Posted (10/06/2006) -
Henzler and Huffmaster Top Wet Friday Practice at VIR
ALTON, Va. (October 6, 2006) -- Porsche stalwart Wolf Henzler, driving the No. 175 Rembrandt Charms Porsche 996, and No. 65 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 pilot Rob Huffmaster paced their respective classes Friday in a wet opening day of practice for this weekend's Twin Six Hour Grand-Am Cup Series races at VIRginia International Raceway.
After great conditions for an unofficial promoter practice day on Thursday, Friday saw a serious downturn in the weather with colder temperatures and steady rain throughout the day. This morning's first practice for the GS class was run in the day's lightest rain and Henzler took full advantage by posting Friday's top lap of 2:13.430 (88.226 mph). The GS class closes its season tomorrow with the Six-Hour Wheel Enhancement GS Enduro presented by EMC Mechanical starting at 3 p.m. Qualifying for the GS race is tomorrow at 10:05 a.m.
"I'm very happy for the team," Henzler said who co-drives with Eric Lux. "The car worked very good, the team gave me a super car with a super set up in the rain this afternoon. I like this track; I enjoyed it a lot when I ran here in the Rolex race and it was in the rain also. In that opportunity, I won the qualifying race so I look forward to grabbing another win here at VIR."
Behind Henzler, who co-drives with Eric Lux, the second quickest GS lap was by the No. 83 Porsche 996 of Tim Traver at 2:13.655 (88.078 mph). The similar No. 44 Porsche of Wayne Nonnamaker was third with a lap of 2:14.947 (87.234 mph).
The sole practice session of the day for the ST class was also run in the rain and the conditions proved to the favorable for the smaller tuner cars. SpeedSource's Huffmaster, who co-drives with his father Ray Huffmaster, posted the session's top lap with a time of 2:12.802 (88.643 mph) and he led a group of three ST race cars that edged the top GS lap times in the rain. Huffmaster's SpeedSource teammate David Haskell was second fastest in the No. 70 Mazdaspeed Motorsports RX-8 with a lap of 2:13.198 (88.380 mph) and Glenn Bocchino rounded out the top three in the No. 188 i-MOTO Acura TSX at 2:13.217 (88.366 mph).
The ST class will wrap up its 2006 season with the Bill Black Chevrolet Street Tuner Six-Hour Enduro starting at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Qualifying for that race is tomorrow at 10:30 a.m.
Despite the day's persistent rain, no major incidents were reported. Friday's daytime practice sessions were followed by a pair of night practices that were also held in damp conditions. Kenny Wilden in the No. 173 Theetge Motorsport Acura TSX paced the evening ST practice with a lap of 2:32.322 (77.284 mph). He will co-drive in Sunday's ST race with Benoit Theetge. Veteran Nick Ham in the No. 28 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3 was quickest in GS night practice with a lap time of 2:17.805 (85.425 mph
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