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| May 11, 2012 News |
| Prototype Lites: Nunez Maximizes Tire Strategy for Laguna Pole |
 | Tristan Nunez extended his 2012 pole-winning streak during the sole qualifying outing at Laguna Seca
(Photo: Prototype Lites) |
Cooper Tires were the name of the game in Thursday's (May 10) Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship Powered by Mazda qualifying session at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, as Tristan Nunez and the Performance Tech Motorsports team proved they had the edge, taking their sixth consecutive pole with only six laps in the books.
The participating teams and drivers were paying close attention to tire wear and strategy due to IMSA rules and regulations that require each car to qualify on the very same set of tires they must start the first race with.
Due to the sandy California conditions of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, this means keeping your nose out of trouble, and your tires clean.
“We had a few issues in qualifying,” said Race Director Terry Dale. “A few cars spun out off-track early in the session, and they brought dirt back on the course when they continued on. Once the track started to get dirty, the majority of the teams elected to keep their cars and tires clean by parking the car following their fastest lap and waiting it out.”
Brent O’Neill and his Performance Tech team followed that strategy to a “T”, as 16 year-old Nunez out-performed his peers in just a few laps.
“The whole goal of today’s session was to save tires for tomorrow,” the young Florida native said. “I only took about six laps, and once I got my flyer in, we brought it back in the pits and waited it out to see if [Mikhail] Goikhberg would be faster. Once we saw him bring it in short of my fastest lap, we called it and were thrilled to have another pole.”
The Canadian resident and current points leader Goikhberg and his JDC MotorSports entry ran a strong pace to contend with Nunez, but in the end they fell just shy of Nunez with a 0.930 second gap.
Jon Brownson and Eurosport Racing led the Master’s division, as they settled in behind Goikhberg to round out the overall top three.
In the L2 class, Level 5 Motorsports pilot Scott Tucker took P1 to lead Michal Chumecky of 6th Gear Racing and the No. 15 car of Alan Wilzig, representing a partnership of Wilzig Racing and Performance Tech Motorsports.
Round Five of the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda series will be a 30-minute race starting at 10:05 am local time on Friday (May 11) at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
The top-three will be posted following every session on the ESR Facebook page and ESR Twitter page.
Prototype Lites
Round 5 - Qualifying Results
May 10, 2012
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca - Monterey, California
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Fast Time| 1. | Tristan Nunez | Performance Tech Motorsports | 1:22.122 | | 2. | Mikhail Goikhberg | JDC MotorSports | 1:23.052 | | 3. | Jon Brownson | Eurosport Racing | 1:23.408 | | 4. | Antonio Downs | Eurosport Racing | 1:23.638 | | 5. | Charlie Shears | Comprent Motor Sports | 1:24.052 | | 6. | Richard Fant | Ferrari of Houston | 1:24.384 | | 7. | Daniel Mancini | Performance Tech Motorsports | 1:25.087 | | 8. | Lamont Harris | Acadia Racing | 1:26.533 | | 9. | Scott Tucker (L2) | Level 5 Motorsports | 1:26.568 | | 10. | Michal Chumecky (L2) | 6th Gear Racing | 1:26.590 | | 11. | Owen Kratz | Ferrari of Houston | 1:27.314 | | 12. | Darryl Shoff | Comprent Motor Sports | 1:27.693 | | 13. | Jim Garrett | Eurosport Racing | 1:28.741 | | 14. | Alan Wilzig (L2) | Wilzig Racing | 1:39.034 | | 15. | Ritchie Holt | Performance Tech Motorsport | 2:23.171 | |
(L2) = Lites 2 class |
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