HAND GRABS GT POLE FOR SATURDAY'S EMCO GEARS CLASSIC

June 23, 2006 - American hotshoe Joey Hand posted a best qualifying time of 1:28.071 (92.298 mph) in the No. 21 Matt Connolly Motorsports BMW M3 to secure the GT class pole position for Saturday's EMCO Gears Classic.

Hand came to Mid-Ohio to replace Boris Said in the No. 97 Under Armour BMW M3 for Turner Motorsport in Sunday's Grand-Am Cup Series race, but was approached by co-driver Chris Gleason about the opportunity to compete in Saturday's Rolex Series event. The factory BMW driver quickly showed his speed by securing his first career Rolex Series pole.

"This car was so fast right out of the box," said Hand, who is making only his second Rolex Series start of the season. "I just want to thank Chris for putting this deal together and Matt Connolly for preparing great race cars. We made a few changes after yesterday's test session, and it just shows how good this team really is. The goal tomorrow is to keep it in front for as long as I can, and hand the car off to Chris with a chance at a real good finish."

Hand's only other start of the season came three weeks ago in the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen, where he finished 18th in the GT class with co-drivers Matthew Alhadeff and Bill Auberlen in the No. 05 Sigalsport BMW M3.

Wolf Henzler was second-fastest in the No. 72 NEC Porsche GT3 for Tafel Racing, a lap time of 1:28.520 (91.830 mph). Henzler and co-driver Robin Liddell came into the weekend in a tie for third in the current GT driver standings, 10 points in arrears of No. 65 TRG/F1 Air Pontiac GTO.R co-drivers Andy Lally and Marc Bunting (342-332).

"I think qualifying is not the most important thing," said Henzler. "At one of the last races, we qualified first and finished third behind the Pontiacs. The race is really long and anything can happen. I pushed very hard in qualifying and about lost the car. I was really going as fast as I could in the car. The (earlier) rain made it more difficult, because it comes and washes away the rubber. It was very slippery and hard to find a good setup, because the track changes every lap. It seems like we found a good setup."

Henzler's Tafel Racing teammate, Andrew Davis, qualified third in the No. 73 NEC Porsche GT3 with a lap time of 1:28.661 (91.684 mph). Davis and co-driver Jim Tafel are currently tied for ninth in the point standings. Leighton Reese was fourth-fastest in the No. 06 Banner Engineering Corvette after a lap at 1:29.121 (91.211 mph), while Bunting rounded out the top five in the No. 65 machine with a lap at 1:29.145 (91.186 mph).