CDOC World Team Drivers Win at Montreal!

August 2, 2008 — Montreal, Quebec, Canada — 

CDOC World Team Driver Mark Wilkins went from third to first in the closing feet of the final lap, winning Friday's Montreal 200 to give the No. 61 AIM Autosport Ford Riley its first victory in the closest finish in the history of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16.

AIM Autosport - the lone Canadian team in the Daytona Prototype paddock - seemed headed to victory in the most recent Rolex Series race at Barber Motorsports Park, only to have a mechanical failure in the closing laps with Brian Frisselle in the lead.

Frisselle was bumped off course in the first turn of the first lap after battling pole sitter Scott Pruett for the lead. It was a long way from 17th position back to the front of the pack, and it took Frisselle and Wilkins virtually the entire 69 laps of the two-hour race to do it.

"Brian had a real great shot at winning Barber, and it was good to see us finally get one," Wilkins said. "It was a bit of luck at the end, but we'll take it - luck hasn't gone our way this year."

Finishing second in three of the last four races, Darren Law appeared ready to give Brumos Racing its first victory in five years before the No. 58 Porsche Riley started by David Donohue ran out of fuel on the final circuit.

That opened the door for Toronto resident Wilkins to put AIM Autosport on the podium for the first time in Rolex Series competition. Antonio Garcia was running second heading to the checkered flag, but checked up when Law's Porsche sputtered.

"I had momentum, and I went to the right and kept my foot in it," Wilkins said. "Throughout my shift, I drove hard but tried to save the brakes, tires and fuel. Being smooth really paid off at the end."

"Scott got into my right rear and I spun in the first turn," Frisselle said of the start. "It's the job of the starting driver to bring the car back in good position. So I put my head down and charged, and came from seventeenth to seventh."

Garcia finished second in the No. 16 Cheever Racing Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Pontiac Coyote started by Christian Fittipaldi, .064 seconds behind the race winner. That broke the month-old closest-finish record set by Scott Pruett in the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway, when he passed Alex Gurney on the final lap to win by .081 seconds.

Law passed Memo Rojas for the lead 17 minutes from the finish after pressuring the No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley for several laps. Law held on to finish third, giving the team its sixth-consecutive top-five finish. Fourth went to Brumos teammates JC France and Joao Barbosa in the No. 59 Porsche Riley, matching their best finish of the campaign.

The #47 Brach's/CDOC Ford Dallara of Doran Racing finished 9th in class, with Burt Frisselle and Ricky Taylor putting in another solid racing effort.

CDOC CEO Colin Dougherty said, "Watching Mark and Brian take their first victory was a thrill for all of us at CDOC. We had some early heartburn watching Mark's incident with Pruett, but he drove a classy, determined race and regained a ton of track position. We're thrilled to have CDOC on the top step of the podium at Montreal, and are excited about our relationship with the drivers and team. Seeing our good friend Darren Law come so close to taking Brumos' first victory in 5 years was hard to see, but they continue to knock on the door every race."

The Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series races next this coming weekend, August 7-8, in the Crown Royal 200 at Watkins Glen. Television coverage will be on Speed.

CATEGORY: World Team News, Community News, Press Release

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