HOMESTEAD, Fla. (March 25, 2006) -- No. 23 10th & M Seafoods Alaska Porsche Crawford co-drivers Patrick Long and Mike Rockenfeller earned their first career Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve victories and gave Porsche its first Rolex Series overall victory in two-and-a-half years Saturday night in the Linder Industrial Komatsu Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
After starting from the pole position, Rockenfeller did not lead for the first time until Lap 16. The German turned the car over to Long for the race's middle stint and the American also found his way to the head of the field for 24 laps before turning the car back over Rockenfeller on Lap 70 of the 107-lap event.
Despite a different pit strategy than the rest of the front runners, Rockenfeller managed to carve his way back toward the front. The race's decisive moment came on Lap 89, when Rockenfeller passed race-leading Scott Pruett's No. 01 CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley in heavy traffic entering the oval portion of the 2.3-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway road course. Rockenfeller--who led a race-high 40 laps--would not be challenged for the remainder of the event, going on to win by 4.883 seconds.
"At the beginning I thought that the (No.) 39 car had jumped the start, but the series officials did not see it that way," Rockenfeller said. "I was able to catch him and pass a few laps later and we really never looked back. The strategy calls were great today. The pit stops were timed just right and we had the fresh car when we needed it, especially at the end. The team worked hard in the preseason to get the car to Daytona where we had a good run but could not finish it, today we did finish."
Rockenfeller and Long are both Porsche factory drivers, and the victory marked the German manufacturer's return to the top step of the overall Rolex Series podium for the first time since David Donohue and Mike Borkowski won a six-hour race at Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant on September 21, 2003. It was also the first Rolex Series overall victory for Alex Job Racing/Emory Motorsports and was Alex Job Racing's first overall win in 18 years of sports car racing. The victory follows a third-place run by Long, Rockenfeller and Lucas Luhr in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, as the team did not compete in the Mexico City 250 earlier this month.
"We had a great car, surrounded by a great team, with great strategy on top," said Long. "I had to be a little foxy on the restarts because I new that the (No.) 39 car was coming. I was the team player today. In the end, Mike did an awesome job in qualifying and we were able to complete what we started at Daytona. We worked hard all week on race setup and it paid off in the race with a consistent car. We knew exactly the kind of performance we would get on long runs. It's a great win for the team and for Mike and me."
Luhr and Christian Fittipaldi came home second in the No. 39 Crown Royal Special Reserve/Cheever Racing Porsche Crawford for the team's best-ever Rolex Series result. Fittipaldi charged from the outside of the front row into the lead at the start of the race, and remained at the point for the first 15 laps. He turned the car over to Luhr to finish the race, and the German boldly charged past Pruett for second just as the white flag waved.
"At one point in the race I had a really good run at the No. 23 car," said Luhr. "But lapped traffic held me up a bit, allowing the No. 01 car by. When I saw the white flag come out, I knew that I didn't have a choice. I had to go for it. The whole weekend was great for me. The team made me feel very comfortable, like I am around all the time. I felt very welcome from the first moment."
The runner-up result enabled Fittipaldi to move into second place in the Daytona Prototype driver standings after three of 14 events. The Brazilian trails No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford Riley driver Jörg Bergmeister, who leads by just four points (81-77) following an eighth-place performance in the Linder Industrial Komatsu Grand Prix of Miami.
"This was a great result for the Cheever Racing team," said Fittipaldi. "I'm happy about the second place finish, and also happy about the championship points. It was a very good weekend for the entire team, and during each session we seemed to improve. Now, I'm looking forward to our next race in Long Beach."
Pruett and No. 01 co-driver Luis Diaz claimed the final spot on the podium with a third-place run. Pruett--the 2004 Daytona Prototype co-champion--led a total of 18 laps to give himself and Diaz a second-consecutive podium result following a victory in the Mexico City 250 three weeks ago. The performance also allowed Pruett and Diaz to continue their forward progress in the Daytona Prototype championship standings, as they are currently tied for third with No. 19 Playboy/Uniden/Palms Ford Crawford co-drivers Memo Gidley and Michael McDowell.
"I definitely got a little bit of help there toward the end," Pruett said. "It was good hard racing and I was doing all I could do to hang the CompUSA car out of the edge. Overall, I thought it was a competitive race and a good show. We managed to get another top five and that's what we need to do to keep moving up in the point standings. That's all that counts. I can say that the Ganassi team used all of its resources to get that result tonight, the guys really worked hard on fuel mileage and getting us to the end."
"Scott did a fantastic job tonight and proved once again why he is the class of the Daytona Prototype field," added Diaz. "He drove the car to the limit, and then past the limit. The guy is amazing sometimes. He deserves this result for the great effort he put forth tonight. It was a tough race and a very competitive race for us. Scott did everything in his power to keep us in it in the end."
McDowell and Gidley picked up their best result of the season with a fourth-place run for Playboy/Uniden Racing. It was also their fourth-straight top-10 result dating to a victory in the 2005 season finale in Mexico City. The duo finished just ahead of teammates Michael Valiante and Rob Finlay in the No. 5 Make A Wish/Z-Line Designs/Finlay Motorsports Ford Crawford. Valiante and Finlay charged all the way from 18th on the starting grid, earning them the SunTrust Improve Your Position honors.
NOTEBOOK
In his first outing since the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, 1996 Champ Car champion Jimmy Vasser combined with Alex Gurney to finish sixth in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Blackhawk Racing Pontiac Riley. Vasser is a strong possibility to contest more events for the team this season... Guy Smith led 10 laps aboard the No. 16 Thetford/Norcold Pontiac Crawford for Howard-Boss Motorsports. Smith--who was given a "drive through" penalty for jumping a Lap 45 restart--and co-driver Chris Dyson wound up seventh... For the second-consecutive race, eight different engine and chassis combinations finished inside the top 10. The only duplicates were the Porsche Crawfords that finished first and second and the Ford Crawfords that finished fourth and fifth. Lexus continues to lead the Daytona Prototype engine manufacturer standings by 10 points (100-90) over Porsche, while Riley is seven points (100-93) ahead of Crawford in the chassis constructor standings.
