Eric Curran Captures First Pole Of The Season For Tomorrow’s SCCA Pro Racing Challenge
Lexington, Ohio
Jul 21, 2007
Eric Curran, of East Hampton, Mass., captured his first pole of the season for tomorrow’s SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Presented By Trenton Forging race. Tommy Archer, of Duluth, Minn., will start second.
Although he has two race wins and three front-row starts already this season, Curran picked up his very first SCCA SPEED GT pole of 2007 for Round Seven of the Championship at Mid-Ohio. Curran lapped the 13-turn, 2.258-mile track in 1:25.624 (94.936 mph) behind the wheel of his No. 30 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Corvette. The time established a new SCCA SPEED GT qualifying lap record.
“These guys are working real hard to get the No. 30 Whelen car up to speed,” Curran said. “It’s been a tough season and we’re trying to get the car back on the podium and get some good finishes and try to gain some more points.
“I knew we had a good car on the Thursday test day. I didn’t have a choice to be here yesterday for practice, but we made a bunch of changes to the car and got it up to speed Thursday.
“It took a little bit to get some heat in the tires. It’s definitely a cool morning and there was a little dampness on the track as well.”
This is Curran’s second pole in less than 24 hours. The busy driver set pole for a Koni Challenge race at Barber Motorsports Park yesterday and was already on a plane bound for Alabama shortly after qualifying at Mid-Ohio.
Tommy Archer, of Duluth, Minn., will start Sunday’s race second. Archer led the qualifying session early and continued to improve to a time of 1:25.718 (94.831 mph) in his No. 5 Mopar/Autohaus Motosport Dodge Viper. While he’s had much success in other forms of racing at Mid-Ohio, it is Archer’s first front-row start at the circuit in SPEED World Challenge competition.
Row two is filled with the K-PAX Porsches. Current point leader Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., will start his No. 22 K-PAX Racing LLC/Jim Haughey Porsche 911 GT3 third on the grid after turning a 1:25.792 (94.750 mph). Michael Galati, of Olmsted, Ohio, put in a 1:26.031 (94.486 mph) in his No. 23 K-PAX Racing LLC/Jim Haughey Porsche 911 GT3, good enough for fourth.
Fastest in the morning practice on Friday, Doug Peterson, of Bonita Springs, Fla., will start his No. 87 3-Dimensional Services Chevrolet Corvette fifth with a 1:26.147 (94.359 mph). Peterson noted that a problem with the Corvette did not allow him to turn a quick lap until late in the session.
Last year’s winner Lou Gigliotti (Chevrolet Corvette) starts sixth, followed by the Cadillac CTS-V teammates of Lawson Aschenbach and Andy Pilgrim. Brian Kubinski (Chevrolet Corvette) and Michael McCann (Dodge Viper) complete the top ten.
