Michael Shank Racing got the Verizon Festival of Speed weekend off to a fast start on Friday as the team set the fastest time of the day with the No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford-Riley of John Pew and Michael Valiante pacing the morning session with a fast lap time of 1:20.079-seconds.
The sister No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford-Riley of Mark Patterson and Oswaldo Negri were close behind, setting the second quickest time in the morning session with a quick lap of 1:20.134- seconds.
The Friday afternoon session saw different track conditions in the sunny afternoon, but the team was quick once again, with the No. 6 setting the 2nd fastest time of the session as the No. 60 was 8th fastest as the times set in the morning proved to be the fastest of the day.
The No. 6 had a small set-back in the morning when contact from a GT car forced extra time in the pits, but the issue was sorted quickly by the Michael Shank Racing crew.
Michael Valiante, Driver-No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford-Riley: "I set the fast time early on. Then John Pew got in and ran some really strong lap times. We dropped down to P-2. Then I got back in and worked our way back to the front. After John's incident, he had to re-do the toe and replace the wheel. Other than that, the car was good. Now, we've got to translate our practice session wins into race wins."
The grid will be set on Saturday in a 15-minute qualifying session scheduled for 2:10 PM local time.
Practice/Friday May 15, 2009
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Verizon Festival of Speed
Practice 1
No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford-Riley 1:20.079 P1
No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford-Riley 1:20.134 P2
Practice 2
No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford-Riley 1:20.648 P2
No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford-Riley 1:21.560 P8
Coverage this weekend will be carried by SPEED beginning at 4 p.m. EDT.
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