A host of competitors running on Pirelli's tires set 147 qualifying, race and race lap records since the sponsorship began in 2008 - leaving with 153 records as the weekend came to a close.
New record additions in the Daytona Prototype category all came from the race and championship-winning BMW Riley of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas. The pair established class qualifying, race and race lap records on the 3.048-mile outer course layout.
"We are going to miss Pirelli for sure; they have done just a terrific job,” Pruett says."They have by far exceeded everybody's expectation this year,” he asserts. "To have to make just one tire and one compound for every track is a very tall challenge. From what we have seen from Pirelli, and what they have done, and the performance they have had race in and race out has been absolutely spectacular from my point of view.”
While Pruett and Rojas were wrapping up Daytona Prototype honors, the Mazda RX-8 GT of Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal clinched the GT class team and driver championships with a sixth-place finish. The titles are the their first in Grand-Am competition.
"When I came into the Rolex Series, my first year was also Pirelli's first year,” Segal recounts. "It was great kind of learning the car together with the Pirellis. Everybody was on a new tire, it was new to everybody else, so it kind of cut down on that learning curve and allowed us to get that first win in the Watkins Glen six-hour race in my first year. It has just really been enjoyable working with Pirelli. The tires are really gratifying to drive on, and I know that sounds strange, but they have such high grip the lap times are so fast and it is just a lot of fun to drive the car.”
Several other teams joined with Pirelli to set new GT records on the track's outer course. The class-winning Chevrolet Camaro GT.R of Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis established a race record of 90.350 mph while Eric Curran set the qualifying mark in his Corvette when he won the pole on Friday with a lap time of 1:51.659 (98.271 mph). The fastest race lap record, 1:52.507, was established by Paul Edwards, who was also behind the wheel of a Corvette.
Pirelli's P Zero Bonus Club also wrapped up the season with a "wild card” event open to all eligible teams. Tens of thousands of dollars were awarded to top competitors on the circuit.
For more information, visit www.us.pirelli.com.
