Diaz Has the Pole by a Split Second

The checkered flag was already waving Saturday with Fabrizio Gollin of Italy the apparent pole-sitter in a Lexus Doran for today’s Ferrari-Maserati Grand American sports car race at California Speedway in Fontana, but still out on the 2.8-mile, 21-turn circuit was Luis Diaz, speeding his Lexus Riley through traffic.

When Diaz crossed the finish line, his speed for one lap of 108.745 mph was 0.030 of a second quicker than Gollin, whose speed was 108.710.

It is the second consecutive year for the CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing No. 01 car to win the pole and the second year that veteran Scott Pruett has been co-driver with the pole winner. Last year, it was Max Papis on the pole and he and Pruett went on to win the race.

Diaz, who finished sixth here last year on an all-Mexican team with Jimmy Morales, became Pruett’s teammate when Papis had another racing commitment at St. Petersburg, Fla.

The 15-minute qualifying was stopped briefly after three cars spun and clogged the track after hitting an oil spill.

“It was a complicated qualifying,” said Diaz, 27, a veteran of CART, Toyota Atlantics and Indy Lights, as well as Grand American races. “I couldn’t get a good lap the first two laps and that red flag made our life a lot worse. But then I started focusing myself, [on] the small details, the car was very good.

“I’m just going to try to bring the car complete to the first stop. I think the first corner is going to be very tight, so I hope just to bring the car in one piece to Scott. Then I think the car is going to be good for the rest of the race.”

The pole is the 13th overall in 15 starts for Ganassi Racing, which won 11 last year and the Daytona 24 Hour this year.

Gollin, who came so close to the pole, seemed nearly as pleased as if he had won.

“Please excuse my English, I am still learning,” said the 30-year-old FIA GT champion who is making his third Grand Am start for Doran Racing with Matteo Bobbi, another Grand Am newcomer. “On the first lap we were first. Then Kevin [Doran] said over the radio that we were fourth, so I had to try harder. Then we were first again, and at the very end we were second.

“I know I could have pushed harder, but we must start the race with our qualifying tires and I didn’t want to use them up. It is part of our race strategy.”

Less than one second separated the first eight Daytona Prototypes for today’s 400-kilometer race, No. 3 of 14 in the Grand American Rolex series.

Pontiac Rileys driven by Jorg Bergmeister of Krohn Racing and Mike Borkowski of Michael Shank Racing were third and fourth. Bergmeister is paired with Christian Fittipaldi and Borkowski with Paul Mears Jr.

South African Wayne Taylor, who has won both Rolex races with Max Angelelli, qualified the SunTrust Racing’s Pontiac Riley in 11th position at 107.048 mph. Their main rivals, Elliott Forbes-Robinson and Butch Leitzinger, are 13th after Forbes-Robinson’s 106.669-mph lap.

Between them is the No. 25 Ford Crawford of Chad McQueen and Dominic Cicero, one of the cars caught in the oil slick. Cicero, who was driving, was not injured, nor were Tracy Krohn and Milka Duno, the other two involved.

Defending GT series champion Bill Auberlen of Santa Monica earned his first GT pole this season driving the No. 21 BMW M3 to a 100.621-mph lap. Tom Milner, last year’s Fontana GT winner, was second at 99.932 mph in a BMW M3.

“Twice last year, I had a pole but didn’t get it because I allowed a competitor to draft me,” Auberlen said. “Today, I picked someone to follow and he pulled me all the way down the front straight.”

The Mustang team of James Gue and Gunnar Jeannette held off Mike McCalmont and Darren Law in a Porsche 996 and Boris Said and Anders Hainer in a BMW M3 to win the 200-mile Grand-Am Cup for showroom stock sports cars, coupes and sedans.