Edwards, Lally and Hand win, Gidley stars

Jul 22, 2007 (photo by courtesy of www.grand-am.com)
Birmingham, Ala. – Another excellent weekend for Team USA Scholarship alumni saw Paul Edwards, Andy Lally and Memo Gidley all claim podium finishes during the Grand-Am Rolex sports car series’ events at Barber Motorsports Park.

In addition, at the famed Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, Joey Hand emerged triumphant on his debut appearance in the SCCA SPEED World Challenge Touring Car series. The 2000 Team USA Scholarship winner posted a new race lap record, then pulled off a breathless pass on the last lap to snatch the BimmerWorld team’s first victory this year.

Edwards and regular Banner Racing co-driver Kelly Collins took their #07 Banner Engineering Pontiac GXP.R to its long-overdue first victory of the season when they dominated the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve GT race on Saturday afternoon. The pair controlled the two-and-a-half-hour race before taking the checkered flag more than a half-minute clear of their closest challenger.

Lally posted another of his patented charges, taking over the #66 TRG CRG/Maxter/Rotax/F1Air Porsche GT3 Cup from R.J. Valentine in the early stages and finally passing the Farnbacher-Loles Porsche of GT series leader Dirk Werner on the very last lap to secure the runner-up position.

The following day, Lally stormed to victory in the Koni Challenge race. Lally took over the #41 TRG Carlsen Porsche/Mitchell Global Porsche 997 from Ted Ballou in the early stages, then steadily worked his way forward before taking the lead on lap 48. He eventually finished more than 30 seconds clear of the field.

“It’s been a great weekend,” said Lally. “To take a second yesterday and a first today, it’s certainly an excellent weekend for TRG, and the amount [of work] they’ve been doing to these cars is just incredible. For it to pay off like this is just a tribute to the team.”

Meanwhile, Memo Gidley made an impressive debut for the SunTrust Racing Daytona Prototype team. The 1995 Team USA Scholarship winner had been drafted in at the very last minute after Frenchman Jonathan Cochet ran into visa difficulties. After minimal practice, Gidley qualified the #10 SunTrust Riley-Pontiac in fourth, then maintained that position in the early stages of the race before handing over to vastly experienced Italian Max Angelelli. The Italian battled heat exhaustion in his lengthy stint but finally finished third to keep his championship quest alive.

“It was hard to sit there and watch it,” said Gidley. “I wish I was out there. But it was an awesome strategy and it was great working with Max. I’ve kind of been a team leader with the teams I’ve been with over the last couple years. It’s awesome to be in a situation to work with Max and guys who have a lot of experience.”

Photo courtesy of www.grand-am.com