SCC: Daytona Test: Ten, Finlay Motorsports summary

Ten Motorsports and Finlay Motorsports

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., January 10, 2005 - The third day of testing at Daytona International Speedway wrapped up as it began for the Ten Motorsports and Finlay Motorsports teams, as both started and finished strong in preparation for the Rolex 24 and Daytona 200.

Finlay scores top-five in final provisional

Team owner and co-driver Rob Finlay showed his prowess on Sunday afternoon turning the fourth-fastest lap time of the afternoon in the Grand-Am Cup series. Finlay's 2:07.550 was just three-tenths off of the lead lap time of the final session. The number 60 consistently ran quick times all weekend, with only one session that didn't result in a top-ten lap time.

Ten Motorsports' success carries through the weekend

The weekend of testing finished on an equally high-note for the Ten Motorsports team. In the early going of the first test day the BMW-Riley Daytona Prototype suffered a minor setback due to an infield incident that damaged the car's front-end. Prior to the incident, Michael McDowell's 1:50.862 was sixth-fastest. That trend continued through the remaining sessions of the weekend, culminating in the team's best finish - and second-best lap time - in the final session on Sunday.

Expectations bested en route to the start of the 2005 season

The recently formed Ten Motorsports team that will make its Rolex Sports Car Series debut at Daytona International Speedway for the Rolex 24 next month had their coming out party at the same facility this weekend. The testing at Daytona was the first opportunity to truly showcase the team's talent, as the only other public test came just days after receiving their Daytona Prototype at the Hoosier Tire Test.

Steve Cameron, team manager, was optimistic about the results from the weekend. "Only time will tell how we will perform over the long-run, but without a doubt we proved we can be one of the fastest teams on the track and that's a big key to success," he said.

The team's driver line-up of McDowell, Memo Gidley, Michael Valiante and Jonathan Bomarito all had significant seat time throughout the test in order to become more comfortable with the Prototype. Gidley is the only one to have raced in a car with an enclosed cockpit and fenders in the US Air Force Reserve's Ford Focus SPEED World Challenge entry. McDowell last year was the Star Mazda Champion, while Valiante competed in the Champ Car World Series and Bomarito raced in the Toyota Atlantic Championship.

-www.mmcdowell.com