Jordan Taylor Racks Up Another Grand-Am Pole

Jordan Taylor drives to pole in Indy.
RacinToday.com
Wayne Taylor Racing driver Jordan Taylor captured his third consecutive Daytona Prototype pole position, breaking the track record with a lap of 1 minute, 22.251 seconds (110.909 mph) in the No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette DP.
He will be joined on the front row by Memo Rojas, who ran his final lap in 1:22.375 (110.742 mph) in the No. 01 Telcel/Telmex BMW/Riley co-driven by Scott Pruett. The race begins at 5:10 p.m. ET (SPEED, 7:30 p.m.).
“This is a very unique track, with a long front straight followed by a very technical section,” said Taylor. “We were worried when we were out of the top 10 during opening practice, but the team and [my co-driver] Max Angelelli kept working on the setup.
“It was obviously good,” said Taylor, who scored his first two career Daytona Prototype-class poles May 31 on the Streets of Belle Isle temporary circuit in downtown Detroit and June 14 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington. “We didn’t start out all that strong, trying a few different things. It’s a very unique track with a very long front straight and then a very technical section, so you have to decide whether to go high-downforce or low-downforce. We tried a few things in practice to figure out what we wanted and we were not even in the top-10 in a couple of sessions. So, we were a little worried, but we knew, once we were in qualifying mode, we’d have a good car. And, obviously, we did. I’m happy to be on the pole. It’s not an Indy 500 pole, but it’s definitely cool, anything at Indianapolis in motorsports, in any form. To get this pole is awesome. I had a pole at Detroit, which is pretty cool on a street course. I qualified second at Daytona twice, so I think I need to nail that one down, next.”
Gustavo Yacaman qualified third in the No. 6 Aero/Tuvacol/Curb Records Ford/Riley co-driven by AJ Allmendinger, 1:22:455 (110.635 mph). Fourth was Christian Fittipaldi, 1:22.544 (110.516 mph), who joins Joao Barbosa in seeking a third consecutive victory in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP. Action Express also leads the standings in the North American Endurance Championship presented by VISITFLORIDA.com, entering its third and final round after races at Daytona and Watkins Glen.
Veteran Boris Said won his first pole of the season in GT, running a lap of 1:28.374 (103.225 mph) in the No. 31 Marsh Racing Corvette co-driven by Eric Curran.
“Everyone keeps saying how they’re going to keep their cool in the race, but this is Indianapolis,” Said explained. “When they drop the green flag tomorrow, it will be like 35 Doberman Pinschers with hand grenades in their mouths. Everyone will be fighting for position.”
Robin Liddell was second in the No. 57 Stevenson Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro co-driven by John Edwards, 1:28.917 (102.595 mph), falling short in a bid to give the team its fourth pole of the season. Audi driver Filipe Albuquerque was third, followed by Patrick Lindsey in a Porsche and Alessandro Balzan in a Ferrari.
Tom Long took his third pole of the season in the new GX class, running 1:33.156 (97.926 mph) in the No. 70 MAZDASPEED/SpeedSource Mazda 6 co-driven by Sylvain Tremblay.
In Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge preparation for Friday’s Brickyard Sports Car Challenge, Jade Buford continued to dominate Grand Sport qualifying in the No. 55 Multimatic Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage. Buford made it three in a row – and five in six qualifying sessions this season – winning the pole with a lap of 1:35.630 (95.39 mph). Hugh Plumb was second in the No. 45 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3, followed by 17-high school senior Trent Hindman, making his debut in the No. 48 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3, 1:35.899 (95.13 mph).
The CJ Wilson Racing team swept the front row in Street Tuner (ST) qualifying. Chad McCumbee took his second pole of the season with a lap of 1:40.580 (90.70 mph) in the team’s No. 3 Mazda MX-5, followed by teammate Stevan McAleer in the No. 5, 1:40.734 (90.559 mph).
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The top-five qualifiers for Friday’s Brickyard Grand Prix are:
1. Wayne Taylor Racing (No. 10 Corvette DP) with Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli (1:22.251 at 110.909 mph).
2. Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (No. 01 BMW Riley) with Memo Rojas and Scott Pruett (1:22.375 at 110.742 mph).
3. Michael Shank Racing (No. 6 Ford Riley) with Gustavo Yacaman and A.J. Allmendinger (1:22.455 at 110.635 mph).
4. Action Express Racing (No. 5 Corvette DP) with Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa (1:22.544 at 110.516 mph).
5. 8 Star Motorsports (No. 3 Corvette DP) with Stephane Sarrazin, Enzo Potolicchio and Michael Valiante (1:22.553 at 110.504).
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