BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (July 30, 2006) -- Jörg Bergmeister and the No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford Riley team tightened their grasp on the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve Daytona Prototype championship with a second-consecutive victory by Bergmeister and 17-year-old co-driver Colin Braun in Sunday's Porsche 250 presented by Bradley Arant at Barber Motorsports Park.
Braun, who started from the pole position for the first time in his Rolex Series career, led throughout his 35-lap opening stint before pitting to turn the car over to Bergmeister on Lap 36. With threatening clouds overhead and four full-course caution periods before the halfway point in the race, teams used a myriad of different pit strategies. That being the case, Bergmeister did not cycle back into the lead until Lap 78 of the 97-lap event when Alex Gurney finally pitted to turn the No. 99 GAINSCO/Blackhawk Racing Pontiac Riley over to co-driver Jon Fogarty.
As the day's fifth full-course caution came out on Lap 83, Bergmeister managed to get on and off of pit road for a splash of fuel without surrendering the lead. However, on the ensuing restart, defending Daytona Prototype co-champion Max Angelelli closed right up behind Bergmeister for a battle to the finish. Bergmeister continued to lead through a final full-course caution from Laps 89-92, and Angelelli again pressured the German for the first few laps after the restart before Bergmeister pulled away to win by 1.327 seconds.
It was Bergmeister's third victory of the season, following his triumph alongside Braun in the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona and the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen with co-driver Boris Said last month. It was also his fourth-consecutive top-two finish and his sixth podium in 11 races this season, allowing him to open up a 39-point lead, 393-354, over Angelelli in the Daytona Prototype driver standings with three races remaining on the schedule.
"The whole team has really picked it up lately," said Bergmeister. "I got a little lucky in traffic during my stint, using the GT cars to my advantage. We thought we could make it on just one stop, so I was conserving my tires early. It turned out for the best because even though I had to come back to the pits for a splash of fuel later in the race, I had enough rubber to hold of Max."
Braun, meanwhile, celebrated his second victory, third straight top-two finish and his fifth podium in nine starts this season. Despite sitting out the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen and the Linder Industrial Komatsu Grand Prix of Miami in March, Braun moved into a tie with No. 19 Playboy/Uniden Racing Ford Crawford driver Michael McDowell for fifth in the Daytona Prototype driver championship.
"It was just a really good weekend for all the guys at Krohn Racing," said Braun. "Our engineer, Steve Newey, put a nice setup on the car, and the crew has been working so hard lately. The win was a testament to the Ford engine and Riley chassis. I just had to be patient in traffic during my stint. Hopefully, we'll keep this streak going."
Angelelli and co-driver Jan Magnussen came home second in the No. 10 machine for Angelelli's seventh-consecutive top-four result. It was their best performance together since their victory in May's Road & Track 250 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, and the second-place performance coupled with a 10th-place outing by No. 01 CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley co-drivers Scott Pruett and Luis Diaz catapulted Angelelli into second in the Daytona Prototype driver standings.
"As usual, Jan did a fantastic job and helped me a lot," Magnussen said. "Wayne did too, but it's difficult, because you need to perform and try to win, but at the same time you have to finish the race to pick up points. This championship has raised the game so much. It has been a pleasure to race here in this championship, and even to finish second, fourth or top five, it's already a good result."
"I'm very happy for the team and Max is now second in the championship and has a good shot at it with a few races left," Magnussen added. "It was a good start. I came out second and then third because I forgot to block into the hairpin. The car worked well. I got a little bit hot just before I came out, but without knowing it, I switched off the cool suit. I thought it quit working, so I called in and said I was getting hot."
Mike Rockenfeller and Patrick Long picked up their second-straight podium result with a third-place run in the No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team Porsche Crawford. It was their sixth podium in 10 starts in a streaky season for the Alex Job Racing teammates. The duo opened the year with four consecutive podiums before a four-race streak without a finish better than 15th.
Fogarty and Gurney--who led for 18 laps--came home fourth for their fourth-straight top-five result and their fifth top-five in the last six races. Adrian Fernandez and Mario Haberfeld completed the top five in the No. 12 Lowe's Fernandez Racing Pontiac Riley for their third top-five performance in their last five starts. Haberfeld led one lap.
NOTEBOOK
A total of 36,500 fans were in attendance during the Porsche 250 presented by Bradley Arant weekend, the largest crowd in the four-year history of the event... The No. 6 Playboy Racing Lexus Riley scored its third-straight top-10 finish with a seventh place run in the Porsche 250 by co-drivers Mike Borkowski and Tommy Constantine. The No. 6 machine's best finish of the season came in Mexico City, as Borkowski finished third with Champ Car World Series driver Paul Tracy... In the final turn on the final lap, No. 75 Krohn Racing Ford Riley driver Nic Jönsson made contact with the rear of Scott Pruett's No. 01 CompUSA Lexus Riley, dropping the No. 01 machine from fifth to 10th place. Jönsson and the No. 75 team were subsequently docked one minute following the race for avoidable contact... The win by Ford tightens the gap in the Daytona Prototype engine manufacturer championship chase, with Pontiac now holding a two-point advantage over Ford (420-418). Lexus, which came into the weekend with a four-point lead, fell to third after a best result of seventh. Porsche is fourth with 394 and BMW is fifth with 222. In GT, Pontiac leads Porsche 473-449... Riley Technologies extended its lead in the Daytona Prototype chassis constructor point standings with the victory by the No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford Riley, now a 50-point advantage over Crawford Race Cars (472-422).
