Corvette Racing shatters GTS qualifying record at
Mosport
Oliver Gavin bests qualifying record by nearly two
seconds in his first drive at circuit

Bowmanville, Ontario -- Corvette Racing's C5-R powered
Oliver Gavin to the fastest speed in qualifying for
the GTS class on Saturday at Mosport International
Raceway. Gavin and teammate Kelly Collins will start
Sunday's Toronto Grand Prix of Mosport from the first
row of the GTS class, ninth overall, after qualifying
the #4 Compuware Corvette C5-R at 1:14:417, or 118:957
mph. His time eclipsed the qualifying lap record of
1:15:986, set in 2002 by Terry Borcheller, by over 1.5
seconds despite new rule changes that restrict engine
power. Ron Fellows qualified his #3 Compuware Corvette
C5-R at 1:15:115, or 1:17:851 mph, which also bests
the previous qualifying record in the GTS class.
Fellows and teammate Johnny O'Connell will start
Sunday's race from the fourth position in class, or
13th overall on the 33-car grid.

"I'm very proud of the team today and Oliver Gavin
showed that he's truly a professional with that lap
time," said Harry Turner, GM's Group Manager for Road
Racing. "This is Ron Fellows's home track, so I do not
believe we'll be at a loss for excitement once the
race begins. We're proud of today's times and we've
tested here to ensure we have the right setup for this
weekend. We also owe a lot to the work the Goodyear
people have done to improve our tire package. The
tires are quite good and we can run nearly a full
driver stint with virtually no loss in performance.
Even with the disadvantage we have with our
restrictors, our engines and new chassis are turning
out to be so good that we're running about two seconds
faster than we did here just one year ago. I'm looking
forward to quite a battle this weekend."

Qualifying briefly stopped after Domenico
Schiattarella spun his #0 Oliver Garden Ferrari 550M
and went off the course at Turn 4. After the green
flag dropped again to begin the remaining 12 minutes
of qualifying, Corvette factory driver Gavin claimed
his 1:14:417 time. Ron Fellows, driving the #3
Corvette C5-R, was held up in traffic but still
managed to record a lap better than any of his
previous qualifying times; his time also eclipsed the
previous qualifying lap record at the circuit.

"It's my first time racing here at Mosport and I must
say I've never been so comfortable at a race track,"
said Oliver Gavin, driver of the #4 Corvette C5-R. "I
really got into my qualifying lap and luckily didn't
have issues with traffic as Ron Fellows did. I do
believe that, if we had run that session with new
Goodyears as opposed to the slightly worn-in tires we
used, we would have seen times in the high 1:13-second
range. I'm thankful to the boys for giving me a great
setup and Kelly and I are looking forward to
tomorrow's race."

Gavin's fast time marks his third GTS pole position of
the season; all three pole positions have broken
previous lap records. He is currently tied for first
place in the GTS drivers' championship along with
fellow Corvette drivers Kelly Collins, Ron Fellows and
Johnny O'Connell.

The Corvette Racing team will take to the track Sunday
morning for a practice session before staring the
2-hour, 45-minute Toronto Grand Prix of Mosport at
1:30 p.m.



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