Grand-Am Rolex Series: Rolex 24 at Daytona

Topics:  Rolex 24 at Daytona

Ted Ballou
Emmanule Collard
Tim George, Jr.
Richard Lietz
Spencer Pumpelly
January 25, 2009

DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA

J.J. O'MALLEY: Let's meet the 2nd place finishers in GT. Spencer Pumpelly, your thoughts on finishing 2nd the Rolex 24 in GT.
SPENCER PUMPELLY: It's an honor to be part of the effort of putting these five cars on the track. TRG is a great organization. Would have loved to have won today, but it was fantastic to be part of the 1-2 finish for, like Kevin said, a group of guys that are just fantastic.
J.J. O'MALLEY: Tim George, Jr., talk about your part in the race, and I know you'll be back here busy for Speedweek.
TIM GEORGE, JR.: It was awesome to be a part of TRG again. With the 66, same colors, different number this year. Step up to the podium, with Collard and Pumpelly last year and as well this year, it's awesome. Welcome Richard and Ted on the team. And it's really good racing with everybody here. Speedweek is coming up, Arthur Remax Series for me. And February 7th is the race there. So being in that No. 2.
J.J. O'MALLEY: Ted Ballou, your thoughts on the race. Great way to start the season.
TED BALLOU: It is a great way to start. Spencer has done a great job of bringing me along this year. I'm looking forward to spending the whole year with him. We just signed a new sponsor in AXA. They're actually a French company. Nice to have Collard on the team. And obviously Richard did a great job in the middle of the night fighting with Farnbacher. And Spencer and obviously Tim. So it really was a great event for us.
J.J. O'MALLEY: Emmanuel Collard, you won here overall in 2005. Now you've backed it up with a class victory with TRG. Your thoughts on the race.
EMMANUEL COLLARD: The race was really exciting. We were fighting for the win, for the race. We had a problem at the end with the brakes. But overall the car was well prepared by the team, TRG. And I think it was a great weekend also for Porsche overall, because they won with the GT, with the GT also. Wonderful weekend for them.
J.J. O'MALLEY: Richard Lietz, your thoughts on 2nd place in GT.
RICHARD LIETZ: It was my first race with TRG. We finished second on the podium. They organized everything really well. When you go with five cars in a 24-hour race, it's really, really difficult. And they did it well. And position 1 and 2 for a team says everything. And I'm happy that we finished on the podium and maybe we do it next year again and thank you very much.
J.J. O'MALLEY: Questions for 2nd place in GT?

Q. The deal that was in place late in the race, knowing that the 67 was running very well, so were you, how hard did you race knowing that if the 86 broke that was the team that was going to win the race?
SPENCER PUMPELLY: I was actually in the car at the time when the 86 broke, and that was the first I'd heard of the deal. But we had a similar deal last year. And it's tough being in that situation knowing that when we pitted, they took the lead, and when we take the lead, there's a fifty/fifty shot that that happened.
So we just kind of came out on the unlucky side of that deal. But at the same time you can't win the 24 without some luck, as anyone who has won it knows. And it was the right decision to be made. And we're part of a historic finish in 1-2. And, again, it was not a big deal as far as when I look back on the race, what I look back is having the opportunity to run with these guys here and work with such a good group of people.
J.J. O'MALLEY: Thank you very much.