Fast Start
Krohn Racing/TRG newcomer Christian Fittipaldi posted the fastest time on track during opening-day practice for the Rolex Sports Car Series race at California Speedway, with a lap of one minute 34.249 seconds on the 2.88-mile infield road course. Fittipaldi drove the No. 66 Krohn/TRG Pontiac-powered Riley for the first time this week, sharing driving duty with Jörg Bergmeister. Their teammates Nic Jönsson and Tracy Krohn were third-fastest (1:34.619) in the No. 67 Pontiac-Riley.

"The car is good!" Fittipaldi enthused. "We were trying some different stuff this afternoon, but we're pretty happy with it and I'm confident we're in good shape for the race. A race car is never easy to drive, but I think this is less difficult than some of the cars I had before. I'm very happy that I had the chance to come over here [to Krohn/TRG]. Hopefully we can put on a good show on Sunday. I'm confident we're going to be up there at the end of the race."

Smooth Shift
Jörg Bergmeister made two transitions this season – from GT-class racing to DP (Daytona Prototype) and from Porsche to Pontiac power. He was surprised at the smooth shift.

"I expected the Pontiac driving style compared to the Porsche would be a lot different. But it's not too different, and I adjusted pretty quickly to it," he said. "The Pontiac-Riley has more horsepower and more downforce; it's more fun. Because it has more torque, you have to be a little bit more careful with the throttle on the exit, so you don't spin the tires too much."

Tech Talk
Racing provides an intense testing ground for production vehicles. Jim Lutz, GM Racing Daytona Prototype program manager, explained:

"The Pontiac Daytona Prototype engine is based on the GM LS6, part of the small-block V8 heritage of engines. The race engine uses the same basic parts that are on our Pontiac production car – the cylinder heads, intake manifold and block are all related to the Pontiac GTO street car. Part of our job at GM Racing is to transfer information and knowledge from what happens with the race motors back to the production engineering guys. Racing subjects these cars to things the normal civilian doesn't subject his car to, but it's still important to know how the parts react under these conditions."

Fontana Times
TRG driver Andy Lally posted the fourth-fastest GT time in Friday practice for the Rolex Sports Car Series race at California Speedway. Lally was quick early in the day, lapping the 2.88-mile infield road course in one minute 43.297 seconds in the No. 65 Auto Gallery/TRG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. He and his co-driver Marc Bunting lead the Rolex Sports Car Series GT championship standings after two of 14 races.

School Days
Teenagers Colin Braun and Brad Coleman, who drive the No. 64 Team16 Porsche, have learned to effectively combine school and racing. Brad Coleman attends private school in Martinsville, Va., where the teachers support his race program. "My school understands my unique situation and works with me and my scheduling," he said. "They give me my work before I leave on a race trip so I don't fall behind when I go to the races, and when I get back, they help me catch up."

Colin Braun and his brother Travis, Team16's data engineer, are home-schooled by their mother Diane. "My mom will select the curriculum and then she will assign what we are to do for the day. Then we read our books and do the work and my mom comes back and grades our work," Braun explained. "If we are really working good and doing our school quickly, it can take as little as three hours. If things are hard, it may take six hours."

Hot Prep
Marc Bunting has discovered the magic of yoga, but his chosen discipline isn't for the faint of heart. He practices Bikram yoga, also called hot yoga – for good reason.

"It's a pretty good correlation to race cars," he said. "The type I do is an hour and a half, it's 104 degrees, so you're stretching as well as focusing and concentrating for the equivalent amount of time we're driving a race car. My younger brother owns a studio in Montana and he's a big proponent of it. He guaranteed to take tenths off my lap times! If nothing else, it helps mentally. You don't have to be big and bulky to be quick in a race car, you want to be flexible and able to withstand the heat."

Track Bonus
Colin Braun will get extra track time at Fontana. In addition to his Rolex Series duties, he will compete in his first Grand-Am Cup race, driving the No. 03 BGB Motorsports Porsche 996.