The action was fierce at Virginia International Raceway Saturday, as exotic prototypes and thundering GTs raced in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series' Bosch Engineering 250 presented by Crown Royal Cask No.16.
As the Grand-Am Series roared back to life after a three-month break, Supercar Life Racing drove the No. 55 Supercar Life BMW-Riley Daytona Prototype to a top five finish in Virginia, leveraging their momentum from four straight victories in the Ferrari Challenge Series. Team principal Scott Tucker was first behind the wheel in Saturday's race, starting in the eighth row on the grid after having driven seven minutes of Friday's qualifying session despite an accident during a practice run.
When the green flag dropped, Tucker quickly began his assault on the Daytona Prototype class, advancing three positions in the opening laps as he and the rest of the field chased pole winner and race leader Memo Rojas. On lap 10, GT class drivers Justin Marks and Emil Assentato collided while navigating the tangled hairpin of turns 15 through 17, resulting in the race's first full course caution.
Timo Bernhard successfully took over the lead after the restart, while Ricky Taylor in the No. 13 DP became the next victim of Tucker's relentless pursuit. Executing a controlled pass, the No. 55 car quickly moved into Taylor's No. 10 spot.
By the next lap, Bernhard had fallen back to ninth and Rojas had regained his starting position. Tucker had just passed Bernhard, taking over eighth position, when a second caution was brought out: Team Sahlen's No. 43 GT had lost grip on the track during turn three and hit the tire barriers. Tucker pitted the No. 55 car during the yellow, handing it over to Christophe Bouchut, three-time FIA GT champion and winner of both the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, for the remainder of the race. In all, Tucker had gained a total of eight positions and stayed with the pace of the lead lap during his time behind the wheel.
"I'm very pleased with how we have run the race so far," Tucker said, as Bouchut pulled out of the pit. "The team has performed flawlessly and did a fantastic job getting us back on track after yesterday's practice. We still have a ways to go, but I have no doubt in my mind that Christophe will be at the top of the field when the checkered flag drops."
With the field gathered for the race's second restart, Bouchut pushed the No. 55 full throttle. He reentered in 16th place after serving a penalty for a crew member's pit violation. The Frenchman regained the top 10 position Tucker had earned in just eight laps, fighting off Oswaldo Negri Jr. in the No. 60 DP, who was hot on his heels. He had established a comfortable gap between himself and the No. 60 when Taylor, in the No. 13 DP, succumbed to the track's tricky turn 11, lost tire grip and spun into the grass, causing the race's third full course caution.
The track went green again on lap 35. Daytona Prototype leader Rojas briefly lost his edge to Max Angelelli of SunTrust Racing but regained it one lap later, as a similar drama played out between Bouchut and Joao Barbosa in the No. 59 DP. The two were neck and neck when Bouchut worked his way past Barbosa on the outside to take over eighth position, finding himself just 6.365 seconds behind current leader, Rojas.
In true Supercar Life Racing style, the experienced Bouchut advanced to fourth position on lap 44, just before pitting for fuel. He reentered the race in seventh just behind 2009 Rolex 24 champion David Donohue, as Michael Valiante of Michael Shank Racing took over the lead. Driving the No. 45 BMW-Riley, Darren Manning held second with Andy Wallace in the No. 2 car behind in third. The 33 laps that followed were just as action packed, as Bouchut moved to sixth place, steadily holding off the rest of the field and looking for a chance to regain his pre-pit top five position.
It was an intense battle just ahead of the No. 55, as well, as Alex Gurney passed Valiante on the inside, maneuvering his way to the No. 1 spot. Coasting his No. 99 car through the brake zones to save fuel, Gurney was determined to maintain a defensive edge over Valiante.
On lap 74, while Bouchut was still in sixth, Wallace's No. 2 engine caught on fire, forcing him to leave the race early. The resulting final caution gave the two leaders, Gurney and Valiante, the chance to save fuel, so they could maintain their positions when the race restarted with five minutes remaining.
Soon after the green flag dropped for the fourth time, drivers Gurney, Valiante and Scott Pruett found themselves jockeying for the lead with Bouchut following closely behind. Only two laps remained in the race when Donohue's Brumos Porsche hit Pruett's Telmex car from behind. Suntrust's Angelelli, now in fifth place, attempted to avoid the tangle with an inside pass, but Pruett's No. 01 DP had lost rear traction and was sliding right toward an unsuspecting Angelelli, the collision spun both cars off track and leaving Donohue alive in third with Bouchut right behind him in fourth. Speeding towards the finish line, Bouchut narrowed the gap between himself and Donohue to just sixteen one-hundredths of a second, finishing in fourth position and earning the Supercar Life Racing team their first Top Five finish in the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Series season. The duo also teamed up to win the hard charger award in the race, gaining an overall 12 positions, more than anyone else throughout the event.
"Today this team saw their first Top Five finish of the year," Bouchut said. "It was a very challenging race, with many cautions and lead changes. Once the No. 55 was running in the Top Five, it was my goal to keep it there. This crew has been unbelievable throughout this unpredictable weekend, and I can't thank them enough for giving us a great car to take out on the track."
Gurney and the GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing team took first for the Daytona Prototype class, turning in a best lap time of 01:43.004. Valiante followed in close second with 01:43.031; Donohue took third at 01:43.409. The Doran Racing team rounded out the Top Five with a best lap time of 01:43.655.
Supercar Life Racing is currently in fifth in the Series standings, just 10 points behind No. 1 Brumos Racing (60 points).
"As sponsors, we're always proud of Bouchut, Tucker and the rest of the team," said Brian Weaver, CEO of Supercar Life Racing. "The guys gave our fans a great, hard-fought race-one with a lot of action! The team advanced 12 positions from start to finish; it was a performance that went above and beyond. This was a great weekend."
With another successful race weekend under their belts, Tucker and his Supercar Life Racing team next head to Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., May 1 through 3 for races five and six of the Ferrari Challenge Series.
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