July 4th, 2009 Watkins Glen, NY – Round 5 of the Speed GT




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GMG Finishes 1st and 3rd at Watkins Glen Speed GT Race
July 4th, 2009 Watkins Glen, NY – Round 5 of the Speed GT Championship: Dino Crescentini, driver of the #4 Stoptech/GMG Porsche 911 Cup car, took first place at the Watkins Glen Speed GT race this past weekend, with James Sofronas, driver of the #14 GMG Porsche finishing 3rd. Bill Ziegler finished up 11th and continues to lead the Rookie of the Year standings.
Starting second in the No. 4 Stoptech/GMG Porsche 911 GT3, Crescentini got the jump on first starting Jason Daskalos" No. 5 Daskalos Developments Dodge Viper, but not as good as teammate Sofronas, who moved his No. 14 Global Motorsports Group Porsche 911 GT3 to the lead from third on the grid.
Sofronas led Crescentini for the opening four laps before Crescentini put the No. 4 car out front on lap five, out braking his teammate going into the Inner Loop—a move that earned him the AutoWeek Move of the Race. From there, Crescentini held ground and gradually pulled away as Curran and Sofronas traded second place, turning the Débaufré Fastest Lap of the race with a 1:55.347 (106.114 mph). Curran finally took the runner-up spot for good in his No. 30 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Corvette on lap 15 and set his sights on the leader. In the final three laps of the 22-lap, 74.8-mile race, he knocked two seconds off the lead and came up just 0.255-second short at the finish line.
It was Crescentini’s second-career win coming a day after his 49th birthday. He last won a World Challenge GT race at Portland International Raceway in 2005—his debut start. Crescentini became the sixth different winner in six races this year.
"I’m always worried about [Eric] Curran,” Crescentini said. “Curran is the guy you worry about. The guy is an amazing driver and super aggressive. You can learn a lot from him. It feels really rewarding to beat him once. I love it!
“I have to credit my team and especially Steve Ruiz. The car has been perfect every time he works on it! He was everything to me. He gave me the car and all I had to do was drive it. I think my car was slightly better than James’ [Sofronas] today. We each have our days and I think I just had a bit of an edge on the setup this weekend.”
Sofronas became a father for the first time on Tuesday and missed Thursday’s practice sessions. It didn’t seem to matter, though, and the Global Motorsports Group owner was beaming after his cars finished first and third. “This is such a great time in my life. Not only do I have an amazing wife, but becoming a Dad is the most incredible experience of my life. Chloe has already captured my heart!”
Regarding the race, James commented, “Now that was a fun race, running with Dino and Curran, two great drivers, this is what World Challenge racing is all about. I had a great start and jumped into the lead for the first 4 laps but I could see Dino had a little stronger car. We talked about a race strategy and I was prepared to have him run upfront and myself right behind him. As he got a run up the esses, I could see he was going to make a move. Dino slipped by and then I shut the door on Curran. If it was anybody else out there, I would have closed that door and not allowed that pass so it was great to have Dino run up front as I would then try to fight off Curran so Dino could run for the win as I had nothing for Dino after he passed me. His car was hooked up and Steve Ruiz did a great job setting up both cars as I missed the Thursday practice day with the birth of my first girl. That just shows you how good these GMG Porsches are when you can just jump in and qualify 3rd.
“It was a great battle with Curran,” Sofronas said. “I had great Stoptech brakes. He had a little on me in the Esses, but in the tight stuff the Porsche was stuck. I got a little nudge there in the Heel. We’ll have to check out the video, but that’s just racing. He owes me one, but you know what, we both raced hard and it was pretty clean. We ran really strong together side-by-side.

“I was just smiling the whole time. No matter what I knew Dino was ahead of us and that’s a victory for GMG and Stoptech. Plus, I have my beautiful wife, Nargis, and my baby girl, Chloe, waiting for me at home. I’m full of emotion – I can’t wait to go home and this is a great way to start the weekend off, to be on the podium and congratulating my teammate Dino”.
What makes this weekend even more special is that Dino’s car was a bare chassis 4 weeks ago from the crash at Long Beach. Todd Ketcham and the entire GMG Team of Aki, Ken and Neville, rebuilt the entire car and on it’s first weekend back, it wins the race. That is a testament to the team and how good they really are.

As a team owners, both myself and business partner Fabryce Kutyba, we are very proud of our guys and for Dino to win the race, we couldn’t be happier! He is a great teammate and shares a zest for life as you could tell by the big smile he had on the podium today!”
When rebuilding a race car like this, your sponsors are key to the success of your team. Stoptech has been such an important part of our success and I can’t thank Dino and the Stoptech gang enough for all their support. Other sponsors include Eibach, Sparco, Ohlins, BBS Wheels, SSF and Mobil 1 Racing Oils.

Davis maintained the point lead halfway through the 10-race season, with 498 points. Sofronas and Pilgrim moved past Rivera, with 464, 448 and 443, respectively. Curran is fifth, with 426. Porsche extended its Manufacturers’ Championship Presented by RACER Magazine lead, with 35, to Ford’s 24, followed by Chevrolet (21), Volvo (18) and Dodge (15).
Today’s race will be broadcast Tuesday, July 22 at 2 p.m. (EDT).

The SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship next travels to Autobahn Country Club for Round Seven, July 24-26.

Follow GMG Racing as we compete in the Speed World Challenge Seires, IMSA Cup and Pirelli Drivers Cup at www.gmgracing.com

 

Thats awsome, congrats!!

 

Congrats

 

Congrats, keep up the good work.

 

Well done. Congrats!

Fabryce, can your 996 cup front lip work on a 996TT (the bumper and lip combo)?

Jeff

 

Congrats, I am looking for the race on Speed channel.

 

Very nicely done guys!

 

Good Job guys Very happy for you !

 

Congrats