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| Pit Notes | ||
| Friday, March 16, 2001 -- Page 13 | ||
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SUPERFLO 12 HOURS AT SEBRING PIT NOTES: Page 13 PRESENTED BY DODGE FRIDAY MARCH 16, 2001 Panoz GT Pro Series Race - Inaugural Event (30 minutes, two classes GTS and GT) At 2:55, green flag. At 2:58 at the end of the first lap, leader is #09 Brian Angen. Car #88 Bob Deeks is off course and stopped at turn 6. At 2:59, car #01 Steven Lewis is into the pits, the hood is up. At 3:01, car #4 Belinda Endress has moved from last (20th) to 15th overall. #09 Angen continues to lead. At 3:03, car #09 Angen continues to lead by 13.4 seconds over #59 Gary Curtis. At 3:06, car #09 Angen lengthens his lead to 17.3 seconds. At 3:07, car #42 Don Barnes pulled off and stopped at turn 5. At 3:09, car #09 Angen leads by 19.7 seconds after laps 5 laps. At 3:11, car #09 Brian Angen leads over his father #44 Rocky Angen by 18.8 seconds after 6 laps. At 3:13, car #09 Angen continues to lead over his father by 19.1 seconds after 7 laps. In the GT class #25 Gavin Riches leads over #19 Sonja Bayer. At 3:16, car #41 Brad Ward spun and continued coming out of turn 17 under the bridge. #09 Angen continues to lead after 8 laps. #19 Bayer has closed on the bumper of the GT leader #25 Riches. At 3:19, car #09 Brian Angen leads by 20.1 seconds over his father #44 Rocky Angen. At 3:21, car #44 Rocky Angen closes on his son, #09 Brian Angen cuts the lead to 18.3 seconds after 10 laps. White flag next time by. At 3:23, car #09 Brian Angen takes the white flag after 11 laps, leads by 17.8 seconds over #44 Rocky Angen. Car #25 Gavin Riches leads #19 Sonja Bayer with one lap to go by about 10 car lengths. At 3:25, car #09 Brian Angen wins overall and the GTS class in his first Panoz Pro Series race. His father Rocky Angen finishes second, with #89 Paul Liccardo in third. In the GT class, #25 Gavin Riches wins over #19 Sonja Bayer, followed by #21 Barry Davison. Brian Angen (#09-GTS) "(at the start) I was watching Gary (Curtis), I was watching the flag, I was waiting, waiting, waiting. Once the green flag fell I punched. I got a better reaction time than he did and to be honest I went a little too fast into the first turn, but I managed to keep it on the track. Lap after lap I was just putting the hammer down. When I realized I had a bit of a lead, I backed off slightly to make sure I had a smooth and consistent race. One lap was my fastest hot lap because there were fans waving at me. I just happened to see them, it was really weird going down the straightaway, there were people waving, so I waved back. I just treated it like a 24 hour race, trying not to overuse the car. When the white flag came out I just said 'come on car, take me to the finish.'" Rocky Angen (#44-GTS) "Even if I had a hundred more horsepower, I couldn't catch him. He's such a good driver." Gavin Riches (#25-GT) (Gavin was the 2000 Panoz school champion. This was his first pro race ever) "It was a tough race. My brakes were going there at the end, but especially my tires were going away. I had to struggle to save them and take it easy. Fortunately I had enough of a gap to ease up the last two laps. Sonja (Bayer) caught me after the GTS car got by. We came into one, the GTS car was inside me and I had to back off so I wouldn't hit him, which lost my momentum, and enabled Sonja to catch up to me. This race was physically tiring for me since I've only been walking one month, but I won, and that helps dull the pain." (In November 2000, at Moroso, Riches crashed his racing Mustang Cobra during a practice day for the Safe Motorsports program at over 140 mph, breaking his pelvis in two places, his right arm and shoulder. He was in a wheelchair for two months and is still undergoing rehabilitation. Riches is a native of Taumarunui, New Zealand. |
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