8Star Motorsports’ Sean Rayhall and Luis “Chapulin” Diaz qualified their #25 Prototype Challenge (LMPC) contender third for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship’s Grand Prix of Kansas at Kansas Speedway on Friday (6 June).
Sean Rayhall started for 8Star in first practice, maintaining the top spot for much of the session before eventually falling to fourth on the timing screens after Luis Diaz had a chance to tally some very fast laps.
In preparation for Saturday’s (7 June) headlining Grand Prix of Kansas, the TUDOR Championship LMPC contenders shared the short 2.37mile circuit with the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites runners in practice two.
“Chapulin” Diaz began the session with a series of hot laps and fell as low as fourth before a late glory run consisting of two consecutive flyers saw him climb back to second with a best time of 1m12.085s.
As a result, hopes were high ahead of Friday’s qualifying session. Sean Rayhall held the initiative for much of the way following an excellent initial run to finally qualify in third place with a 1m11.989s, only one second off pole position.
“It was a good qualifying effort by the Takis-backed 8Star Motorsports LMPC car,” said Rayhall. “I got caught off guard with everyone else doing some drafting here at Kansas Speedway. We have a great car for tomorrow’s races and all the guys have worked really hard this weekend. I’m expecting a good day tomorrow, as we should be very competitive and I think we can improve on third place.”
Diaz added: “It felt good out there and it’s always very important that the car is fast right off the truck. We’ve had a long break since the Laguna Seca race, but it was good to get a feel of the track because it’s my first time here.”
Meanwhile Enzo Potolicchio, Christian Potolicchio and Lamont Harris qualified tenth, ,11th and 13th respectively in the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship Powered by Mazda.
Enzo completed solid stints throughout free practice, while his son Christian and Harris both had troubled sessions. However, all three struggled to keep pace with their rivals and subsequently qualified tenth, 11th and 13th respectively for Saturday’s race, when they will share the Kansas asphalt with the quicker LMPC machines for the first time.
For more information on 8Star Motorsports and its racing activities, please visit thewww.8starmotorsports.com website, ‘like’ the team’s Facebook page or follow@8starmotor on Twitter.