TOOELE, Utah, May 17, 2008 - Qualifying for the American Le Mans Series GT2 class is always dramatic. However, today's qualifying session for the Utah Grand Prix here at the Miller Motorsports Park (MMP) was even more theatrical than usual for Tafel Racing. At the end of the day, the Cumming, Ga. based team placed both its Ferrari F430 GTCs in the top-ten for the fourth round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series season. However, it was the method to get there that proved most impressive. The No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC of Dominik Farnbacher (Ansbach, Germany) and Dirk Müller (a native of Germany living in Monaco) will start fifth on the GT2 class grid after sustaining damage in the practice session directly proceeding the 20-minute time trial. The No. 73 Ferrari F430 GTC with drivers Alex Figge (Denver, Col.) and Jim Tafel (Alpharetta, Ga.) will pull away tenth in the car's return to American Le Mans Series competition.

The No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari, which has won the last two GT2 class races, had been showing the way during the early practice sessions at the 3.048-miles, the 15-turn course. However, they would set only the eighth quickest time in the second official practice session on Saturday afternoon after sustaining damage on the third lap of that session. Müller was behind the wheel of the Ferrari entering Turn Three when a competitor in the GT1 class made a last minute move to his inside and then spun in front of the 2000 American Le Mans Series GT2 class champion. Müller came to an almost complete stop to avoid ramming the other car. However, as the GT1 car spun it made contact with the nose of the Tafel Ferrari. Once back in the garage, the Tafel Racing crew determined that the car had sustained damage to its driver-side radiator, the front splitter and the front bumper. With less than 50 minutes left before qualifying was scheduled to begin, the Tony Dowe (Cumming, Ga.) directed team swarmed on the Bell Micro machine. Team leaders Peter Kaczmar and Paul Caves performed brilliantly and Farnbacher pulled the Bell Micro Ferrari onto the course only four minutes into the qualifying session. Farnbacher, who is in only his second year of Series competition, rewarded his team with an impressive run on new Michelin tires to set his fastest lap of the week at one minute, 47.956 seconds. Farnbacher will start the car the race which starts at 1:05 PM (MT) tomorrow.

 The Utah Grand Prix marks the return of the No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GTC to the American Le Mans Series after two races on the sidelines. The event is also the return of open wheel regular and former Series starter Alex Figge (Denver, Col.). Figge, who had one test day behind the wheel of the Italian machine prior to Thursday's first test session here at MMP, qualified the car. Still coming to terms with the mid-engine automobile, Figge turned his fastest laps of the weekend in qualifying. His best time of 1:49.928 earned tenth position on the grid. Figge will take the green flag in the No. 73. He will turn the wheel over to Tafel who finished fourth in his only start of 2008 at the 12 Hours of Sebring season-opener.
The Utah Grand Prix can be seen live on SPEED Channel starting at 3 pm (ET), Sunday, May 18. Live timing and scoring of each on-track session and the American Le Mans Series Radio Web broadcast can be found at www.AmericanLeMans.com.

TOOELE, Utah - After two GT2 class victories in the three American Le Mans Series races held thus far in 2008, Tafel Racing is enjoying a surge of momentum entering the Utah Grand Prix at Miller Motorsports Park (MMP). The May 18, two hour and 45-minute feature comes after two straight wins in the Series for the No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC driven by Dominik Farnbacher (Ansbach, Germany) and Dirk Müller (a native of Germany living in Monaco) and precedes a seven week break on the schedule. A successful run at MMP can help carry early season momentum into the heart of the schedule for the Jim Tafel (Alpharetta, Ga.) owned effort. The Tooele, Utah-area track also marks the fulltime return of the No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GTC to the Series. Open wheel and sports car standout Alex Figge (Denver, Col.) joins owner/driver Jim Tafel behind the wheel of the No. 73 for the remainder of the season.

The Bell Microproducts-backed No. 71 opened the season with a seventh at the 12 Hours of Sebring but rebounded to take victories on the street courses at St. Petersburg, Fla. (April 5) and Long Beach, Calif. (April 19). Müller, the 2000 American Le Mans Series GT2 champion, and Farnbacher currently lead the driver championship chase by six points while heading the privateer championship, the IMSA Cup, by five markers. The program trails in the team championship by two points to the three-car Flying Lizard organization. A "hat trick" would place the second-year American Le Mans Series team securely in the lead of each category with seven races remaining on the schedule. Round Five will come at Lime Rock Park, Conn. on July 12. 

A new configuration to the Miller Motorsports Park awaits the Cumming, Ga.-based program. Unlike the proceeding two years of the event, the 2008 race will use the "outer loop" of the pristine facility. At 3.048- miles, the 15-turn design will be shorter than in 2006 and 2007. Regardless of the configuration, MMP's long, sweeping turns and wide-open runoff is a stark comparison to the tight, cement wall-lined street courses that the team and drivers faced on the way to the two victories. Tafel Racing Technical Director Tony Dowe (Cumming, Ga.) and the crew of both the No. 71 and the No. 73 will face a very different setup on the smooth Utah track versus the bumpy temporary courses. High speed aerodynamics will also be more significant as longer straightaways and faster turns allow for more time the Ferrari V8 is at full throttle.