Alex Job Racing to Start Fifth in GTC at Rainy Lime Rock
Alex
Job Racing's (AJR)
Romeo Kapudija qualified the No. 23 Battery Tender/Tequila Patron/Alex
Job Racing/Porsche 911 GT3 in fifth for tomorrow's running of the
American Le Mans Series (ALMS) presented by Tequila Patron Northeast
Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut. A rain soaked track
had the cars running in full wet set-up all day. Add rain to the tight 1.5-mile, seven turn Lime Rock circuit and that makes for a treacherous mix of racing. With rain projected for tomorrow's two-hour-and-forty-five minute race, Kapudija and teammate Bill Sweedler know that a careful drive will result in a top finish.
Kapudija put in a time of 1:11.135 that will have him start from the third row in GTC. The qualifying session was not without an anxious moment, the team did a great job to replace a broken axle in the brief 20-minutes between the previous practice and qualifying.
"It is definitely a tricky track in the rain," Kapudija said. "You have to find the right line to get around here and avoid the puddles in order to be fast. We had an axle break in the last moments of the practice proceeding qualifying which cost us some track time. The guys did a great job to get it fixed in time for qualifying.
The car was great today in tough conditions. I need some more time here to get more acquainted with the track and the conditions. If it rains tomorrow we have to go out and turn laps that are safe and keep the car on the track. We will then be ready to fight the last half-hour of the race. We have a good car. This is Bill's home track. Hopefully he can run it to the front and then I will try and keep there tomorrow."
Sweedler, from Westport, Connecticut, knows his way around this track in the wet and in the dry.
"Lime Rock is my home track, I love it here," Sweedler said. "We gave the majority of the run time in practice to Romeo as this is his first time driving here. We had an unfortunate axle failure in practice. The guys did a great job to repair it in time for qualifying. There was standing water on the track in half of the turns, we are hoping for better weather tomorrow. In the wet you have to be patient and smooth. The Porsche, with the rear engine, you have to focus on getting the car slowed down in a straight line, it is a point and shoot drive, more so than in the dry. The car handles well. The team is doing a great job with the set-up of the car."
Team owner, Alex Job, will have his team ready for the elements and the competition.
"The weather adds a unique element to the race," Job said. "It adds an additional page to our preparation sheet. In practice, Bill and Romeo did a nice job, keeping to the program and keeping the car on the track. If you go off in these wet conditions you are going for a wild ride that won't end well. For the race we will focus on being consistent and keeping the car on the track, if it rains. If it is dry that will add another element, since we did not practice at all in dry conditions. Hopefully the warm-up tomorrow morning will be a clear indication of what we will see for the race as far as the weather goes."
Round five of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron will be run at Lime Rock Park tomorrow, July 24. The race will be televised live on the SPEED Channel starting at 2:00 p.m. ET. Live coverage is also available on satellite radio Sirius Channel 127 and XM Cannel 242.
