Eric Gilbert
Montreal, Quebec (17 August 2012) – Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian will start the Montreal 200 from eighth on the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series grid on Saturday after John Pew set a fast lap time of 1:34.715-seconds at the challenging 2.709-mile Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Friday.
Pew improved his lap-time by over a second since his visit to Montreal last year and will open the two-hour sprint race before turning the controls over to co-driver Ozz Negri who will take the No. 60 LiveOn Ford-Riley to the finish.
The team used that same strategy in last weekend’s Watkins Glen two-hour sprint event and was poised for a podium finish only to have a problematic tire issue take the No. 60 machine out of contention. The Shank squad will look to rebound from their Watkins Glen disappointment with a podium result this weekend.
“The car keeps getting better and that keeps giving me more confidence--which is something you need around this place,” said Pew, who along with Negri took part in the Ford Racing Festival event following Friday’s qualifying session. “I think with this spec of Continental Tire, you are going to have to be very mindful of the degradation, particularly with the rears. But we’ve had that situation before and run well, so hopefully we can be smart and move up in the race.”
“We have been working on getting the car better this weekend and we’re getting there,” said team owner Mike Shank. “The car has been improving every session and John got everything he could out of it this afternoon. Some guys were basically jumping the cars over the curbs, and that’s just not going to be possible in the race so I expect the times to get even tighter tomorrow. Even though this is a sprint race, there is a lot that can happen in two hours and we just have to focus on sticking to our plan, race smart, execute, and try to come out of here with as many points as we can.”
Source: Michael Shank Racing
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