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Laguna Seca: K-PAX/3R Racing preview

Pobst and Galati set for 11th hour effort to Manufacturers' Championship for Porsche Monterey, California (October 19, 2007): Randy Pobst and Michael Galati have come to the scenic piece of real estate known as the Monterey Peninsula on a mission ...

Pobst and Galati set for 11th hour effort to Manufacturers' Championship for Porsche

Monterey, California (October 19, 2007): Randy Pobst and Michael Galati have come to the scenic piece of real estate known as the Monterey Peninsula on a mission as although Porsche is trailing Cadillac by 10 points no one on the K-PAX/3R Racing team is ready to give up on anything.

Porsche must win the pole AND win the final race AND keep any of the three CTS-Vs from finishing in the top 6 to win the title if anything else happens Cadillac wins the title. While Randy Pobst did win the 2006 Laguna GT race in a K-PAX Porsche and he certainly has the car and chops to win it all again in 2007 it is highly unlikely that Aschenbach, Andy Pilgrim or Ron Fellows won't be able to squeak out a 6th place between them.

But again the K-PAX/3R team is not ready to wave the white flag just yet as the race for the championship will begin in earnest on Saturday when the World Challenge GT cars qualify for Sunday's race at 9:50 AM Pacific Time as Pobst and Galati will go all out to put one of the K-PAX Porsche's on the pole to win that very valuable qualifying point.

"Absolutely, we'll give it a good run tomorrow," responded Pobst to the question if he was going to go all out in qualifying. "The World Challenge Series pays a lot of points in qualifying so we are going to go 100 percent to get as many points as we can for both me and Porsche! But of course the K-PAX/3R Racing team and I always do go 100 percent in qualifying. That really helped us in Atlanta!"

"I think we are ready" said Galati of tomorrows qualifying run. "You never know how these things go but my K-PAX Porsche is pretty good right now."

Randy Pobst, of Gainesville Georgia, comes into the final round of the SCCA SPEED World Challenge GT Championship Series on a dual mission as he holds a short 4 point lead over defending champion Lawson Aschenbach and a 17 point advantage over the 2005 driver's champ and Aschenbach's Team Cadillac mate Andy Pilgrim.

"Sure I would love to win the championship by winning the race but that is counting chickens a little early," said Pobst. "My plan for the race is to keep one eye on Aschenbach and Pilgrim and use that information to manage our risk during the race. I need to finish ahead of them to win the title so that will be my priority!"

Michael Galati, of Olmstead Ohio, is in 4th place going into the final race here at Laguna Seca and would need serious grief to befall Pobst, Aschenbach and Pilgrim so Galati's major focus will be on winning his first GT race of the 2007 season and his 22nd career World Challenge win.

Pobst and Galati set the early pace in the morning practice session today with Pobst turning in a best lap of 1:30.118 early in the session while Galati clocked in at 1:30.193 on his last lap of the session after a brief visit to a gravel trap.

"The K-PAX/3R Racing crew have been making my Porsche better and better as the sessions have gone on and I am feeling pretty racy right now," Randy Pobst said after he set the pace in the morning session. "The weekend has gotten off to a good start but there is still a long way to go!"

In the afternoon session Michael Galati recorded a 1:29.970 which was 3rd best in the session while Randy Pobst's best lap in the #22 K-PAX/3R Racing Porsche was a 5th best time of 1:30.160. Andy Pilgrim, who was 3rd quick in the morning, was fastest in the afternoon with a best lap of 1:29.373.

"We are pretty satisfied with the session," Michael Galati said after the final practice session on Friday. "My K-PAX Porsche is working pretty well although we are fighting a little push.

"I set the fastest time early on (Galati set his fastest lap on his 2nd pass over the Laguna Seca circuit) but Pilgrim and McCann did a little better later in the session. I think we will be fine for qualifying tomorrow!"

Pobst was unconcerned about his 5th place ranking in the afternoon practice session saying at the end of the day, "Will (crew chief Moody) made some changes and my car is handling beautifully it is very easy to drive right now. I hope that tomorrow we can show that Laguna Seca is still a Porsche track. A P-PAX Porsche track!"

Qualifying for Round 10 of SCCA Pro Racing's SPEED World Challenge GT Championship Series will e held on Saturday at 9:50 PM Pacific Time with the race set to go on Sunday at 2:55 PM Pacific.

-credit: kpax/3r

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