As it was yesterday during a pair of ‘promoter test sessions,’ so it was today… with a few differences.  Anders ‘The Viking’ Krohn, currently second in the championship battle, was quick in a morning session with a 2:07.597 (114.210 mph) in the #47 Andersen Racing / Norse Cutting & Abandonment / Trallfa / Colosseum Mazda, but in the afternoon he slid down the order to 5th with a time of 2:07.326 (114.453 mph).   The morning session was curtailed by a damp fog that caused the field to be red-flagged after a few laps and sit in the pits for 10 minutes before being allowed back on track for a final 5-minute run.

And Conor Daly, currently leading the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear points battle with five wins and seven poles, who was just 0.249 sec. behind Krohn in the morning with a lap of 2:07.846 (113.987 mph) turned up the wick on his #22 Juncos Racing / INDECK / The College Network / Merchant Services Ltd. Mazda in the afternoon session and put in a flier – 2:05.767 (115.871 mph)… more than 8/10ths of a second clear of the main surprise of the day, Californian Connor De Phillippi, who after languishing mid-pack in yesterday’s sessions, was 2nd-quick with a lap of 2:06.619 (115.092 mph) in the #11 JDC Motorsports / MAZDASPEED Motorsports / Skip Barber Mazda.  De Phillippi, the 2009 Skip Barber Pro Series champion, is racing in the Star Mazda Championship this season via scholarship funding provided by the unique and highly coveted MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder.

“We struggled with some mechanical problems on the car yesterday, and this morning’s session was worthless with the red flag for fog,” said De Phillippi.  “But the JDC Motorsports team found that one adjustment for this afternoon that completely transformed the car and I felt very comfortable with my new-found speed.  Hopefully it will stay with us for qualifying tomorrow morning and then the race; I’ve raced here before in Skip Barber and I’m confident that we can have a good result.”

With that sole exception, the cast of characters at the sharp end of the quicker afternoon session were the same names from yesterday; young Quebec racer Mikael Grenier (4th in the championship with one win and two poles) moved up from 11th in the morning to 3rd-fast fast in the afternoon driving the the #17 Andersen Racing / Slow Cow / April Super Flow / NAPA Auto Parts / HS Telecom / Desharnais Mazda to a lap of 2:06.669 (115.046 mph), and Texan Rusty Mitchell posted the 4th-fast time in both morning and afternoon sessions, the quickest being a 2.07.320 (114.458 mph) in the second outing.

Among the Experts (drivers 30 – 44) and Master (45 and older) Series drivers, series veteran Gerry Kraut found a setup more to his liking today and posted a lap of 2:09.703 (112.355 mph) in the #55 JDC Motorsports / Dougherty & Co. / Dougherty Funding LLC Mazda to set the 14th-fast time in the afternoon.  Kraut, currently 2nd in the Master Series championship battle with three in-class wins is the co-owner of the championship-winning JDC Motorsports team.  Quickest among the Experts was Texan J.W. Roberts, who currently leads his championship with seven in-class wins, turning a lap of 2:11.240 (more than two seconds quicker than his morning time) in the #65 Team GDT / General Data Tech Mazda.  Roberts is the owner of Team GDT and swept the honors last weekend at Trois-Rivieres when his team scored their first-ever overall race win with Alex Ardoin and won both the Expert (Roberts) and Master (Carlos Conde) races.

Friday Morning Practice

Friday Afternoon Practice

On-track activities for the 2010 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear continue tomorrow, Saturday, August 21, with an 8:40 – 9:25 am qualifying session.  This will set the grid for the Series’ traditional standing start, scheduled to get the green light at 1:00pm for the a scheduled 45-minute event. 

This is the second event of a 3-race, back-to-back ‘road trip’ for drivers and teams in the Star Mazda Championship.  The next event, Round 12 at MOBIL1 Presents the Grand Prix of Mosport will take the green at 1:15 pm Saturday, August 28.  The series’ finale, also with ALMS at the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, will take place October 1.