Photo: Sideline Sports Photography, ’12 LLC
Von Moltke Wheels the APR Audi R8 Grand-Am to Fourth in Qualifying
June 2, 2012 (Detroit, Mich.) – The day started bleak and rainy for the drivers of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, with a heavy rain falling on the 2.1-mile, 14-turn temporary circuit on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan. It started especially bleak for Dion von Moltke as, while taking his first laps on the extremely wet track in the no. 51 APR Audi Grand-Am, he spun and made light contact with the unforgiving concrete barrier exiting the final turn.
However, when he was tasked with qualifying, von Moltke didn’t put a wheel wrong as he drove the car to its best qualifying performance yet in the Rolex Series, taking fourth place as he ran a lap at 1:30.086, averaging 83.121 mph around the Belle Isle circuit.
“The APR Motorsport guys have worked so hard all season, it’s great to finally deliver something good to them,” said von Moltke. “I didn’t have any time in the car after the morning practice when it was wet, and since qualifying was completely dry I was learning something new every lap. The car feels great and I have a lot of confidence in how it is working. After the disappointment this morning, it is great to see improvement every session and finish on a high. We will have to keep the trend going for tomorrow.”
As the team had to work to repair damage from the morning’s practice session, the APR Audi R8 missed most of the second practice but had the car completed in time for Dr. Jim Norman to take part in the afternoon’s Trueman/Aiken session for Pro-Am drivers. Norman would top the Trueman/Aiken session, running what would turn out to be the quickest time overall for the GT field on his final lap, providing the team a big boost ahead of the qualifying session.
“I knew that we were P1 when the session was wet, but I didn’t know anything else after it dried out and we switched to slicks,” said Norman. “So it was great to hear that we were first, and we grabbed it on our last lap. The car felt great, it got better and better throughout the session. Dion did a great job in qualifying and we are very excited for tomorrow’s race.”
The Chevrolet Grand-Am Detroit 200 will go green tomorrow Saturday, June 2nd at 5:00 PM ET and will be broadcast live on SPEED Channel.
Fans of APR Motorsports can speak with team owner Stephen Hooks during the Rolex Series race on its Live Blog, which can be accessed at www.goapr.com. Fans can ask questions throughout the race to get a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes.
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