Ricardo and Nic reached the second place, but an extra pit stop hurt the plans.
Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas gave up the pole position for the GP of Miami, the second stage of the season in Grand-Am, disputed this Saturday (29), in Homestead, in the United States, but knew exactly what to do to win the race . Like any race of endurance, this was not a challenge of speed, but of consistency. The fastest, David Donohue / Darren Law, had the no1 position on the grid, but the lead lasted only eleven laps. The dream of victory, vanished in the middle of the race.
The duo of Ricardo and Nic even threatened the dominance of the winners, who led 50 of 99 laps completed, but the chances ended when Ricardo had problems and needed to make an unexpected pit stop. He lost two laps and fell away from the front runners. Previously, the duo had always been among the first six and came to occupy the second position, behind only Scott Pruett / Memo Rojas. In the end, they won the dispute with the other team car of Eric van de Poele and Tracy Krohn, for 11th place in the DP class.
The result put the team in fifth in the table of points. The leaders are Scott Pruett / Memo Rojas - who won the first two stages. "Here, we had an aerodynamic problem. The car has a lot of drag in the long straights," said Ricardo, who is developing the Lola chassis for the team. Despite the difficulties, the chances for Ricardo were good, especially because the race was extremely busy. In the 2 hours and 45 minutes of the race, there were nine interventions of the safety car and 40 of the 99 laps completed under yellow flag.
Now the Grand-Am is preparing to go to Mexico. The next step is scheduled for April 17, at the Hermanos Rodriguez Autodrome in Mexico City. Before this, Ricardo will have a major race in Brazil: the opening race of the Stock Car championship, Interlagos (SP), on April 13. He will contest the championship with Panasonic Racing and team mate, paranaense Ricardo Sperafico, who was with him in the United States, following the Grand-Am race.
Final result of the DP class.
1 Pruett / Rojas (Lexus Riley)
2 Auberlen / Hand (Porsche Crowford)
3 Negri / Patterson (Ford Riley)
4 Goossens / Matthews (Pontiac Riley)
5 Plumb / Sigal (BMW Riley)
6 Fogarty / Gurney (Pontiac Riley)
7 Barbosa / France (Porsche Riley)
8 Frisselle / Wilkins (Ford Riley)
11 Zonta / Jonsson (Pontiac Lola)