Rui Aguas won the GTE-AM class pole position Friday in qualifying for Saturday’s Petit Le Mans, earning the top starting spot in both his debut race at Road Atlanta and the first for the eBay Motors and eBay Mobile “World’s Fastest Car Show” that is sponsoring the team’s No. 61 AF Corse Ferrari 430 Italia this weekend.
Aguas, who is co-driving in the 14th annual running of Petit Le Mans with Justin Bell (center) and Rob Kauffman (left), is a top driver from Portugal who is a regular competitor in Europe for the Italian AF Corse team. Although this weekend marks his first visit to Road Atlanta with his Italian teammates, Aguas had no trouble getting up to speed on the 2.54-mile road course.
“I think the track is very nice, very challenging, up and down,” said Aguas, who also has three poles with AF Corse this season in Italian GT competition. “I really enjoy it, first time here for me, and with my teammates Rob and Justin, it is a nice experience to run here. To be on the pole is always nice. It doesn’t count a lot for the race but I hope we can do a strong finish tomorrow. That’s the main thing.”
Aguas was the fastest GTE-AM driver throughout the 15-minute qualifying session and ultimately locked down the pole with a time of 120.619 (113.422 mph) on his third flying lap.
“Throughout the week we knew we were pretty quick,” Bell said. “And Rui is one of those guys that, to be honest, I had never heard of before, that is just so fast. He knows how to extract everything out of this car. The team really focused on getting the car ready for qualifying, but Rui is also a very generous driver. He really helped me get fast in it and Rob comfortable. You can tell the AF Corse guys have put a lot of effort into coming here.”
Bell is putting a lot of effort this weekend into the promotion of the “World’s Fastest Car Show”, an original video series he hosts on the eBay Motors website and eBay Mobile application, that premiered earlier this month. Petit Le Mans is being filmed for an upcoming episode of the fast-paced new show, the first originally produced media content for eBay Motors, and the first to be featured in any of eBay’s mobile applications. The series is designed to engage automotive enthusiasts through both the web and mobile platforms, and this weekend Bell will give viewers a first-hand look at some high-speed competition. The No. 61 AF Corse Ferrari 430 Italia is also showcasing at Petit Le Mans eBay Mobile logos, along with a custom QR code scanable by any fan with a smart phone, as well as logos for the “World’s Fastest Car Show” on eBay Motors. The response so far has been impressive and nearly non-stop.
“I knew when I moved into fulltime TV over the last few years that it was certainly working when I turned up to do the odd race as a pit reporter,” Bell said. “People would say ‘oh, I saw you doing a Barrett-Jackson auction, I saw you doing Jay Leno stuff,’ so I knew the word was getting out there, but to come here has been great. The sincere sort of reception from both my peers, colleagues in the pit lane, and the fans, like at the autograph session, every one of them was coming up saying how nice it was to see me back. The TV thing has definitely helped, and we are feeling the buzz, people have been watching the “World’s Fastest Car Show.”‘ My goal is to make it the biggest car show in America, and coming here with the support of eBay Motors and Mobile at this race, it is really our launch, and this is a nice launch party.”
Although Aguas qualified the No. 61 Ferrari, all three drivers took a few laps behind the wheel in this morning’s lone practice session. After that, the team successfully solved a misfire problem that emerged in the No. 61 Ferrari.
“Touch wood, fingers crossed, 1,000 miles or a 10 hour race is a long way to go,” Kauffman said. “The pole is great, Rui did a terrific job, we had a small issue with the car and, as always the guys with AF Corse, got it done and got us on track. I am feeling good in the car. We got some practice in this week, so that was a big help for me, I am kind of bringing up th rear with the three of us, but the key to these races is to keep it steady, stay on the black stuff, and you have a chance at a good finish.”
Aguas had little to complain about after the successful qualifying run.
“The engine had a misfire in all of the mappings that we had, and now no more misfires,” Aguas said. “The car was running very well. They changed everything, plugs and all of the electronics, just before qualifying. We are very good now.”
Source : Adam Saal