Long Beach: GT qualifying report

Fellows Leads Cadillac 1-2 In Long Beach SPEED GT Qualifying

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 15, 2007) -- Canadian Ron Fellows continued his perfect SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship weekend at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, taking the third pole of his career for Sunday afternoon's Round Two race. Fellows' Team Cadillac teammate Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., will start second.

Driving the No. 16 XM/Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, Fellows turned a fastest lap of 1:25.086 (83.266 mph) around the 11-turn, 1.968-mile circuit, breaking the 2006 qualifying record of 1:26.346 set by Tommy Archer in a Dodge Viper.

"I was at the end of my first flying lap, coming into the hairpin and there was almost a big, big accident," Fellows said. "There were about eight or 10 cars all stacked up there coming to a stop, but I was able to find a hole.

"[The track] was like yesterday morning, I had some trouble getting heat into the tires and the brakes, but it's the same for everybody and we managed to get a couple of good laps in. The CTS-V is a lot of fun to drive around the streets of Long Beach and Long Beach is an important race so it's great to have an all Cadillac front row.

"We'll try to get a descent start and whoever gets to Turn One first, I guess that's what we'll do and then protect each other and see what everyone else has until it's time to go."

Pilgrim, who was second to Fellows in pre-qualifying practice, will start second in his No. 8 XM/Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, turning a fast time of 1:25.291 (83.066 mph) late in the session.

Point leader and Sebring race winner Eric Curran, of East Hampton, Mass., will start third in his No. 30 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Corvette after turning a fast time of 1:25.481 (82.881 mph).

Lou Gigliotti, of Dallas, Texas, will start fourth in his No. 28 LG Pro Long Tube Headers Chevrolet Corvette with a time of 1:25.535. Michael McCann, of North Canton, Ohio, completed the top five in his No. 82 McCann Plastics/K&N Filters Dodge Viper with a 1:25.577. Both drivers led the 2006 event before Fellows made a last-lap pass on McCann for the win.

Randy Pobst (Porsche 911 GT3), Michael Galati (Porsche 911 GT3), Lawson Aschenbach (Cadillac CTS-V), Archer (Dodge Viper) and Stu Hayner (Pontiac GTO) completed the top 10.

Sunday's 29-lap race will make its standing start at 4 p.m. Pacific. To follow all the action online via live timing and lap notes, visit the SCCA Pit Board at www.world-challenge.com. The race will be broadcast Saturday, April 21 at 3 p.m. Eastern on SPEED.

-credit: scca