Marsal Bumped Back in Barber Qualifying

Marsal Bumped Back in Barber Qualifying

When is rubbin NOT racing? When it is qualifying…

Contact: Matt Cleary, Sunday Group Management
media

Birmingham, Ala. (30 March 2012) – Michael Marsal will start the Barber 200 from the 10th row in Round 2 of the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge championship at Barber Motorsports Park following Friday’s 15-minute qualifying session which saw him continually improve behind the wheel of the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW M3.

Throughout the two days of practice leading up to Friday’s qualifying, Marsal showed more and more speed in each session and he went on to turn his fastest lap of the weekend when it counted most with a quick time of 1:38.952 seconds. Though happy with the continued improvement, Marsal was left to wonder how much further up the order the No. 97 would be had it not been for some unnecessary contact from a competitor on his out lap that opened the session.

Despite the early-session incident, Marsal was able to rally back for a 20th place start among the combined-class grid of nearly 80 cars.

“I felt good about the car so it was super frustrating to have someone run into me like that in qualifying,” said Marsal. “I just don’t know what he was thinking. But we have a good car for tomorrow. It will be a busy race for sure with so many cars on this tight track, but I’m looking forward to it. We have some ground to make up but the car looks good for the race and I think we have a good shot to move forward tomorrow.”

Marsal will looks to improve on last year’s sixth place finish at the 2.3-mile Alabama road course as he is set to start the 2.5-hour race from behind the wheel before turning the machine over to co-driver Boris Said.

The Barber 200 begins Saturday, March 31 at 5:00 PM (ET). The 2.5-hour race will be televised April 8 at 12:00 PM (ET) on SPEED. Live timing and scoring can be followed at www.grand-am.com.

Live timing and scoring can be followed at www.grand-am.com.

2011 Michael Marsal result, Barber Motorsports Park: Qual: P15 Race: P6

Saturday, March 31

TIME LOCATION NOTES

9:00 AM Continental Tire Drivers Meeting Toshiba Trailer
3:20 PM Continental Tire Fan Walk
3:50 PM Continental Tire Recon Laps
4:00 PM START – Continental Tire Race (2.5 hours)

Matt Cleary
Sunday Group Management
mediawww.sundaymanagement.com
youtube.com/sundaymanagement
317.908.2975 (m)

Sunday Group Management is a leading motorsports management and communications consulting firm. Clients include Penske Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup driver AJ Allmendinger, Rolex 24 at Daytona Champions Michael Shank Racing, Riley Technologies, Continental Tire, and several teams and drivers in Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competition.

For additional information: www.sundaymanagement.com, www.facebook.com/sundaygroup, or twitter.com/Sundaygroup