’ talking about diffusers, you know, it’s all handled internally and the people see a good race. But that’s very difficult for the Germans to accept, that’s the biggest problem.

“Here we can’t show our technology. So [Volkswagen] would have to understand that this is a marketing work, and this is not an argument that they would accept. So I would say at the moment there’s zero chance [of VW coming].”

Stuck revealed that there are serious talks going on with Volkswagen about a possible entry in the NASCAR-owned Grand-Am sportscar series. He reckons the VW group could use its Audi or Lamborghini brands to enter the series as an engine supplier.

“Yes, this is something that we also have already talked [about],” Stuck confirmed. “It would be nice to get an Audi engine into Grand-Am.

“Audi has a V10 engine which I’m driving in the GT series in Europe, and this engine we could put into a Grand-Am car. The problem is it has to be operated with the NASCAR black box [ECU]. Audi is afraid about how this is going to work, so there are talks and I would say the chances are not too bad.

“And if we can get an Audi engine, then we can also get a Lamborghini engine, because they belong to VW and it’s the same engine. This is something we’re talking about seriously for 2011.

“I like the prototypes there, maybe the cars could be a little bit nicer, but I also like the GT class because we can run the street car.”

Stuck also confirmed VW has held talks with IndyCar officials about a possible entry in the series but said no deal is inminent yet.

Earnhardt Ganassi Racing could still switch to Toyota for 2010, even though the Japanese car manufacturer is not looking at expanding its current roster of NASCAR Sprint Cup teams.

Speaking at Texas Motor Speedway, Toyota Racing Development president Lee White addressed rumours suggesting Earnhardt Ganassi Racing could switch to the Japanese manufacturer next year.

While admitting they have discussed a possible association with Chip Ganassi, White said it has been natural for them to do so, having worked together in Champ Car and IndyCar between 2000 and 2005.

Ganassi currently races the Lexus brand for Toyota in Grand-Am.

“We’ve had discussions with a lot of people,” White said. “As everyone knows we have a long relationship with Chip, all the way back to 2000, so it’s almost ten years as partners in motorsports. At this point there’s nothing decided. And yes, we’ve had discussions with Chip, but we’ve had discussions with a lot of people.”

When asked for his opinion on Ganassi’s 2009 season in its first year with Chevrolet, he admitted to being impressed by Montoya’s run during the Chase for the Sprint Cup series title. He said it was “very impressive, considering how new Juan is to NASCAR racing.”

However White said Toyota is not looking at expanding the number of teams it currently supporta in the Sprint Cup.

“We are not pursuing other teams,” said White. “But obviously the NASCAR rules state that if any teams want to run our product, relative to other brands, then it’s our obligation and our commitment to NASCAR to provide the parts and pieces available.”

Chip Ganassi’s team could still make the switch through a technical relationship with a current Toyota squad like Joe Gibbs Racing, something White admitted was possible.

“That’s a possibility,” said White. “Any team that chose to run the Toyota product would be evaluated on its own merit and then decisions would be made on whether engineering support would be provided to that team or not from TRD, or whether their relationship would be with a current team or how it would work out.”

While Michael Waltrip Racing and Red Bull get their engines from TRD, JGR builds its own units under the eye of expert builder Mark Cronquist.

Fernandez Racing has confirmed that yesterday’s American Le Mans Series event at Laguna Seca was its final race.

The LMP2 champion team revealed last month that it was unlikely to have sufficient funding to compete in 2010, and having been unable to secure any new deals since then, the operation is now set to close its doors.

Drivers Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz bowed out on a high by winning the LMP2 class for a record-equalling eighth time this season, and coming within 0.6s of beating the De Ferran Acura to outright victory.

Co-owner Tom Anderson was delighted that the team had been so competitive to the end.

“The race came down to a fantastic finish tonight and I hope all the fans that braved the cool weather here enjoyed it as much as we did,” he said.

“It is the kind of race that we will remember for a long time and it is unfortunate that it is the last one for the Lowe’s Fernandez team. You are only as good as your last race and we can go out as winners.”

Fernandez added that he was extremely proud of everything his team had achieved since its formation in 2001.

“I have to thank Luis for being a great team-mate, and this team. They are just tremendous,” he said.

“I am very proud of them. They gave me the nine best years of my career. We won in every single series we competed. We had a fantastic sponsor in Lowe’s and the support of Acura and Michelin. It has just been a great ride.”

Anderson and Fernandez created the team as a Champ Car outfit in 2001, later adding an IndyCar Series arm in collaboration with Aguri Suzuki before making a full switch to the Indy Racing League’s championship in 2004.

Fernandez had to drop out of single seaters due to a lack of sponsorship at the end of 2006, but by that time the team was already active in sportscars, having started in Grand-Am before becoming part of Acura’s ALMS project.

Dario Franchitti moved one point closer to Scott Dixon in the IndyCar championship by beating his Ganassi team-mate to pole position at Homestead.

Ryan Briscoe, who is third in the standings and eight points behind series leader Dixon coming into tomorrow’s deciding race, will start on the inside of row two, as the three championship contenders dominated the session.

Franchitti was concerned that his early qualifying draw would harm his chances if the sweltering temperatures cooled and as the rubber from the preceding Grand-Am session was worn away.

But in the event his four-lap average of 212.696mph proved unbeatable, and the bonus point Franchitti collected for pole means he will start the race just four points adrift of Dixon.

Franchitti had a comfortable quarter of a second margin over his closely-matched main rivals around the four laps. A mid-run twitch cost practice pace-setter Dixon momentum, while Briscoe came within 0.010s of getting between the Ganassi cars but was left stunned by Franchitti’s qualifying pace.

Vision Racing’s Ed Carpenter emerged as the title trio’s main challenger. The American had been a top ten contender in practice and raised his game further in qualifying trim – coming close to Dixon and Briscoe’s pace early in his qualifying run. Carpenter’s fourth place equals his career best at Michigan three years ago.

The Newman/Haas/Lanigan cars completed the top six – Alex Lloyd brilliantly out-qualifying his team-mate Graham Rahal at the first attempt as the Briton announced his return to the series with an outstanding fifth on the grid.

Andretti Green had languished in the midfield in practice, but the drivers said they had been focusing on a race set-up. There was little wrong with Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti’s qualifying settings either, as they qualified seventh and eighth, ahead of rookie points leader Raphael Matos (Luczo Dragon).

Mario Moraes (KV) was disappointed to fall back to 10th in qualifying after being a top five threat in practice, while his compatriot Helio Castroneves just missed out on the top ten in the spare Penske Dallara-Honda hurriedly prepared following his big crash at the end of the final practice session.

Pos  Driver             Team                 Speed

 1.  Dario Franchitti   Ganassi              212.696

 2.  Scott Dixon        Ganassi              212.160

 3.  Ryan Briscoe       Penske               212.137

 4.  Ed Carpenter       Vision               211.769

 5.  Alex Lloyd         Newman/Haas/Lanigan  211.702

 6.  Graham Rahal       Newman/Haas/Lanigan  211.653

 7.  Danica Patrick     Andretti Green       211.258

 8.  Marco Andretti     Andretti Green       210.884

 9.  Raphael Matos      Luczo Dragon         210.834

10.  Mario Moraes       KV                   210.819

11.  Helio Castroneves  Penske               210.658

12.  Tomas Scheckter    Dreyer & Reinbold    210.453

13.  Justin Wilson      Coyne                210.420

14.  Dan Wheldon        Panther              210.407

15.  Tony Kanaan        Andretti Green       210.315

16.  Sarah Fisher       Fisher               210.174

17.  Milka Duno         Dreyer & Reinbold    210.020

18.  EJ Viso            HVM                  209.773

19.  Hideki Mutoh       Andretti Green       209.623

20.  Mike Conway        Dreyer & Reinbold    208.971

21.  Ryan Hunter-Reay   Foyt                 208.536

22.  Robert Doornbos    HVM                  207.352

23.  Jaques Lazier      3G                   205.606

David Brabham fended off Simon Pagenaud to put Highcroft Acura on pole for the Mosport Park round of the American Le Mans Series.

Buoyed by having ended the De Ferran team’s winning streak at Elkhart Lake a fortnight ago, Brabham was dominant for much of prototype qualifying, leading the way by a second after his initial run and remaining on top thereafter.

Pagenaud gradually gained ground, and might have snatched pole away but for a violent ride over a kerb near the end of qualifying. The Frenchman had closed to within 0.074 seconds of Brabham, but had to settle for second.

“I don’t think we ever showed what we could really do in practice, so we weren’t too worried about that, but we knew it would be close in qualifying,” said Brabham. “We were so, so close, and it just shows what a great race we’re going to have.”

The Dyson Lola-Mazdas took a commanding one-two in LMP2, although they will be split by the LMP1 Intersport Lola on the grid. Marino Franchitti claimed a second straight class pole in third overall, while the championship leading Fernandez Acura only managed third in class and sixth in the outright list.

Rahal Letterman BMW repeated the dominant GT2 form it had shown at Elkhart Lake, with Dirk Muller beating team-mate Joey Hand to class pole by 0.129s.

“It’s a perfect result for BMW again,” said Muller. “It didn’t look so good yesterday [in practice] but we really went deep into the car, worked hard and it gave us a really good car. It’s been perfect.”

The two works Corvettes will line up behind the BMWs, as the usual Porsche and Ferrari front-runners all ran into problems. Wolf Henzler was third in qualifying for Farnbacher Loles Porsche, but will have to start at the back under series rules as his team-mate Dirk Werner missed today’s sessions to race in the Montreal Grand-Am event.

Although the championship-leading Flying Lizard Porsche of Patrick Long and Jorg Bergmeister only managed fifth on the class grid, it is in far better shape than its title rival Risi Ferrari, which sat out the session after a heavy practice crash for Jaime Melo. The car’s participation in the race remains in doubt while the team investigates whether chassis damage was sustained when the Brazilian went off at the first corner.