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25 May, Lime Rock, Connecticut -
Saturday at Lime Rock was a
picture-perfect
day for racing, with temperatures in the low 70's, clear skies and a light
breeze,
and race fans arrived in droves for the Memorial Day summer kickoff races
in
the scenic Berkshire foothills.
The Lime Rock round of the 2002 Speed World Challenge GT Championship
features
a unique new qualifying proceedure. On Saturday morning, GT Qualifying was
held
as normal, with Michael Galati qualifying seventh and Derek Bell
qualifying
tenth.
Then, in the afternoon, the Top Ten Shootout was held to determine the
final
top ten starting positions. The top ten qualifiers from the morning
session
participated in a single-car qualifying session, in reverse order. Thus,
the
morning's tenth qualifier, Derek Bell, was first out for the Shootout, and
Michael
Galati's seventh spot from the morning meant he would go out fourth in the
afternoon.
Each car got one warmup lap, one timed lap and a cool-down lap, with the
afternoon's
times taking precedence over whatever times the cars had set in the
morning.
Derek headed out and set his best time of the weekend, and when Galati did
his
flying lap he was one of the few to improve his time from the morning
session.
Their times from the Shootout put them third (Galati) and eighth (Bell) on
the
starting grid for Monday's Speed GT feature race.
Since Connecticut law prohibits racing on Sundays, tomorrow will be a
quiet
day for all the series present, though there is still final race
preparation
to be accomplished, and numerous activities are planned at the track to
entertain
the fans. We expect the Mirage Oasis hot tub will see plenty of action, as
relaxation
will be the order of the day. Monday will feature a short morning warmup,
and
the Speed GT race will be the last race of the day. |
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