Driver Joey Hand could have used more downforce in his No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team Porsche-powered Crawford during today's Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 qualifying. As a result, he will start from the sixth row for tomorrow's EMCO Gears Classic at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Hand needed most of the 15-minute qualifying session to turn his best lap of 1:19.457 (102.304 mph) around the 2.258-mile road course. Unfortunately, Hand had to fight a persistent downforce issue, which prevented him from pushing the No. 23 machine to its limit.
"We made a change before qualifying and it didn't work," Hand said after qualifying. "We've got to hunt down some type of front grip in this car - that is really where our problem is. We are not packing any aero in the rear to compensate for the lack that we have in the front."
"We did not qualify as well as we would have liked," Team Owner Alex Job said. "But, Joey did the best he could with what he had. We are continuing to learn the limits of our new Crawford bodywork and we are making adjustments according to the data and driver feedback. Unfortunately, due to the lack of testing, we still have a steep learning curve. I can't say enough about our team. They've worked very hard to make the necessary adjustments to improve our car."
Hand will co-drive with veteran road racer Bill Auberlen. Both drivers have had some success at Mid-Ohio. In fact, Auberlen's last Grand-Am win at Mid-Ohio came in the 2006 Koni Challenge Series GS race, while Hand won the 2007 SPEED World Challenge Touring Car race.
The final one hour Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series warm-up prior to Saturday's Round Seven race is set for 9:35 a.m. (ET) SPEED will carry all of the live racing action from the EMCO Gears Classic beginning at 5 p.m. Live Timing & Scoring is available at
www.grand-am.com.
