Dinan Powers Finlay Motorsports DP to Victory

Dinan Powers Finlay Motorsports BMW Riley to Victory in the Final Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series Race of the Season.

MEXICO CITY (November 5, 2005) – In the first 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 Dinan-BMW Riley to victory in La Gran Final de la Serie Rolex Sports Car at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.

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. Gidley, driving the No. 19 Dinan-BMW Riley that McDowell qualified on the pole, took the lead for the second time on lap 74 and held off a closing-laps charge by Angelelli to score the maiden-win for the first-year Finlay Motorsports team and the first Daytona Prototype win for BMW.

The Gidley/McDowell duo averaged 92.859 mph and crossed the finish line 1.484 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. During the 90-lap race, McDowell led 7 laps, while Gidley led 21, including the all-important final lap.

The Dinan-powered Finlay Motorsports team has scored one pole, one victory, one 2nd, five top-5 and four top-10 finishes during 2005, and winds up the season championship battle in 6th place.

“ The Finlay team has done a great job all year”, said Gidley. “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.”

“The start was really busy with cars close on either side of me going into the first turn, and it was either crash us all or let one of them go by, which is what I did,” said McDowell. “We knew we had a car capable of winning the race, and we were able to move back into first place within a few laps. We knew that with mostly DP and only a couple of GT cars in the race there was a good chance of a race with no yellow flags and planned our strategy accordingly. The Finlay Motorsports team did a great job all season long and we really want to attribute this win to the whole crew. This is a brand new team that started from scratch last December and to get a win in our first season is a real achievement. I just can’t thank the whole team, and our technical partners, including our engine builder Steve Dinan, enough.”

"We'd like to thank Riley Technologies and especially our BMW engine wizard Steve Dinan for a superb effort in helping us put together a competitive program in our first year of Rolex Series racing." Said Finlay Motorsports team manager Steve Cameron.

The 2006 Grand American Series will begin with Rolex Series testing at Miami-Homestead Speedway December 5 – 6, followed by Daytona Test Days at Daytona International Speedway January 4 – 7. The first race of the season will be the Rolex 24 at Daytona, January 26 – 29, followed by a return to Mexico City with the NASCAR Busch series March 2 – 4. A major new addition to the schedule will see the Rolex Series prototypes sharing the streets of Long Beach at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach April 7 – 8. The 2006 Grand American series will conclude with a 9-hour endurance contest at Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City, Utah, August 31 – September 2.
The 14-race Rolex Series schedule will be broadcast on the SPEED Channel, with most events shown live.
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For more information about Dinan Racing, contact Steve Dinan at 408-779-8584. For information about the Grand American Rolex series, visit www.grandamerican.com.