Watkins Glen Race Report
Watkins Glen Race Report
ANOTHER TOP-10 FINISH AT WATKINS GLEN FOR THE PORSCHE CAYMAN AND BGB MOTORSPORTS
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
(Ormond Beach, FL, USA – June 9, 2010) BGB Motorsports teammates Keith
Carroll and Duncan Ende recorded their first top-10 finish of 2010 in the
#23 Racer’s Roast Porsche Cayman following Saturday’s 70-car Grand-Am
Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series race from Watkins Glen
International Raceway in Watkins Glen, New York. Ende’s drive to 6th place
would have recorded the best finish to date for the Porsche Cayman but the
Los Angeles, CA based driver had to contend with the strong V8 power that
dominated most of the event, and settle for 10th place honors. The team’s
2nd Cayman entry featured Steve Jenkins of Glenview, IL, and Jean Francois
Dumoulin of Trois Rivières, Quebec, Canada, driving the #38 BRM
Watches/Laps.com Cayman; the two finished in 12th place driving together for
their 2nd time in as many races, narrowly missing another consecutive top-10
finish. The 3rd and final BGB Motorsports entry of Stewart Tetreault of
West Hartford, CT, and Guy Cosmo of West Palm Beach, FL finished in 18th in
their Porsche 911; that finishing position, however, was not indicative of
the car’s performance during the race, as the two fell down the order
following Cosmo’s great drive to 5th place. A late-race stop to pit road to
repair a wheel damaged by contact with another competitor, removed all
possibility of finishing up the order. As the race wound down, for the 2nd
event in a row, BGB Motorsports was poised to have 3 entries finish in the
top-10; Cosmo sat in 5th place, Ende in 6th and teammate Dumoulin back in
12th but it just wasn’t their day, as the tight racing and door banging of
the series influenced the end result for 2 of the 3 cars.
With less than a week between the Lime Rock Park and Watkins Glen rounds,
Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series teams did not have much
turnaround time to prepare for the 6th race of the 2010 season. On track
activity for the BGB Motorsports team went smoothly during Thursday’s
pre-event promoter test and during official Grand-Am practice on Friday.
Friday evening’s qualifying yielded season-best qualifying performances for
all BGB pilots as Steve Jenkins led qualifying for the Porsches, qualifying
7th. Teammate Keith Carroll of Stuart, Florida qualified a few spots back
in 14th while Tetreault completed BGB qualifying in 20th.
When the green flag fell for Saturday morning’s race, all three BGB Porsche
pilots put their heads down and continued improving on any performances thus
far in the season. Jenkins found that his competitors don’t make it very
easy to get by them, and the #38 Cayman had to come to pit road to repair a
cut tire. At the same time, Keith Carroll and Stewart Tetreault began
moving up through the field. During the race’s first full course caution on
lap 22, Carroll and his #23 Cayman enjoyed a clean stint, passing
competitors to deliver the car to his codriver Duncan Ende in 5th place.
Tetreault followed suit handing off his car to codriver Guy Cosmo in 12th
place. In an orderly fashion, the BGB Motorsports pit crew executed 3
simultaneous pit stops for the 1st of two times during the event, as Jean
Francois Dumoulin took over the controls of the #38 Cayman from the 13th
spot.
Shortly thereafter another full course caution flag came out and the BGB
crew went to work again, fueling all 3 cars at once to keep all three
entries in contention for a strong team finish, as Cosmo and Ende beat
several cars out of the pits to restart 6th and 9th respectively. When the
racing resumed for the 2nd time at the race’s half way point, all required
pit stops were completed and it was in the hands of the drivers. Strong
stints by all 3 closing drivers had things looking pretty good but late in
the race, things didn’t go according to plan. The team will once again look
to put this event behind them, as they head to Mid Ohio Sports Car Course in
Mansfield, Ohio on June 17th for the 7th round of the season.
Following the Watkins Glen round, the #83 BGB 911 falls back one spot to
occupy 7th in the Team Championship, while the #23 Cayman moves back into
the top-10 to occupy the 9th spot. With some mixed results during the
beginning of the season, the #38 Cayman entry gains traction, and moves
further up the order to 15th. While the team continues to try and finish 3
race entries in the top-10 each time, they’ll look to realize that goal by
hopefully finishing 3 cars in top-10 in points in the Team Championship over
the next 4 races.
Friday evening’s qualifying yielded season-best qualifying performances for
all BGB pilots as Steve Jenkins led qualifying for the Porsches, qualifying
7th......