Collins and Edwards Pilot Pontiac GTO.R to GT Class Victory in the Mexico City 250

TRG Racing put its two Pontiac GTO.Rs in first and third in the GT class at the Mexico City 250. (Photo courtesy of Grand American)

MEXICO CITY – In a dominating performance, Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards returned the No. 64 TRG/iRise Pontiac GTO.R to victory lane to capture the GT class victory in the Mexico City 250 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Collins started the machine on the Rolex Sports Car Series GT pole, and kept the car near the front of the class pack throughout his stint. Despite losing several positions at the start of the race, Collins rebounded and benefited from a Lap 46 caution period in which the subsequent pit stops shuffled the No. 64 car back to the front of the class for good.

"We played the strategy great today," said Collins. "The guys in the pits kept us out during the yellow until we got the 'wave by' which was lucky for us as I really thought we only had a second or third place car today. There was a lot of craziness in traffic and the track got really greasy early on, but it is nice to get my first in the Pontiac with TRG and iRise."

When the caution flag came out, the No. 64 machine was between the pace car and the overall race leader. By rule, each car between the pace car and the lead car is given a "wave by," in which cars positioned ahead of the race leader are allowed to pass the pace car and join the tail end of the field. As a result, the No. 64 Pontiac put a lap on its competitors, one it would give back during a later caution flag.

Collins handed the car over to Edwards during the Lap 46 caution, and Edwards – the defending GT race winner a year ago with then-teammate Jan Magnussen – stayed in front for the remainder of the 100-lap race, winning by a 12.564-second margin over the No. 80 Porsche GT3.

"I got the car in the lead and was able to run good laps and bring it home," said Edwards. "The car was falling off a little, as we were struggling to keep pace during the race. The strategy gave us track position and we were able to win."

The No. 80 machine, which was co-driven by Leh Keen and David Murry, started fourth on the class grid, and was the only GT machine to finish on the same lap as the No. 64 car. The runner-up result erases a disappointing 22nd-place class finish in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, and puts the duo in good shape in the GT championship standings heading into Round 3 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Finishing third was the No. 65 TRG/F1 Air Pontiac GTO.R, which was qualified fifth by Marc Bunting and finished by Andy Lally. The third-place run puts Bunting and Lally atop the 2006 GT driver standings, holding a nine-point advantage over Collins, Edwards, Robin Liddell, Wolf Henzler and Spencer Pumpelly.

Liddell and Henzler, sharing the No. 72 Porsche GT3 for Tafel Racing, finished fourth. Liddell started the car alongside Collins and took the lead into Turn 1 on the first lap, building a four-second lead over the No. 64 Pontiac by Lap 14. The car lost the class lead during the first caution period and never challenged for the lead again.

Tafel Racing complemented its fourth-place finish with a fifth-place result by team owner/co-driver Jim Tafel and Andrew Davis in the No. 73 Porsche GT3. Davis qualified the car third and Tafel finished slightly more than 12 seconds behind Henzler.

The Rolex Sports Car Series GT division and the Grand-Am Cup Series will be coming to Lime Rock Park this Memorial Day weekend. Tickets for the Rolex GT Series Challenge are on sale now at www.limerock.com or by calling 1-800-RACE-LRP.

For complete results from the Mexico City 250 visit www.grandamerican.com.