Pirelli’s P Zero slicks and the company’s “Racing Rains” tires were ready to roll this past weekend as the Watkins Glen International Raceway hosted the Crown Royal 200. And for the first time in two years, both the Daytona Prototype and GT teams competed side-by-side in the Aug. 7 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series event.
Friday’s two-hour sprint was Round 9 of the 2009 season, marking the start of a four-race run to clinch the Series championship.
Last year’s contest saw the setting of several speed records as the teams dug deep for tire durability – each driving the entire race on one set of P Zeros, according to Rafael Navarro III, Pirelli’s director of communications and motorsports.
Unlike June’s annual Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen that is held on the traditional 3.4-mile long course, the Crown Royal 200 is run on the track’s 2.45-mile NASCAR short course. Although the smaller layout is comprised almost entirely of track sections that Rolex Series teams race on in the Sahlen’s Six Hour, “the shorter configuration creates an entirely different set of technical demands (on the tires), which in-turn alters a team’s tire strategy decisions,” Navarro says.
The fact that the Crown Royal 200 is among the shortest races of the season at two hours also adds to a team’s strategy mix, he adds. Amid last year’s light rain and cool conditions, some of the Daytona Prototype cars ran the entire race without a tire change.
The 2008 checkered flag was claimed by Mark Wilkins and then-teammate Brian Frisselle in the No. 61 AIM Autosport Ford Riley. Wilkins credited the Pirellis with playing a major role in the victory.
“It was a fantastic thrill to take Watkins Glen by storm and win our second race of the season in commanding fashion last year,” says Wilkins, who defends his title this weekend with co-driver Burt Frisselle – Brian’s older brother.
“The Pirelli P Zero tires had tremendous grip and gave me the confidence to push the No. 61 Ford Riley to its limit right to the checkered flag. The entire AIM organization is looking forward to getting back to the winner’s circle on Pirellis on Friday,” Wilkins notes.
“This will be our team’s first visit to the Watkins Glen short course, so we really don’t know what to expect,” said Mike Johnson, team manager for No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R driving duo of Andrew Davis and Robin Lidell, who recently raced to victory in the Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park. “The weather should be in the mid-70s,” he said before the race, “so I once again expect the Pirelli tires to hold up perfectly.”
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