Despite a black flag that abruptly ended a promising qualifying session and landed the Supercar Life Racing team in the seventh row for Saturday's Montreal 200, confidence reigns as the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series bursts back into action at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec.
Two weeks ago, the team celebrated their first podium finish of the Rolex season, securing third place at Watkins Glen International's Crown Royal 200. Team owner and driver Scott Tucker shares the No. 55 Supercar Life BMW-Riley Daytona Prototype with teammate Christophe Bouchut, and the on-form duo are looking to continue their streak after the Glen's history-making finish.
Today at Circuit Gilles, the team principal grabbed 14th position (01:35.953) out of a 29-car field for Saturday's main event, which will be staged on the scenic Ile Notre-Dame surrounding the St. Lawrence River. After Tucker's first attempt at a flyer was thwarted by Brumos Porsche Racing's JC France, Tucker had a clear track for his second attempt. He was about to let loose when AIM Autosport's Mark Wilkins spun his No. 61 Ford Riley DP into the gravel trap in turn 6, bringing out the black flag and leaving a three-and-a-half minute window for all the competitors to finish qualifying.
Practice went much more smoothly for the team. Posting a fastest lap of 1:35.577, Tucker was in third position in the day's final session before qualifying.
"This was definitely an interesting session," Tucker said. "It's always a pleasure to battle with the talented drivers of the Rolex Series. We made a few changes to the No. 55 before qualifying. The Supercar Life Racing team did a great job in setting up the car so that we would be able to qualify well."
"It was good to be back on track, even if the session did end early," confirmed Bouchut. "After the last race at Watkins Glen, this team is ready to do it all over again. As always, our engineers did fantastic work. We're ready to rip a flyer at tomorrow's start and regain the position we were headed for in qualifying."
Pole-winner Jon Fogarty of the GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing team posted a time of 01:32.235. The teams of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (01:32.247), Penske Racing (01:32.442), Brumos Racing (01:32.588) and SunTrust Racing (01:32.874) followed, rounding out the Top Five on the grid.
Tucker, Bouchut and the rest of the Supercar Life Racing team are ready for tomorrow's spectacular, two-hour showdown on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve's challenging, 2.708-mile road course. The sports car action gets underway at 2:15 p.m. EST with live television coverage on the SPEED channel beginning at 2:00 p.m. EST.
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