Bomarito To Line Up Fifth, Nunez Sixth For Saturday’s Race
IRVINE, Ca. (April 12, 2019) – The Friday afternoon qualifying session for Saturday’s BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix saw Jonathan Bomarito and Tristan Nunez lock out the third row for Mazda Team Joest in the pair of Soul Red Crystal Mazda RT24-Ps.
Bomarito’s time of 1:11.884 around the 1.968-mile street circuit near downtown Long Beach was good for fifth place on the grid in the No. 55 Mazda RT24-P that he will share with Harry Tincknell. Nunez was just behind, setting time of 1:12.147 in the No. 77 Mazda RT24-P that he will share with Oliver Jarvis. Nunez and Jarvis finished fourth in this race in 2018.
The BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach will be shown live on NBC Sports on Saturday, April 13 at 4:30 PM ET.
Quotes
John Doonan, Director, Mazda Motorsports
“We are confident that we have two cars that can move up the field in tomorrow’s race. 100 minutes doesn’t give us a lot of time, but our Mazda RT24-Ps are good over a stint and we have four drivers who have proven they can be aggressive without taking any unnecessary risk. We are all really excited to see what happens in tomorrow’s race, in front of so many Mazda employees, customers and fans.”
No. 55 Mazda RT24-P
Jonathan Bomarito
“I think we were right on the edge of being in the mix with the first row, and I think there was a little more time in the car. But we learned a few more things from that qualifying session that we can apply to the race, and I think we have a car that will be good over a stint and can keep its tires underneath it. I’ll definitely be looking to be aggressive and make some moves at the start, but the biggest priority is to have a clean stint to give the crew guys and Harry a chance to move the car up the field before the checkered flag.”
No. 77 Mazda RT24-P
Tristan Nunez
“It’s going to be a challenging race tomorrow, no matter what. Passing is difficult here and you have to make the most of every opportunity that comes your way. Having a clean start will be really important, and so will taking advantage of lapped traffic, but more than anything I need to keep the car close to the leaders so that our crew guys and Olly can bring it home and hopefully get on the podium.”