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Qualifying report

Edwards qualifies seventh on CTSCC for Stevenson Motorsports at Lime Rock Park

Edwards will start the race at the controls of the No. 9 Camaro GS.R before turning the car over to co-driver Matt Bell.

#57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R: John Edwards, Robin Liddell

#57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R: John Edwards, Robin Liddell

Art Fleischmann

Lakeville, Conn. - Stevenson Motorsports will open the season-finale GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge event at Lime Rock Park from the fourth row on Saturday after John Edwards posted the seventh fastest time during Friday’s qualifying session with a lap of 57.703-seconds.

Edwards will start the race at the controls of the No. 9 Camaro GS.R before turning the car over to co-driver Matt Bell as the pair pursues a sixth podium finish this year. Stevenson Motorsports used the same driver order in the previous round of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and drove to a second place result.

#57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R: John Edwards, Robin Liddell
#57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R: John Edwards, Robin Liddell

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

The GRAND-AM teams faced limited running on Friday with just one practice session held ahead of qualifying. The sparse track time proved particularly challenging for the Stevenson squad, as the team was forced to begin the quick 15-minute qualifying session from square one, after having found an issue with the car after their only practice.

“We had a problem with the car that we didn’t realize until after practice so we basically qualified from ground zero,” said team manager Mike Johnson. “We had to start completely over. It was something we messed up at the shop - it was our own doing – which is not very good other than the fact that at least we’re not really fighting for much here, we just have to finish the season off with whatever we can. But I think the guys learned from what their mistake was. The car is not bad, we’re just an hour behind everyone else.”

While Edwards typically drives second in Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge events, the team has opted to have Bell close out the race so that Edwards, who also drives for Stevenson in the No. 57 Camaro in Rolex Series competition, is well-rested for the GT race as Stevenson Motorsports has a chance to capture the Rolex Series GT Championship title.

“Ultimately the GT championship is still a pretty intense fight and the GS championship is not, so we as a team elected for me to start so that I’d have more rest before the GT race,” said Edwards. “I think it’s a good strategy and it’s an advantage of running with the team in both series because we can make that decision as to what’s best for everyone. Obviously Matt (Bell) did a fantastic job at Laguna [a second place podium finish] so I don’t think there’s any reason to think the result will be any different.”

The 2.5-hour race is set to go green Saturday morning at 9:50 AM (ET). Live timing and scoring can be found at www.grandam.com. FOX Sports 1 will televise the event October 6 at 5:00 PM (ET).

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