Running with a new Porsche engine and limited practice time, David Donohue waited until the final minutes of qualifying to shatter the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course track record and claim pole position in qualifying for the EMCO Gears Classic round of the Grand-Am Rolex Series.
It was a series-leading third pole position of the season for Donohue, who co-drives the #58 Brumos Racing Porsche Riley with Darren Law and broke Jon Fogarty's year-old
Daytona Prototype track record of 1min 18.374secs. The series veteran is the only driver in the Daytona Prototype class with multiple pole positions this season, having also taken top spot at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, but has yet to see taste the champagne in 2008..
Unfortunately, the precedent doesn't bode well for Donohue and Law, as the last team to win a Daytona Prototype race from pole was the Fogarty/Alex Gurney combination at Infineon Raceway last August.
“[The track's] demanding on a lot of fronts, [and] you have to be pretty aggressive," Donohue said after the session, "It takes a lot from a driver – a lot of different techniques - and it's throwing a lot of curve balls at us, especially having come from a track that is so incredible different.”
Fogarty qualified second fastest in the #99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley, just 0.002secs off the pole time, and was the second of four drivers to break the track record.
“I feel a little bad, like I didn't do the team or Pontiac justice," the reigning co-champion commented, "With a track resurfacing, it just takes a little time for the pace to come, but I knew it was important for us to be around for qualifying. The new surface is definitely interesting. It's strange, but we're trying to figure out how to make the most of it.”
Earning Ford power its best qualifying slot of the session, Mark Wilkins was third in the #61 AIM Autosport Riley, followed by championship leader Memo Rojas in the #01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley and Nic Jonsson in the #76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola.
