Backstretch Motorsports

SALINAS, Calif. - David Donohue saved his best for last Friday, running his fastest lap near the end of the session to win the pole for the RumBum.com 250 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Donohue ran a lap of 1:19.843, 100.908 mph, on his eighth of nine qualifying laps to win his second pole of the season in Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 competition, driving the No. 58 Brumos Racing Porsche Riley.

The 112-lap, 250-mile race, with a two-hour, 45-minute time limit, takes the green flag at 1:45 p.m. Saturday (PT), and will be televised Sunday on SPEED beginning at noon (ET).

“When you win the race, everybody packs up and leaves,” Donohue said. “Winning the pole is real important for the team, because it gives them an extra day of glory. They get a great deal of pride and prestige in front of all of the other people in the paddock.”

Donohue will be joined on the front row by Jon Fogarty, who gave the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley its first front row start of the season with a lap of 1:19.951, 100.772 mph.

Fogarty also was contending for the pole late in the session, but had a suspension failure that led to an off-course excursion in the famed Corkscrew turn on what would have been his fastest lap.

“Something went wrong in the right-rear,” Fogarty explained. “I was turning right, so I didn’t notice it, but when I turned left, the right-rear tire went right. Fortunately, we didn’t hit anything. It was not the pole, but it was good.”

Starting the race in the second row will be Memo Rojas, 100.371 in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley he shares with Scott Pruett, and the No. 23 Alex Job Racing Ruby Tuesday Porsche Crawford of Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand, 100.311 mph. Rojas and Pruett will be seeking their fourth victory of the season in Saturday’s event.

Brian Frisselle was fifth in the No. 61 AIM Autosport Ford Riley co-driven by Mark Wilkins, while Jimmy Vasser timed in sixth in the No. 98 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley he shares with Cristiano da Matta. The latter is making his comeback to racing after a two-year layoff.

In GT, Nick Ham won his first pole of the season for SpeedSource, and second for the team after co-driver Sylvain Tremblay won the pole at the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Ham ran a lap of 1:27.014, 92.592 mph in the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8.

“We ran a fast lap in the afternoon practice, so I knew we had a shot at the pole,” said Ham, who won three poles last season. “But I knew it would be close, because the Farnbacher and Banner cars had also been very fast. I laid down a fast lap that I thought might be good for the pole, but then Kaffer ran two-tenths faster. Fortunately, I was able to get another clean lap and win the pole.

“Even though the pole doesn’t mean anything once the race starts, we’ve been in a small slump since winning the Rolex 24 At Daytona,” Ham said. “Winning the pole is a great motivation for the team and all their hard work. Now, we need to win the race tomorrow for Castrol and Mazda at its home track.”

Pierre Kaffer, making his third start of the season for Farnbacher Loles Racing, was second fastest in the No. 87 Porsche.

“We ran all morning on the same set of tires,” said Kaffer, pole winner at Mexico City in April. “Qualifying was my first proper run. On my first lap, I had some traffic. Then, on my second lap I tried to avoid traffic, and was able to do so until the last corner. Even though might have cost me the pole, I was happy with that lap. The team gave me a good car. Without a fast car, it would have been impossible to drive like this. I really enjoy Laguna Seca. With the Corkscrew, every lap is a challenge. With all the sand and gravel, you never know what to expect.”

Saturday’s schedule opens with final practice at 10 a.m., with the race starting at 1:45 p.m

May 16 - 17, 2008
Rum Bum.com 250
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Salinas, CA
Qualifying Results

POS NO. CLASS CLASS POS. DRIVER TEAM/CAR TIME SPEED SPONSORS
1 58 DP 1 Donohue / Law Brumos Racing / Porsche Riley 1:19.843 100.908 Brumos Porsche, Kendall
2 99 DP 2 Fogarty / Gurney GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing / Pontiac Riley 1:19.951 100.771 Gainsco Auto Insurance
3 01 DP 3 Pruett / Rojas Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates / Lexus Riley 1:20.270 100.371 TELMEX
4 23 DP 4 Auberlen / Hand Alex Job Racing / Porsche Crawford 1:20.318 100.311 Ruby Tuesday
5 61 DP 5 Frisselle / Wilkins AIM Autosport / Ford Riley 1:20.523 100.055 Exchange Traded Gold, Mike Direct Connect
6 98 DP 6 da Matta / Vasser GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing / Pontiac Riley 1:20.679 99.862
7 10 DP 7 Angelelli / Valiante SunTrust Racing / Pontiac Dallara 1:21.220 99.197 Sun Trust
8 76 DP 8 Jonsson / Zonta Krohn Racing / Pontiac Lola 1:21.283 99.120
9 3 DP 9 Lester / Lewis Southard Motorsports / Lexus Riley 1:21.595 98.741
10 60 DP 10 Negri / Patterson Michael Shank Racing / Ford Riley 1:21.775 98.523
11 6 DP 11 James / Pew Michael Shank Racing / Ford Riley 1:21.968 98.292
12 47 DP 12 Frisselle / Gardel Doran Racing / Ford Dallara 1:22.149 98.075 BSI, CDOC, Angsten Plus
13 77 DP 13 Gidley / Jaeger Doran Racing / Ford Dallara 1:22.203 98.011 Kodak
14 59 DP 14 Barbosa / France Brumos Racing / Porsche Riley 1:22.587 97.555 Brumos Porsche, Kendall
15 91 DP 15 Goossens / Matthews Bob Stallings/ Riley-Matthews / Pontiac Riley 1:22.676 97.450 Riley-Matthews Motorsports
16 75 DP 16 Krohn / van de Poele Krohn Racing / Pontiac Lola 1:23.288 96.734
17 16 DP 17 Bobbi / Garcia Cheever Racing / Pontiac Coyote 1:24.063 95.842 Crown Royal Cask No. 16
18 7 DP 18 Plumb / Sigal Rum Bum Racing / BMW Riley 1:24.112 95.786 Rum Bum, Big Vision Miami, Caramba Tequila
19 70 GT 1 Ham / Tremblay SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8 1:27.014 92.591 Castrol Syntec, Mazda
20 87 GT 2 Kaffer / Werner Farnbacher Loles Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:27.215 92.378
21 07 GT 3 Collins / Edwards Banner Racing / Pontiac GXP.R 1:27.292 92.297 Banner Engineering, Pontiac
22 30 GT 4 Constantine / Stone Racers Edge Motorsports / Mazda RX-8 1:28.071 91.480 Playboy, TaserNetwork.com
23 72 GT 5 Aschenbach / Lewis Jr Autohaus Motorsports / Pontiac GXP.R 1:28.119 91.430 Autohaus Motorsports
24 57 GT 6 Davis / Liddell Stevenson Motorsports / Pontiac GXP.R 1:28.189 91.358 Stevenson Auto, Bryan Mark Financial
25 69 GT 7 Assentato / Segal SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8 1:28.311 91.232 FXDD
26 32 GT 8 Forest / Merrill PR1 Motorsports / Pontiac GXP.R 1:28.403 91.137
27 06 GT 9 Prey / Reese Banner Racing / Pontiac GXP.R 1:28.614 90.920 Banner Engineering, Pontiac
28 21 GT 10 Alessi / Phinny Matt Connolly Motorsports / Pontiac GTO.R 1:28.984 90.542 Barbetti, Erremme, APCO, Lucy Plast, P1 Groupe, Pacific Teaze, Baja Cantina
29 86 GT 11 Keen / Lux Farnbacher Loles Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:29.075 90.449
30 40 GT 12 Foster / Ham Hyper Sport / Mazda RX-8 1:29.141 90.382
31 88 GT 13 Johnson / Lacey Farnbacher Loles Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:29.544 89.975
32 67 GT 14 George Jr / Pumpelly TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:29.551 89.968 Monster Cable, 944 Magazine, WIN Institute, Gleukos
33 2 DP 19 Dalziel / Zogaib SAMAX / BMW Riley 1:29.854 89.665
34 66 GT 15 Ballou / Miller TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:29.892 89.627 Marquis Jet, Mitchell Rubber, Resorts International, IPC, Total Lubricants
35 42 GT 16 Nonnamaker / Sahlen Team Sahlen / Corvette 1:30.543 88.983 HRPWorld
36 27 GT 17 O’Connell / Roush O’Connell Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:31.527 88.026 General Enviormental Management, Inc., Taleo Grill
37 55 GT 18 Tucker / Zabinski Level 5 Motorsports / Crawford - Ferrari V8 1:31.811 87.754 Priority
38 64 GT 19 Lowe / Pace TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:32.130 87.450 SRS, Globus, Adopt A Pig
39 68 GT 20 Sellers / Valentine TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:32.453 87.144 CRG, Maxter, Rotex, MBA Group, F1 Air
40 65 GT 21 Maher / Stanton TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup 1:33.225 86.423 Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing, Total R, Riegel Tuning
41 43 GT 0 Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker Team Sahlen / Corvette - -
42 96 GT 0 Long / Potter Air Power Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup - - Miller Motorsports Park

* - Withdrew