Ken
Gone but not forgotten
From Motorsport.com:
Graf notches first win in Portland
Racing series TRANSAM
Date 2005-06-18
[font=verdana,arial][/font]
[font=verdana,arial]By Nancy Knapp Schilke - Motorsport.com</I>[/font]
[font=verdana,arial,helvetica]Klaus Graf used his sportscar racing experience to notch his first career win at the 1.964-mile Portland International Raceway. The newest member of the Rocketsports Racing team came over from Germany to compete in the Trans-Am Road Racing Series and on Saturday, he hit pay dirt.
"This is very special, being accompanied by Walter Rohrl because he is a very, very famous driver in Germany," commented Graf when he became the first driver from Germany to win a Trans-Am race since 1988. "He's a World Champion in rallying and one of my heroes. He is one of the best race car drivers ever."
Graf, one of the few rookies in the field, scored his first pole on Friday in his #07 Jaguar XKR but with the return of the Fast Five, he started fifth in today's early evening race and worked his way into the top position as he became the first rookie since Butch Leitzinger in 2002 to score a victory in the Trans-Am series.
"This feels great," said the elated race winner. "I knew it was going to be tough in the race. It took me awhile to get my rhythm and set the brake bias. I ran behind Randy (Ruhlman) for awhile. Then I passed him in the Festival Curves and then Paul (Gentilozzi) had a problem. I held my pace from there."
Randy Ruhlman clinched the second finish position, keeping him on top of the standings after earning his first career win in Long Beach back in April. Ruhlman by virtue of the inverted top five, started on the pole to lead the field to the green with a gaggle of Jaguars behind his Chevrolet Corvette.
Paul Gentilozzi made the move into the lead and until a mechanical failure on his Rocketsports Jaguar bit him, the defending champion appeared to have had the edge.
"It was a good day, we were chasing the car most of the weekend, and frankly, we were a bit down in the mouth. We put the race set-up on this morning and we were pretty happy," explained Ruhlman. "Paul (Gentilozzi) got the best of me on the start, and I just let him go. We were able to stick on Paul's bumper the whole time. I had a lot of fun running with Greg Pickett. Greg's tires went away, so we took second and just went from there."
Taking third was Joey Scarallo also in a Corvette for his first podium finish. Fourth for the day was past Trans-Am champion and veteran racer Greg Pickett. Michael Lewis rounded out today's top five.
"We had big expectations this weekend. The guys have been doing a great job with the car. We had trouble on the first lap in the Festival Corners and bent a suspension piece," said Scarallo. "If we'd had an in-car camera it would have looked like I was turning going down the straightaway. This was a hard-earned third place."
[/font]Discuss this article in the Motorsport.com Forums channel: TRANSAM
Graf notches first win in Portland
Racing series TRANSAM
Date 2005-06-18
[font=verdana,arial][/font]
[font=verdana,arial]By Nancy Knapp Schilke - Motorsport.com</I>[/font]
[font=verdana,arial,helvetica]Klaus Graf used his sportscar racing experience to notch his first career win at the 1.964-mile Portland International Raceway. The newest member of the Rocketsports Racing team came over from Germany to compete in the Trans-Am Road Racing Series and on Saturday, he hit pay dirt.
"This is very special, being accompanied by Walter Rohrl because he is a very, very famous driver in Germany," commented Graf when he became the first driver from Germany to win a Trans-Am race since 1988. "He's a World Champion in rallying and one of my heroes. He is one of the best race car drivers ever."
Graf, one of the few rookies in the field, scored his first pole on Friday in his #07 Jaguar XKR but with the return of the Fast Five, he started fifth in today's early evening race and worked his way into the top position as he became the first rookie since Butch Leitzinger in 2002 to score a victory in the Trans-Am series.
"This feels great," said the elated race winner. "I knew it was going to be tough in the race. It took me awhile to get my rhythm and set the brake bias. I ran behind Randy (Ruhlman) for awhile. Then I passed him in the Festival Curves and then Paul (Gentilozzi) had a problem. I held my pace from there."
Randy Ruhlman clinched the second finish position, keeping him on top of the standings after earning his first career win in Long Beach back in April. Ruhlman by virtue of the inverted top five, started on the pole to lead the field to the green with a gaggle of Jaguars behind his Chevrolet Corvette.
Paul Gentilozzi made the move into the lead and until a mechanical failure on his Rocketsports Jaguar bit him, the defending champion appeared to have had the edge.
"It was a good day, we were chasing the car most of the weekend, and frankly, we were a bit down in the mouth. We put the race set-up on this morning and we were pretty happy," explained Ruhlman. "Paul (Gentilozzi) got the best of me on the start, and I just let him go. We were able to stick on Paul's bumper the whole time. I had a lot of fun running with Greg Pickett. Greg's tires went away, so we took second and just went from there."
Taking third was Joey Scarallo also in a Corvette for his first podium finish. Fourth for the day was past Trans-Am champion and veteran racer Greg Pickett. Michael Lewis rounded out today's top five.
"We had big expectations this weekend. The guys have been doing a great job with the car. We had trouble on the first lap in the Festival Corners and bent a suspension piece," said Scarallo. "If we'd had an in-car camera it would have looked like I was turning going down the straightaway. This was a hard-earned third place."
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