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Edwards, Collins Take Rolex Series GT Win in Final Laps


In GT, Paul Edwards took advantage of a miscue by Sylvain Tremblay on the next-to-last lap and gave himself, co-driver Kelly Collins and the No. 07 Banner Racing Banner Engineering Pontiac GXP.R their second Rolex Series GT triumph of the 2008 season.

Tremblay took the lead into Lap 96 before getting off the track in the Corkscrew. He returned to the track, but couldn’t hold off a charging Edwards, who completed the pass in Turn 9 and held onto a 1.131-second advantage over Spencer Pumpelly. Edwards and Collins – who collected Pontiac’s fourth consecutive GT triumph – also extended their Rolex Series GT point lead by nine over Pumpelly and No. 67 TRG Porsche GT3 co-driver Tim George Jr. (154-145).

Tremblay and co-driver Nick Ham – who started on the GT pole – combined to lead 48 laps (Ham 32 of them) in the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazdaspeed/Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8 in their third-place effort.

Finishing fourth were the No. 21 Matt Connolly Motorsports Pontiac GTO.R co-drivers Diego Alessi and local driver Ryan Phinny, while No. 86 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3 co-drivers Eric Lux and Leh Keen finished fifth after combining to lead three laps.

Seventeen drivers were responsible for a 23 car lead changes, and 15 different cars led at least one lap.

Rolex Series GT competitors continue action with their sixth race of the season, the GT Classic at Lime Rock Park, May 26 in Lakeville, Conn.

NEWS & NOTES

- The victory was the first career for Ryan Dalziel and Henri Zogaib in Rolex Series competition and the first ever for their SAMAX team.

- Dalziel and Zogaib’s victory was the team’s second straight podium finish, as the duo finished second in the Bosch Engineering 250 at Virginia International Raceway. Dalziel led 25 of the 98 laps in the race at Laguna Seca.

- This is BMW’s third career Rolex Series Daytona Prototype victory and first since the Grand Prix of Miami in 2007. This season, Lexus has three victories, followed by Pontiac and BMW with one each.

- Riley has won all five Daytona Prototype races and 15 straight dating back to Watkins Glen International in June 2007.

- Marc Goossens and Jim Matthews recorded their third straight podium finish with their second-place finish. It also marked the duo’s ninth straight top-10 finish, and the pair moved to within 19 points of the lead.

- Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas’ third-place finish was their fifth podium finish of the season. Together, the pair has won three races and have one second- and one third-place finish in 2008.

- Thirteen Daytona Prototypes finished on the lead lap.

- Max Angelelli and Michael Valiante posted their first top-10 finish since the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, as the pair earned eighth. Angelelli was issued a stop-and-go penalty after contact with Bill Auberlen on pit road.

- Nine cars and 10 drivers led at least one lap in Daytona Prototype competition. Seventeen Daytona Prototypes have led races this season, three more than last season overall. David Donohue, co-driving with Darren Law, led a race-high 27 laps after starting on the pole.

- Though the No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola started 18th due to a post-qualifying engine change, both Eric van de Poele and Tracy Krohn led at least one lap.

- All five engine manufacturers were in the top six; Pontiac finished second and fourth.

- Riley Chassis swept the top seven finishing positions.

- The GT win by Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards was the pair’s second victory of the season and fourth in the series’ last eight races.

- Collins and Edwards’ win was the fourth straight victory by Pontiac. Mazda was the only other power plant to win in Rolex Series GT competition this season (Rolex 24 At Daytona).

- Collins and Edwards are now tied with Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis for most Rolex Series GT wins this season; all four have two wins in 2008.

- Collins and Edwards have eight straight top-10 finishes, dating back to last season.

-Three of the five GT races this season have been won from the front row (RumBum.com 250 from third and Mexico City 250 from fourth).

- After its fifth class victory this season, Pontiac now has 49 career Rolex Series class victories, tying it with Porsche. Porsche, on the other hand, has yet to win a Rolex Series race in 2008.

- Spencer Pumpelly and Tim George Jr.’s second-place run was their fourth podium finish in five races this season.

- Sylvain Tremblay and Nick Ham’s third-place finish was their second podium finish this season and first since their triumph in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

- The top four cars in GT were all different – Pontiac GXP.R (first), Porsche GT3 (second), Mazda RX-8 (third) and Pontiac GTO.R (fourth). The Porsche GT3 of Eric Lux and Leh Keen was fifth.


RUMBUM.COM 250 RESULTS