MEXICO CITY (November 5, 2005) -- In the inaugural trip south of the border for the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series, a large and enthusiastic crowd saw Michael McDowell and Memo Gidley co-drive the No. 19 Finlay Motorsports BMW Riley to victory in La Gran Final de la Serie Rolex Sports Car at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. The first-time Rolex Series winners crossed the finish line ahead of Max Angelelli, who joined teammate Wayne Taylor in clinching the 2005 Daytona Prototype team and driver championships in the No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Riley.
Fans were treated to close competition and great racing at Mexico City's famed 2.786-mile, 17-turn circuit, and with five lead changes and no caution periods, it took a late-race pit stop for fuel by hometown favorite Luis Diaz in the No. 01 Telmex CompUSA Lexus Riley to determine the outcome of the 90-lap sprint. Gidley, driving the No. 19 BMW that McDowell qualified on the pole, took advantage of the No. 01 machine's stop to take the lead and later held off Angelelli to score the maiden-win for the first-year Finlay Motorsports team and the first Daytona Prototype win for BMW. The winners averaged 92.859 mph and crossed the finish line 1.484 seconds ahead of the No. 10 Pontiac. Diaz and co-driver Scott Pruett, who both led the race, finished third.
"It's awesome to be in Mexico, I just love the people down here," Gidley said. "I lived in La Paz, Mexico for 13 years, my sisters went to school down here, and I consider all the Mexican people my second family. It's great to get our first win down here. The Finlay team has done a great job all year. We really earned this one, we were fast in qualifying, we were fast in the warm up, and we won it in the race. It's a tribute to Finlay Motorsports."
McDowell--also competing in tomorrow's Champ Car World Series finale while in Mexico City--logged his first career Rolex Series pole just one day before, and led seven laps during his opening stint.
"The start was really busy, (Jorg) Bergmeister went under both Scott and I before the start finish line, and made it very difficult down there, but it was great all weekend," McDowell said. "Finlay Motorsports did a great job, and we really want to attribute this win to the whole crew. They did an unbelievable job all season, and this is a brand new team that started from scratch in December. To get a win in our first season is unbelievable, I just can't thank the whole team enough."
While the SunTrust team steadily moved to the front after starting sixth, the No. 19 and No. 01 race cars battled for the lead for most of the race. After both McDowell and Pruett led during their opening stints, Gidley took the lead from Diaz on Lap 55, passing the Mexican at the entrance into the "stadium" portion of the course. Diaz returned the favor four laps later, pulling an inside move in Turn 4, but without enough fuel to finish the race, was forced to pit with just 16 laps to go.
Cort Wagner and Stefan Johansson powered the No. 02 Telmex New Century Mortgage Lexus Riley to a fourth-place finish, putting both Chip Ganassi Racing Daytona Prototypes in the top four. It was the fifth top-five finish of the season for the duo. Elliott Forbes-Robinson and Butch Leitzinger brought home the No. 4 Howard-Boss Motorsports fifth, cementing a successful 2005 campaign that saw two wins, eight top-five finishes, and third place in the Daytona Prototype team and driver standings.
