By: Series Staff

Miller Tops MX-5 Cup Practice at Autobahn

JOLIET, Ill. - Marc Miller, of Holland, Mich., had the rest of the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup field covered in practice at Autobahn Country Club. Todd Lamb, of Atlanta, Ga., and Brian Domont, of Bourbonnais, Ill., were second and third fastest, respectively, ahead of Sunday's Round Six race, part of the Harrah"s Autobahn Grand Prix Presented by Mazda weekend.

Marc Miller couldn't be caught in MX-5 Cup practice (Weber image).

  

Miller topped the first practice session in his No. 28 Team MER/MOCA/RaceNowforAutism/MMP MX-5 after the team made a small, but critical change to the car.

"We made a change,” Miller said. “We’ve been struggling with the same thing that most people have. We’ve been taking little stabs to rectify it, and we made a subtle change that made a big difference. It was immediately a night-and-day difference off the corner and felt really good. I’m feeling pretty confident with the car right now.”

The change continued to pay dividends in the second session, as Miller set the fastest time of the day around the 18-turn, 3.56-mile course, a 2:45.092 (77.629 mph).

Miller was a full second faster in practice than his Championship rival Lamb. It’s a good start to the weekend for Miller and Team MER if they’re hoping to prevent Lamb for scoring his fifth-consecutive MX-5 Cup win.

“It’s not about stopping Todd, it’s about motivating ourselves to do a bit better,” Miller added. “It’s a wake up call to not be winning races. Even though it’s practice, we’re not sandbagging, we treat it like it’s a race weekend and we need to learn as much as we can about the car. I think we’re learning quite a bit, but tomorrow is when the real work begins.”

Lamb followed Miller on the time sheets with a 2:46.092 (77.162 mph) in the No. 84 AMG/Traqmate/Luna-C Racing MX-5.

Newcomer Domont made an impressive debut in his No. 14 AMG MX-5. The Illinois driver finished third in practice, with a 2:46.778 (76.844 mph).

Justin Piscitell, of Patterson, N.Y., who is currently second in the Drivers’ Championship, was fourth quickest in the evening practice session. Piscitell turned a 2:46.804 (76.832 mph) in the No. 89 ALARA Racing/DAMG Racing/MAZDASPEED MX-5.

Jeff Mosing, of Austin, Texas completed the top five. Piloting the No. 31 Team MER/RaceNowforAutism/Franks’ Int., Mosing entered a 2:46.880 (76.797 mph).

Qualifying for Round Six of the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup is scheduled for Saturday, July 25, at 3:15 p.m. (CDT), while Sunday’s race is set for 12:05 p.m. and will be broadcast live on HDNet. Live timing and scoring is available all weekend at www.mx-5cup.com. Twitter updates are also available at www.twitter.com/MazdaMX5Cup.