Grant Ryley of World Speed Motorsports today set the fifth fastest time in provisional qualifying for Sunday’s ninth round of this year’s CART Toyota Atlantic Championship at Road America. Ryley was able to turn a fast lap of 2:03.077 (118.404 mph) in today’s first round of Atlantic qualifying, despite a shortened session due to the red flag of Hoover Orsi.
“It was a difficult qualifying session,” said Ryley, who had the second fastest time this morning in the #14 Northwest Speedwerx/ Cupertino Electric/Velocity Ventures/Del Monaco Specialty Foods Swift. “We really weren’t able to get into any sort of rhythm. We went out and scrubbed tires. Came in and went out for three laps before there was a red flag. Went back out for a couple of laps, then the session ended under another red. The car is really good. And as long as the weather holds tomorrow, we can move up for sure.”
As a rookie to the Atlantic series, this weekend marks Ryley’s first appearance to Road America’s 4.048-mile road course. David Rutledge set a new track record with a time of 2:02.635 (118.831 mph) to take the provisional pole. Tony Ave was third with a time of 2:02.985 (118.492 mph).
Tomorrow’s Atlantic activities begin with a 40-minute practice session scheduled for 9:00 am CT, followed by the second round of qualifying at 12:15 pm. Sunday’s 17-lap, 68.82-mile race is scheduled for 2:30 pm and will be televised via espn2 on Sunday, August 26 at 10:00 am ET.
Further information is available on the team’s web site at www.worldspeed.com as well as the official Atlantic series site at www.toyotaatlantic.com.