The Grid

AIM Autosport – A Complete Season
Team ends the Grand-Am Rolex Spots Car Series sixth overall

The No 61 Ford Riley started on the second row and was sitting top five for a good deal of the race but Homestead-Mimi Speedway is a track that places a premium on putting the power down and therefore as the rear tires wear lap times drop significantly. The high temperatures experienced during the race (91F ambient with humidity that made it feel like 103F) combined with the wear factor would also make tire management a key factor in strategy and performance. The late race cautions mixed up the field and while the car setup was good for the longer runs, the team was unable to capitalize and regain track position following pit stops.

Adding to the problem, contact on the second to last restart caused body damage that hurt the performance of the car. On the final restart with seven minutes to go, Burt was passed for position. At that moment, a big wreck happened behind the lead group bringing out another full course caution with the No 61 Ford Riley in ninth. With a lot of debris on track and the minutes winding down, the race would end under caution, the No 61 Ford Riley crossing the checkered in ninth place. This would leave AIM in seventh spot in the championship.

There had been several jump-start penalties handed out throughout the race and on what turned out to be the final green flag, the car ahead of the No 61 Ford Riley was judged to have jumped the restart. That car was to be assessed a drive-through penalty but as the race had ended, the penalty was not served. Officials then assessed a time penalty moving the No 61 Ford Riley into eighth position giving the team just enough points to finish equal on points with the race-winning No 59 and move AIM Autsport to sixth overall in the series championship.

“AIM Autosport came into the final race of the season feeling pretty good about our chances of repeating fifth in the championship this season” commented team principal Ian Willis. “We had some very strong practice sessions and had one of our best qualifying runs to put the car on the second row for the Grand Prix of Miami. Mark and Burt both had the car in contention at the front but with so many yellows in the latter half of the race, it was difficult to make up position after pit stops.” He continued, “In the end we did not finish where we should have but put in a strong enough performance to tie for fifth in the championship and we can look back on this season with a sense of accomplishment.”

Despite not reaching the podium in 2009, AIM Autosport had a consistent season as far as results with the distinction of having only one DNFcompared to four last year.

“We had a good season in that regard” offered crew chief Jeff Pomfret. “We had some personnel changes and a different driver combination to work through but everyone stepped up and we were able to complete all but one race this year. Even that race, the Rolex 24 when it was something beyond our control, the entire crew did everything possible to try and get us back on track.” Pomfret continued, “Each member of the crew fought hard for every position and every point. They take all the ups and downs personally and that showed this year with the reliability of the car.”

The No 61 Ford Riley is on its way back to AIM’s race shop in Woodbridge, Ontario and the work will begin in earnest to prepare for the 2010 racing season. Grand Am announced the schedule for next season and it begins in just six weeks with open testing at Daytona International Speedway so the teams can get ready for the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January.

“Our primary focus at this point is securing sponsorship for 2010” noted Willis. “With a schedule in hand and some improved demographics for race attendance and television this year, we are confident we can put together an effective package for sponsors. We are also confident we can build on our success these past two seasons, demonstrating how strong we have run against some of the established, big name teams, to bring added value to sponsors and our partners.”

AIM Autosport has also exhibited added value for its partners off the track and this year was the recipient of the Pirelli P-Zero Pacesetter Award. This award is for competitors that go the extra mile in helping Pirelli promote its P Zero racing tires and the Pirelli brand in general. Teams earn bonuses at each race this season in exchange for full support of race event promotions and similar tasks. AIM Autosport participated in a variety of programs that included having the No. 61 Ford Riley on display at various locations, radio and television appearances by the drivers and other special events in support of Pirelli and AIM’s sponsors and partners.

AIM Autosport Utah 250 race report

No. 61 Ford Riley records a solid run to fifth place and moves up in points.

In a race that featured some tight battles, three cautions that bunched up the field and some bumping and banging, Mark Wilkins and Burt Frisselle put in a very solid drive in the Utah 250 and brought the AIM Autosport No. 61 Ford Riley to a solid, fifth-place finish. With that result AIM Autosport is now alone in sixth place in the championship and just three points back of fifth overall.

Cautions played a significant role in the race with respect to track position and fuel mileage. Mark would hand over the car to Burt from the second position. Burt had to deal with some GT traffic but was still on pace when the first caution brought the entire prototype field into the pits. A fantastic stop by the crew put the No 61 Ford Riley back on track in fourth place. Burt then went side by side with the 01 car in a battle for third and despite going wide in the turn and sustaining some damage, he held position and took up the chase. However, he had fallen back a bit and was now under attack but held his ground.

Burt was passed and fell to fifth just before the second last caution period. This and the subsequent three-lap caution during the final twenty laps of the race menat everyone was on a fuel strategy to race to the end. Burt had some fantastic restarts keeping pace with the No. 12 car - but not enough to make the position. There was some hope that the heated battle for second place might yield another position or two but Burt maintained a strong pace to the end and a sold result.

“We owe this to everyone on the crew” commented Burt after the race. “The pit stops went great and that kept us in the hunt and the car just worked well even after we had contact with other cars. This race was a lot of fun and it was fantastic to be able to put pressure on teams running at the front.”

“I have to agree with Burt on the work the crew did” said Wilkins. “Ian (Willis) and Jim (Malicki) threw a new setup at the crew this morning and they got it done in time fort practice and we could just tweak it from there.” He continued, “the pit stop was awesome which gave us track position and Burt just drove a solid race to the end.”

Pic- Kevin Hinton / KH Photography

AIM Autosport gambles on cautions

Seventh place finish tightens up the point’s race

Starting from the outside of the second row for Friday night's Crown Royal 200 at Watkins Glen International, Burt Frisselle quickly had the AIM Autosport No. 61 Ford Riley up into third place and running down the leaders. AIM Autosport came to this race as defending champions having lead from pole for all but three laps in 2008. Brian Frisselle put the car on pole and Mark Wilkins drove it to victory last year so there was some irony that older brother Burt would power the No 61 past Brian, now driving the No 10 Ford Riley, into the first two turns to take the spot.

Burt gave the position back a few laps later in traffic but the top four were opening a gap through the first thirty laps. A quick stop for fuel dropped the No. 61 to tenth but that pit strategy would soon have AIM back in the top five and then going for the lead of the race as other teams cycled through their pit stops. A tight battle for second soon became the lead for the No. 61 that Mark held for six laps but the team's original fuel strategy was not playing out. Expecting more caution periods late in the race - there were three very early on, the race stayed green for an extended period and the team was forced to bring Mark in for a splash of fuel. At that point they also decided on a fresh set of tires to gain some advantage over the final thirty minutes of the race. Unfortunately, they would lose track position due to the extra time in the pits and would now have to fight back from twelfth place. By the end of the two-hour race (93 laps) Mark had the AIM Autosport No. 61 Ford Ford Riley up into seventh spot. He recorded the team's fastest time on the penultimate lap chasing for another position.

"We rolled the dice on fuel" commented team principal Ian Willis. "Based on the number of early yellows and running with the GT cars on the very fast short course, we expected more cautions toward the end which we needed to make the strategy work. Unfortunately, we didn't get those late yellows and we came up just a bit short. Luckily, some of the people we are chasing in the championship also had problems and there were some dark horses at the front that helped even the points battle." He continued, "Now we focus on Montreal and going for the repeat in front of a hometown Canadian crowd."

Burt Frisselle offered: "The No. 61 Ford Riley was fast today and we definitely had the pace to run at the front and our initial strategy seemed like the way to go. I have run here before with the GT's on track and the possibility of late-race cautions has always been a factor. It looked good for an AIM Autosport podium but it just didn't go our way at the end.."

Defending race champion Mark Wilkins commented: "The team did a great job once again giving us a great car that could run at the front. We qualified right up there and the car was very quick in race trim. We had a plan but as we all know, plans can change and we had to make a snap decision late in the race that caught us out." He continued, "We came away with a strong finish though and some very good points since some of our main rivals also had issues. The next three races should be very exciting."

With the seventh place finish and troubles plaguing the two cars just ahead in the championship, AIM Autosport remains sixth overall but has closed the points gap considerably with three races to go. AIM Autosport heads to the next race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal also as defending champions having recorded their first Rolex Sports Car Series victory there in 2008. It is on record as the closest finish in series history at .064 seconds. AIM started the final lap of last years race in fourth place making it an even more incredible victory.

AIM Autosport’s run in the Six Hours of The Glen comes up short of luck

|Mechanical issues put team five laps down. Finish eleventh.

AIM Autosport arrived at Watkins Glen full of energy, enthusiasm and high hopes for their run at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen this past weekend. The No. 61 Ford Riley qualified on the front row for last year’s race plus the team won the sprint race from the pole at Watkins Glen last August leading all but three laps. Who would not be confident with that history. Add into the equation AIM had just come off its best race in 2009 finishing fourth at Laguna Seca and they had a third driver with a very strong pedigree for the six hour race. In the end however, it was a couple of mechanical problems that put the car out of contention for the win and the team had to settle for eleventh.

The six hour race at Watkins Glen means a tight schedule and not a lot of practice time. While this did not affect drivers Mark Wilkins and Burt Frisselle who have logged many laps at the circuit, it did mean there would be little time for former open wheel star Bruno Junqueira to get up to speed in the car. This would be Bruno’s debut in the Rolex Sports Car Series and only his second time competing in a car with fenders so track time would be very important. The upside is that Bruno is a quick study and in addition to providing a new level of feedback for the team, adapted very quickly to the car. The limited track time combined with giving all three drivers sufficient laps added to the challenge that AIM’s engineers have been facing this season in adapting their setups to the 2009 specification Pirelli tire. This meant that Mark had to be on his game going into qualifying with less than the normal number of practice laps.

Qualifying was close, except for one car that had the measure of the field, and the No. 61 Ford Riley was within four-tenths of the front row. Unfortunately, that difference would have Mark starting from seventh on the grid. Not great but not so bad either in a race scheduled to run six hours. There was still a lot of promise when the race began.

Mark was running a strong seventh place in sight of the leaders with a car that was not handling as expected when the team noticed a slow drop in right rear tire pressure on the telemetry. Then, less than thirty minutes into the race he brought the car to pit lane with the right rear tire losing air. Mark was also complaining of poor vision as one car ahead was spraying oil on the windshield over the first few laps. New tires, a fuel top up and one windshield tear-off later and Mark was back on track and the mandatory pit stop was out of the way. The early stop did not fit with the planned strategy and the No. 61 Ford Riley re-entered the race in seventeenth place but as the majority of the other cars would still need to pit, it was looking good for a move up the field. By the end of the first hour with all the teams completing their stops, Mark would be eighth and being able to stay out during the race’s first caution, was now up to fourth place. His lap times dropping, Mark was catching the leaders by almost two seconds a lap. An hour and twenty minutes in and Mark had just passed for second when the second full course caution came out. After a quick stop for fuel, tires and wing adjustment, Mark was only seven seconds behind the leader when the race went green. The team is feeling good.

Thirty minutes later, that good feeling is gone as Mark brings the No 61 Ford Riley to pit lane with what he thinks is another tire going down. It turns out to be a mechanical failure with a rear suspension part and in a flurry of activity the AIM Autosport crew changes the part and completes a full service including a driver change. Unfortunately though, the repair has been costly in terms of time and the car is now three laps down from the leaders. With four hours to go and Bruno Junqueira now in the car, the hope is for some more caution periods which might allow the team to use pit strategy to work back to the lead lap. Junqueira certainly does prove to be a quick study and is soon running the same pace as the leaders. A potential break in the teams favour happened when the next caution came out. The strategy would be to have Bruno stay out behind the pace car when the leader pitted to get a wave by and therefore a lap back. However as luck would have it the team is now experiencing a radio problem and while they can hear Bruno, he cannot hear them. Bruno followed the instructions of the pre race strategy meeting and brought the car in when the pits opened and the crew completes a full service and fixes the radio problem.

Over the next hour stint Bruno’s times continually improve and he goes on to set the No. 61’s fastest lap of the race so far at 1:42.874. His overall times are on pace with the leaders but it is very difficult to get back on the lead lap without more cautions. There is a yellow at the four hour mark but the leader had pitted so we would not get a wave by to regain a lap. Bruno brings the No 61 Ford Riley in for a full load of Sunoco fuel, a fresh set of Pirelli tires and to hand the car over to Burt for the final two hours. Burt is back on track in twelfth place with the race still under a fairly long caution that should help with fuel consumption.

With an hour to go, Burt brings the car in for its final stop when another problem comes up. The engine is revving very high as the throttle pedal is not returning properly. By the time this issue is sorted, the No. 61 Ford Riley has gone down another two laps to the leaders. It is now about survival to the end of the race and holding track position. AIM Autosport is sitting eleventh with just less than an hour to go.

Over the final hour, Burt gets to show what could have been as he sets the fastest lap of the race for the No. 61 – a 1:42.284 on lap 173. His overall times were also on pace with the leaders. Encouraging, but not enough to overcome the five lap deficit. The AIM Autosport No. 61 Ford Riley would cross the checkers in eleventh position.

Following the race, the drivers and team management offered these comments:

Mark Wilkins: “We were confident coming in but had some of that confidence shaken when we were not as quick as hoped through the early practice sessions. By race time though, we knew we had a good setup and the speed to get the job done. Burt and I have both had some success at this track and Bruno proved to have the speed we would need to win. But there are some things you just can’t control or foresee and that is what caught us out today. Now it’s on to Mid Ohio in two week. We had a good run there last year and the whole team will be focusing on bettering that result this year.”

Burt Frisselle: “At the end of the day it is disappointing to know we had a car capable of competing with the leaders but were unable to fend off the those mechanical gremlins that decide to show up from time to time. Mark did a great job under difficult circumstances to keep us up front and Bruno put in a terrific effort to keep us in the game despite being three laps down. He is definitely a race who knows it isn’t over until it’s over. We’ll now take this two weeks to regroup and focus on getting it done at Mid Ohio.”

Bruno Junqueira: “It is too bad how we finished today but in the end, I learned a lot about the car and managed to put in a lot of laps and run at competitive speeds. The tight schedule did not give me a lot of practice time but there was lots of time in the race to get up to speed. AIM Autosport gave us a good car and we could run on pace with the leaders which is very encouraging. I am very happy to have had the opportunity to run with a team that is a proven winner and to race with Mark and Burt who were both very supportive and helped me to learn the car. It would have been great to celebrate with them on the podium. I hope there will be other opportunities.”

Ian Willis (team principal): “The drivers put in a great effort and the crew met every challenge we – and the car threw at them today. The Six Hours of The Glen is what endurance racing is all about. A ‘compact’ version of the Rolex 24, it can still throw the same kinds of curves a team can experience at the 24 but with less time to recover. Even so, it was a long day at the track starting with an early warm up session and everyone on the crew did a great job to keep us in the race to the end. There was no giving up.”

“It was great to see the interaction between Mark, Burt and Bruno as well. They did a fantastic job communicating and sharing information that had us running on pace with the leaders. Bruno was up to speed very quickly considering the amount of practice time he had in the car and we are happy to have been part of his first experience of prototype racing.”

AIM Autosport VIR Race Report

Team on pace early but late stop brings heartbreak

After running near the front most of the day, the AIM Autosport team had to settle for eleventh place when a late race spin and problems in the ensuing pit stop put the CONSOL Energy No 61 Ford Riley two laps down in the Bosch Engineering 250 at Virginia International Raceway.

Leading up to the race, the big concern would be the heat. Temperatures were in the mid nineties and the track temperature was much higher. Tire wear and driver fatigue could be issues and fuel consumption is always at the top of everyone’s list of things to watch.

Burt Frisselle started the race having done a fantastic job to qualify the car in fourth place. From the drop of the green Burt would go on a charge working through to third. He was on pace with the leaders when an early yellow allowed the team to pit for fuel and cover the mandatory pit stop in the forty-five minute window. The crew also changed the nose that had sustained damage when a competitor tried an aggressive move on the course making contact with the car. Burt was running in fifth when the second of the day’s four full course cautions came out. The Team called the CONSOL Energy No 61 Ford Riley to the pit for fuel, a scrub set of Pirelli P-Zero tires and a driver change.

Mark went back on track in ninth place and would be on pace and record the car’s fastest lap, a 1:44.024 just seven laps into his stint. Mark was within six seconds of the leader when a car spinning off course had the front-running DP teams anticipating a caution and coming in for quick stops to assure track position. A pit stop for fuel, sticker tires and a clean windshield for Mark but the car stalled and Mark lost seconds and positions getting it restarted. The caution did not come out and the race ran green for a long stretch. Without the yellow, AIM and other teams were forced into a fuel-saving strategy as they had taken the stop outside the normal fuel window. Mark was back up to seventh spot on lap seventy-one when the wheels fell off – figuratively at first, then literally.

The drink bottle in the car was not working properly and Mark was affected by a lack of hydration and eventually a lack of concentration. He would go spinning off course at the end of the back straight but gathered it up and brought the car in. The high track temperatures had also affected tire wear so it was decided that a fresh set should go on the car and at the same time take a splash of fuel. The unscheduled stop caught the crew a bit off guard and a problem with the air wand caused the car to drop before the right-front wheel was secured. The usual cue to leave the pits is when the car comes down off the jacks so Mark hit the gas. As he left the box, the wheel came off leaving him to come to a stop near the end of pit lane. The crew gathered up the wheel and a new wheel nut and headed down pit lane where the Michael Shank team offered assistance to secure the wheel. Mark was back on track but the car was now two laps down.

The race ran the full time limit of two hours and forty-five minutes covering eighty-one laps. The CONSOL Energy No. 61 Ford Riley was recorded in eleventh at the chequered flag.

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