LAMB/LALLY FINISH FOURTH AT BARBER FOR KINETIC MOTORSPORTS
July 22, 2008
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Fielding three cars this past weekend at Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Ala., Kinetic Motorsports had another impressive showing in KONI Challenge Series GS competition. Todd Lamb and 2006 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 GT class champion Andy Lally finished fourth, while GS class rookie Derek Whitis and Grand-Am veteran Tom Long finished 11th.
Todd Lamb and Andy Lally drove the No. 87 Maxwell Paper/Kinetic Motorsports BMW to a fourth place finish, a personal best for GS rookie Lamb. For the second race in a row, Lamb qualified sixth and moved towards the front in the opening laps. Lamb fought his way up to second early in the race, eventually catching the leader after about 45 minutes. Lally climbed in just past the one-hour mark and fought his way back up to second place until the second fuel stop dropped him to fifth. Without a full course yellow to tighten up the field, Lally had to settle for fourth despite making up ground on the leaders in the closing laps.
Andy Lally: "We had a great car. Kinetic Motorsports really knows how to build these BMWs and it was a pleasure to race with them this weekend. The crew did a great job and Todd was excellent from the drop of the green all the way through the first half of the race. I think this team has the potential to win a lot of races, especially with how hard they are working."
Running in his first ever GS race, Derek Whitis co-drove with Tom Long in the No. 80 Gail O'Doski/Freedom Autosport/ Kinetic Motorsports BMW. Whitis, normally accustomed to running in ST class competition, qualified eighth and ran solidly in the top-10 despite suffering from heat exhaustion. Long took over just before the halfway point of the race and ran as high as fourth, but a second fuel stop towards the end of the race dropped him out of the top ten.
Derek Whitis: "What a way to get introduced to the GS class! It was a hot race, in a hot BMW, with a hot Kinetic team that put Tom and I as high as 4th. Kinetic really knows how to race up front."
Russell Smith and Nic Jonsson were near the top of the practice charts throughout the weekend, however the No. 79 Maxwell Paper/Kinetic Motorsports BMW was involved in an incident on the start and later developed mechanical problems as a result, forcing them to retire the car early.
Team Manager Ed Hall: "The event at Barber continues the momentum the Kinetic team has been experiencing the last four events - with all three cars competing in the top five during the race and top of the sheets during all practice sessions. The team performed flawlessly in the Alabama heat getting all the pit stops done mistake free, in succession. The guys have been practicing their stops during the week, and it paid off."
The race will be televised on SPEED Saturday, July 26th at 2 p.m. ET. In-car video footage from the No. 87 BMW at the beginning of the race is available to download from: http://www.toddlamb.com/videos/KoniBarber87.wmv
Kinetic's next KONO Challenge event will be in Trois Rivieres, Quebec, Canada for GP3R August 15-17. Kinetic continues development on their new cars for 2009.
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