SALT LAKE CITY - Looking to reverse its fortunes after a trying start to the 2007 American LeMans Series campaign, the Rahal Letterman Racing squad made a strong statement in afternoon qualifying for this weekend’s Utah Grand Prix, setting a new season high by scoring the fourth spot among the series’ GT2 entries.

Tom Milner Jr. steered the #18 BellMicro Porsche 911 GT3 RSR to a best lap of 2:45.382 (97.65 mph) around the 4.5-mile, 24-turn Miller Motorsports Park layout, taking the fourth spot in class and lining up as the second-best Porsche entry in the GT2 class field.

The result was especially satisfying for the team as it came after a pair of practice sessions in which the car was searching in vain for speed, standing 10th in class after Thursday’s nighttime test session as well as today’s practice outings.

“We were off the pace yesterday but we’ve really made the car a lot better during the day,” Milner reported. “Guys worked hard to get the balance of the car better and it is the best it has been all weekend.”

The team will look to take advantage of the strong qualifying result in tomorrow’s ALMS race, which will run for two hours, forty-five minutes at the new Utah circuit. The BellMicro squad will be fighting to overcome the bad racing luck that has doomed it in recent races and feel that a podium finish is in its sights.

“We’ve been on pace to be on the podium in a couple of our early-season races and just haven’t been able to close the deal,” Milner mused. “With the car the way it is now, I think as long as we have a drama-free race, we should be challenging for the podium, and if any of the cars ahead of us have a misstep, we should have a shot at a win.”

Tomorrow’s event gets underway at 5:05 p.m. Mountain Time and can be followed live via the timing and scoring feature on the ALMS website, www.americanlemans.com. The Utah Grand Prix will also be televised on a tape-delayed basis Sunday afternoon on CBS, beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.