Kumho’s prototype teams qualified 11th and 12th overall for the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg. Intersport Racing driver Clint Field put the team’s Judd-powered Creation fourth in LMP1 and 11th overall with a time of 1:08.844. B-K Motorsports driver Jamie Bach put the team’s Mazda-powered Lola eighth in LMP2 and 12th overall, turning a best lap of 1:08.991.

B-K Motorsports continued learning the ropes with its new car and Mazda engine, which—like the Intersport Creation—is appearing in just its second race. In the afternoon practice session, Jamie Bach completed only 9 laps due to a software glitch with the car. Even so, in qualifying he shaved nearly two seconds off his best practice lap, a good effort considering his limited time on a new track with a new car.

“Right toward the end we found some more speed,” said Bach after qualifying. “I think the car had a couple more seconds in it but we had a few little issues during practice and couldn’t make as many laps as we’d hoped to. The tires worked real nice. We had a little bit of a push this morning, but the track was green and it was a little cool, and there was a lot of dust and dirt on course.

“The first few laps on the track were a little uncomfortable because it was hard to judge my turn-in points because of the posters and such on the walls. I couldn’t see my way around the corners, and it was a little deceiving at first.”

Notes: No Place Like Home
Even though Intersport took delivery of its new Creation just a few weeks before Sebring, the team was able to work on the car at its shop in Ohio before Sebring. B-K’s new car has not yet been to the team’s home in Wisconsin. It arrived in Florida from the U.K. just days before Sebring and “vacationed” here during the two weeks in between the Sebring and St. Petersburg races.

“The car hasn’t been home to Wisconsin yet and won’t make its first stop to the team shop until after Houston,” said John Doonan, manager of motorsports team development for Mazda North America. “To be on the road doing all this development work on a new car and engine isn’t easy, but we’re using partners’ shops so we have a place to call home for a few days as we travel.”