Riley Technologies Take 1-2-3 in Texas

Riley Technologies Take 1-2-3 in Texas

Record-setting pole ahead of history-making win with podium sweep; Riley also takes GT Class Victory with Turner Motorsport

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Matt Cleary, Sunday Group Management

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(Photo courtesy GRAND-AM Communications)

Austin, Texas (3 March 2013) – After taking the firm’s record ninth consecutive Rolex 24 At Daytona victory to open the 2013 GRAND-AM season, the switch to Rolex Series sprint racing saw a similar outcome as teams competing with Daytona Prototypes from Riley Technologies finished 1-2-3 in the inaugural GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series event at the Circuit of the Americas this weekend.

GAINSCO Racing led the charge as Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney combined to bring the Texas-based team a huge victory on home soil with the team’s Corvette DP, which is built on the Riley Chassis.

“This is by far the biggest win we have ever had in the United States, right here at home in Texas, and ranks right up there with our first ever win in Mexico City back in 2007, said GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Team Owner Bob Stallings. “But in terms of degree of difficulty this was by far the sweetest win, and just how magical is this? We had hundreds of agents and guests out here, we had the pole, we were the race’s lead presenting sponsor, we are in Texas, we are a Texas team and it has been a long time since we won. What a perfect race to make a comeback!”

Riley Technologies designs were also a competitive force in Rolex Series GT Class competition, with the Turner Motorsport BMW M3 of Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana winning their first race of the year as the GT Class also staged a thrilling final laps to the first-ever race on the Formula 1-grade facility.

After nearly three hours of hard-fought Rolex Sports Car Series competition that saw five lead changes and drama right through the closing moments of the race, Gurney took the checkered flag by less than half a second over the No. 2 Ford-Riley of Ryan Dalziel, with the No. 01 Telmex BMW-Riley of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas finishing third after leading the opening stages of the race.

Rolex fans have become accustomed to seeing frequent side-to-side contact in the field, and Riley DP machines have a long history of standing up to those impacts and racing to the finish.

But everything is bigger in Texas, and the Austin round produced a dramatic new highlight reel for that established Riley toughness. After Memo Rojas led 33 laps, he turned the car over to teammate Pruett, who was forced into a curb on his out lap as he fought for the lead of the race. The contact with the curb launched the Telmex machine airborne for a moment at top speed before slamming back down to the ground.

Many expected that the huge impact with the ground, would end the race for the defending series champions. But Pruett instead made a quick stop for a new nose, and continued on. The car was not only strong enough to rejoin the fray, but also threatened to take the win until the final corners of the race.

Rolex Series Daytona Prototypes:
1st Jon Fogarty, Alex Gurney, Corvette DP, 71 laps/ 2h 45.422m
2nd Ryan Dalziel, Alex Popow, Ford-Riley DP -0.427 seconds
3rd Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, BMW-Riley DP

Rolex Series GT Class:
1st Bill Auberlen, Paul Dalla Lana BMW M3/Turner Motorsport
2nd Andy Lally, John Potter, Magnus Racing Porsche

The next event on the 12-race GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series calendar for 2013 is the annual Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala., Saturday, April 6. The two-hour race begins at 1:45 p.m. EDT with SPEED’s next-day-delay television broadcast set for Sunday, April 7, at 5:30 p.m.
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