SCC: Birmingham: BGB Motorsports race report

BGB PORSCHES FINISH 11th AND 12th IN WILD CONTINENTAL SERIES RACE AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK

(Ormond Beach, FL, USA - April 17, 2010) The checkered flag fell for Saturday's Barber 200 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama as Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series teams completed round #3 of the 2010 season. During the race's 6th and final caution period, the 61 car field passed the front straight for the final time behind the pace car, as Guy Cosmo and his #83 BGB Motorsports Porsche 997 and Duncan Ende and his #23 BGB Motorsports Porsche Cayman S finished 11th and 12th respectively, as the two highest Porsches. Craig Stanton's #38 BGB Motorsports Porsche Cayman S was involved in an early accident on lap 7 with teammate Steve Jenkins behind the wheel, when several cars got stacked up just before the race's 2nd restart. The car had to return to the paddock for repair but was back on track shortly so that teammates Jenkins and Stanton could gather championship points. This was to be the tone for the day for a race that would feature 28 of the 76 total laps run under caution, behind the pace car. With a string of 3 consistent finishes in the first 3 races, teammates Keith Carroll and Duncan Ende occupy the 8th spot in the Driver's Championship while BGB teammate Guy Cosmo sits 2 spots back in 10th.

Qualifying for Saturday's race was Friday morning at 9:50am and yielded some hope for the Cayman S chassis currently under development at BGB Motorsports. Starting in only its 3rd race in North America, BGB driver Steve Jenkins qualified his Cayman S strongly in the 11th spot with a lap time of 1:38.0, continuing the car's sound qualifying performance. Unhappy with his qualifying position, teammate Keith Carroll qualified further back in 26th with a lap time of 1:39.7, but was determined to move up through the field during his stint. The final of the 3 BGB Porsches was qualified by team manager John Tecce, filling in for full-season driver Stewart Tetreault; that car qualified 29th and was set to run an alternate strategy and pit early in the race.

Originally scheduled to begin at 4:00pm, the race started 10 minutes early, and threw off a lot of the teams trying to get into their pits following a practice for the Indy Racing League. Pit road was a bit of a madhouse until the race got underway. The #83 Porsche 997 was unable to pit during the 1st full course caution as a result of this, but caution periods were the flavor of the day and presented opportunities for many teams to pit for driver changes, fuel and tires. Leading the BGB stable to the green flag on the 2nd re-start, driver Steve Jenkins was involved in a heavy crash that was beyond his control. At that point, it was up to teammate Keith Carroll to carry the BGB Cayman flag and Carroll did just as he had during races #1 and #2. By staying clean and running good laps, both he and codriver Duncan Ende continued to show that consistency pays dividends. The two finished again just outside the top 10, in 12th. Finishing 1 spot ahead of them was Guy Cosmo who got into the #83 BGB Porsche 997 on lap 7. Early in the race Cosmo began his drive to the front; cycling up to 4th place, Cosmo presented a challenge for the leaders but he would have to pit again just before the 2 hour mark for more fuel. Mounting another strong charge and despite another car's holding him up under caution, he was able to come back up through the field to finish 11th and keep the #83 PerformanceDrink.com Porsche in 10th in the Team Championship. With the damage done to the #38 Porsche Cayman S, Craig Stanton brought that car home in 25th.

Continental Tire teams don't have a lot of time to prepare for round #4 at Virginia International Raceway next weekend, as BGB returns to the track where they had their first GS Porsche win in 2006. The team feels positive about their chances at this venue, as the new Caymans continue to improve with their development.

-source: bgb motorsports