Local Father-Son Team Tops
World Challenge GT Practice at Long Beach
LONG BEACH, Calif. (Apr. 18, 2009) - Brandon Davis and father Mike, of Huntington Beach, Calif., were fastest in practice for Sunday's World Challenge ACS Grand Prix of Long Beach Presented by Lala Motorsports, part of the 35th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Both Davises were quick throughout the 30-minute practice session, exchanging fast laps several times with GMG teammates Sofronas and Dino Crescentini. On his seventh lap around the 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street circuit, defending race winner Brandon Davis clocked his fastest lap in the No. 10 Applied Computer Solutions/Sun Micro Systems Ford Mustang Cobra, a 1:26.036 (82.347 mph).
"The car is really good,” Davis said. "It just feels balanced. I was a little disappointed with yesterday’s practice, that I couldn't get up there to the top of the times, and it feels better today to be in the front. I think this track suits us well. Long braking zones are good. Our car doesn’t really like high speed corners, which there are none of at Long Beach.”
Davis is aiming to take his second Long Beach pole in-a-row Sunday morning at his home track with family and friends looking on.
“Usually, sticker tires are worth another three-quarters of a second here. Hopefully we can get down there.
“I have a lot of my friends and family out here. I’ve been coming to this race for a long time, watching my dad race and watching Boris [Said] race in our [Trans-Am Series] cars. It’s a thrill to be racing here. It’s definitely the biggest race of the year for us.”
Driving the No. 11 Applied Computer Solutions/Sun Micro Systems Ford Mustang Cobra, Mike Davis led the session briefly before being topped by his son. His lap of 1:26.230 (82.161 mph) was still good enough for second on the practice sheets.