While the temperatures reached just past the 60 degree mark, Eric Curran was happy to be in sunny Daytona Beach and escaping the 40 degree, cloudy skies in his Springfield, Massachusetts home.
He was even happier to be testing the #00 Georgian Bay Motorsports Corvette with team-mate Jamie Holtom, who won the 2008 Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series Street Tuner (ST) championship with Curran's assistance.
Curran has competed in the Rolex 24 At Daytona before, and is hoping he and Holtom can appear together in the 2009 classic in the Corvette. Through a day-and-a-half of testing, Curran was pleased with the way the car was handling.
“We're working hard,” he underlined. “We're making a lot of progress on the Georgian Bay Corvette. I did a number of laps in it yesterday (Monday), and we kind of had a few teething problems here and there that we got straightened out.
“Now that the basics are behind us, we're just really trying to get this car to work well. Jamie's done a good portion of the morning session, and we're getting quicker. We're probably a second quicker than we were yesterday, so we're going in the right direction.”
Curran and Holtom have both said they hope to run a limited number of races in the Rolex Series GT class.
“It's really a complete unknown right now,” Curran added. “We'd like to put together half a dozen races for next year. It's the age-old problem of funding and trying to come up with a sponsor that can help get this car out there, but this is something that we've got to try and make happen, and I think Jamie and I can do a good job in this car.”
Only two incidents interrupted the session on Tuesday. Billy Asaro, who was also involved in an incident late on Monday, lost his brakes in turn five in the early afternoon, and his #11 AIM Autosport Ford Riley slid into the tyre barrier, damaging the car's front bodywork and mechanical pieces. The team will consequently forego Wednesday's session.
Meanwhile, a number of drivers were spotted in the garage area and behind the pit wall, possibly seeking out a ride or audition for an upcoming test, the Rolex 24 or the 2009 Rolex Series season.
Ryan Dalziel, Bill Lester and Shane Lewis were back for the second straight day in street clothes, while Cristiano da Matta, who returned to racing this season after a 2006 crash at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, was on-hand with AIM Autosport. Da Matta competed in the season finale at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.
Bryan Sellers was also wandering the garage area, as were Hugh and Matt Plumb, winners of the KONI Challenge Grand Sport (GS) finale at Virginia International Raceway. Similarly in attendance were Patrick Long, who competed in multiple Rolex Series races in 2008, and Jean-Francois Dumoulin, who won the 2007 Rolex 24 in the GT class.
