News
16 AUGUST 2008
STRONG TROIS RIVIERES WEEKEND ENDS EARLY FOR CANNEY AND PLUMB
(16 August, 2008)—A promising street-course debut
for Mike Canney ended early when motor problems forced
the No. 60 Sunset Hills Vineyard Ford Mustang FR500C
prepared by Rehagan Racing to retire from the Grand
Prix de Trois Rivieres after running in top ten late
in the race.
Canney and co-driver Hugh Plumb had been enjoying a
strong run with the Ford Mustang and were hoping to
bolster their position in the Grand-Am KONI Challenge
GS Class points standings, but the retirement saw the
duo slotted into 18th at the end of the event.
The outcome was disappointing for the two, who had
scored a podium together the last time that KONI Challenge
competed in Canada and were hoping for a similar result
this weekend.
Despite the fact that Canney had never run on a concrete-lined
temporary street circuit, things got off to a promising
start as he pushed himself and the Ford Mustang FR500C
to the limit, taking two seconds off of his lap times
between practice and in qualifying, and then matching
that pace again once the race got started.
“I’ve never made that much improvement
between practice and qualifying, so I was very pleased
with the preparation we did for the qualifying, watching
in-car video and receiving advice from Hugh,” said
Canney, who started the race from the eighth row. “I
was also pleased that I was able to consistently match
my qualifying times in the race and still save the
brakes for Hugh. The team did a great job preparing
the car for this track.”
Plumb took the controls midway through the race and
was making progress through the field on the hunt for
a return to the Trois Rivieres podium when a cooling
hose burst, depleted the car of essential fluids, sending
Plumb to the pits.
“The temperature just spiked so I brought it
right in and even though the guys worked quickly to
get some water back in, we knew it had gotten hot and
thought it was better to not risk doing any more damage,
so we just parked it at that point,” said Plumb. “It’s
a big hit to the points, but Mike made a big step forward
during the weekend and he keeps raising the bar for
himself so we are looking forward to being strong in
New Jersey.”
Even after reviewing the disappointing box score tally,
Canney couldn’t hide his enthusiasm for his first
experiences racing at Trois Rivieres.
“I think it is easily one of the top-five venues
I’ve ever been to,” said Canney. “The
crowds enthusiasm was fantastic, and it was great to
race where everyone was so interested in what we were
doing. Initially, I didn’t think I’d care
for running with all that concrete around, but I ended
up grinning ear to ear while driving the car. It was
a blast! Even though race outcome was not at all what
we wanted, it was still one of the best weekends we’ve
had. It’s unfortunate for our championship points,
but this is our first year together as a team, and
we consistently get faster ever time we time we put
a wheel on the track, so we’ll take that and
move on to our next race in New Jersey.”
The KONI Challenge will race in two weeks time as the
series plays part of the inaugural pro event at the
New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ.
Additional information available: www.mcanney.com
ABOUT SUNSET HILLS VINEYARD:
Sunset Hills Vineyard produces high-quality Bordeaux
style wines, from our 45 acre historic farm in Northern
Virginia. Located at the foothills of the Blue
Ridge Mountains, our soil and climate conditions are
well suited for producing quality wine. We will produce
about 36,000 bottles of wine this year including; Chardonnay,
Viognier, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit
Verdot. Our wines are available at the winery, and
at festivals held in the Middle Atlantic states. For
additional information, please visit: http://www.sunsethillsvineyard.com.
Contact: Matt Cleary, Sunday Group Management
media@sundaymanagement.com
(317) 908-2975 Mobile