Audette Breaks Track Record for VIR Pole
Alton, VA – Remy Audette took pole at VIRginia International Raceway, smashing the standing track record by more than half a second, turning in a lap at 1:53.929. The Canadian has so far paced testing and practice throughout the weekend, but battled through a tough qualifying and messy race on Saturday to finish in fourth as he charged through the field in the rain.
Chris Livengood will line up on the outside of the front row while Robert La Rocca, Kyle Connery and Tim Minor completed the top five.
“It was an awesome lap,” said Audette, who was three tenths up on Livengood, and actually ran two identical laps during the session at 1:53.9.
“Yesterday was not so great so we are hoping to bounce back today and go for the win. The car is handling really well.”
Kyle Connery sat on pole for Saturday’s race but did not make the start following a massive crash during qualifying.
The American rookie and his team could not get their Van Diemen back together in time, but answered the bell with a solid top five effort during qualifying for the second race of the weekend at VIR.
“It wasn’t bad, that time,” Connery added. “We spent most the session just shaking down the car from the rebuild. Fourth is good but we aren’t too happy with the car so we will work on the setup during the break and try to shoot for a podium. Remy is very quick but we’ll try to have something for him.”
Rookie Nathan Morcom qualified sixth following somehow winning yesterday in the pouring rain on dry tires.
“Each time we went for a flyer I would catch other cars and it was tough to get by,” the Primus Racing driver from Australia said. “We’re definitely looking for a podium in the race.”
Another rookie, Angel Benitez, followed in seventh for Alegra Motorsports. Brian Tomasi, Tim Paul and Rob Nicholas rounded out the top ten. Along with La Rocca, who qualified third, Tomasi makes it two RFR chassis in the top ten.
It is Tim Paul’s best effort qualifying effort. The ex-sprint car and midget driver nearly won in the rain on Saturday but fell short, and hopes to rebound with a strong qualifying effort in his SMR/GTP Motorsports #06 Van Diemen.
Dave Weitzenhof did not make the session due to damage from Saturday’s race.
Follow live action with up-to-the-minute coverage, reporting and photos on F2000Series.com and on Twitter @F2000. Race two begins at 4:00pm. All times are eastern.
Qualifying Results:
Pos No. Name Best Tm Best Spd In Lap Diff Gap 1 21 Remy Audette 1:53.929 103.328 8 - - 2 37 Chris Livengood 1:54.256 103.032 4 +0.327 +0.327 3 10 Robert La Rocca 1:54.805 102.539 9 +0.876 +0.549 4 91 Kyle Connery 1:54.989 102.375 9 +1.060 +0.184 5 88 Tim Minor/M 1:55.497 101.925 10 +1.568 +0.508 6 2 Nathan Morcom 1:55.648 101.792 7 +1.719 +0.151 7 26 Angel Benitez 1:55.760 101.693 9 +1.831 +0.112 8 96 Brian Tomasi 1:55.845 101.619 9 +1.916 +0.085 9 06 Tim Paul 1:56.207 101.302 9 +2.278 +0.362 10 89 Rob Nicholas/M 1:56.226 101.285 10 +2.297 +0.019 11 23 Gustavo Rizzo 1:56.372 101.158 12 +2.443 +0.146 12 13 Steele Guiliana 1:56.392 101.141 10 +2.463 +0.020 13 4 Jonathan Scarallo 1:56.661 100.908 4 +2.732 +0.269 14 70 Tom Fatur/M 1:57.003 100.613 9 +3.074 +0.342 15 7 Brent Gilkes/M 1:57.082 100.545 5 +3.153 +0.079 16 42 Bill Jordan/M 1:57.291 100.366 10 +3.362 +0.209 17 29 Ardie Greenamyer/M 1:57.337 100.326 11 +3.408 +0.046 18 27 Craig Clawson/M 1:57.545 100.149 5 +3.616 +0.208 19 3 Joe Colasacco 1:57.560 100.136 9 +3.631 +0.015 20 90 Robert Wright/M 1:57.785 99.945 8 +3.856 +0.225 21 25 Jeff McCusker/M 1:58.000 99.763 9 +4.071 +0.215 22 8 Mark Defer/M 1:58.104 99.675 3 +4.175 +0.104 23 22 Giancarlo Potolicchio 1:58.257 99.546 11 +4.328 +0.153 24 51 Dan Denison/M 1:58.479 99.359 9 +4.550 +0.222 25 72 Francis Kennette 2:03.997 94.938 11 +10.068 +5.518 26 60 Mark Felsen 2:04.216 94.770 9 +10.287 +0.219 27 94 Al Guibord,Sr./M 2:07.705 92.181 2 +13.776 +3.489 28 67 Dave Weitzenhof/M -.--- - 0 - -