Negri,
Allmendinger Give Michael Shank Racing Front Row Sweep For
Saturday’s Rolex 24 At Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.
(January 24, 2008) –Michael Shank Racing used Ford
power to sweep the front row Thursday during qualifying for the 46th running of Rolex
24 At Daytona, which starts at 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday, for the Grand-Am
Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 at Daytona
International Speedway.
Posting a lap that bested the
previous Daytona Prototype track record by more than two-and-a-half
seconds, Brazilian Oswaldo Negri Jr. drove his No. 60 Michael Shank
Racing Ford Riley to a lap time of 1:40.793 (127.151 mph) around the
3.56-mile road course, capturing the pole for America’s longest
professional sports car race.
“This is a great way
to start our relationship with Ford Racing and I can’t say
how pleased I am to be on pole,” said Negri, who was using
Ford power for the first time in Daytona Prototype competition.
“This is nothing compared to the effort we have ahead of us
for the race, but it obviously feels good to set this record time and
to have my teammate AJ right next to me on the front row.
I’ve been saying that this Michael Shank Racing team is the
best, and it’s fantastic we can show that here today.
Hopefully we can do what we came here to do and win this
race.”
Negri will lead a field of 67
cars – 25 Daytona Prototypes and 42 GT machines –
to the green flag on Saturday before passing the No. 60 machine to
season-long co-driver Mark Patterson and Champ Car stars Graham Rahal
and Justin Wilson.
Second fastest was the Michael
Shank Racing sister car, the No. 6 Ford Riley qualified by NASCAR
Sprint Cup regular A.J. Allmendinger. Allmendinger is driving for
Michael Shank Racing in his third consecutive Rolex 24.
“Mike Shank has put
together a great team and I love coming to race for these guys, so it
feels good to put them on the front row,” said Allmendinger.
“Mike (Shank) is a racer to the core, and this team is full
of a lot of good guys. Everyone has fun, but they are focused on
getting the job done. The car was strong, and this is a great way to
start the weekend, but everyone knows that this is a long race and the
work really happens on Saturday once the race starts.”
Allmendinger will co-drive the
No. 6 machine with Rolex Series regulars Ian James, John Pew and Burt
Frisselle.
Belgian Marc Goossens qualified
third with a time of 1:41.041 (126.840 mph), also bettering the
previous lap record set by Alex Gurney in 2007. Goossens will co-drive
with season-long teammate Jim Matthews, IndyCar Series Rookie of the
Year Ryan Hunter-Reay and sports car star Johnny O’Connell.
Max Angelelli (1:41.161, 126.689
mph) in the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Pontiac Riley and Mark Wilkins
(1:41.413, 126.374 mph) in the No. 61 AIM Autosport Exchange Traded
Gold/Barrick Gold Ford Riley qualified fourth and fifth, respectively.
In GT qualifying, the No. 70
SpeedSource Castrol Syntec/Mazdaspeed Mazda RX-8 of Sylvain Tremblay
was fastest of four manufacturers in the class’s top five.
Tremblay’s time of 1:50.758 (115.711 mph) topped the
previous GT class record of 1:51.800, set by Patrick Huisman in last
year’s event.
While the pole isn’t a
barometer of success in a 24 hour race, it does prove the
car’s speed.
“The main thing for us
is validation of all of our hard work,” Tremblay said.
“You need to have a fast car to win here. Obviously, the
fastest car doesn’t always win after 24 hours, but it
definitely doesn’t hurt. Also, because of the depth of the
field, we really felt that starting up front and staying up front is
key for us, especially early on.”
Tremblay, who has a best class
finish of second in the 2002 Rolex 24, will search for his first GT win
with co-drivers Nick Ham, David Haskell and Champ Car Atlantic Champion
Raphael Matos.
While SpeedSource battled down
to the wire for a GT class championship last season, they’ll
start alongside of relative newcomer to the Rolex Series. Christian
Montanari piloted the Mastercar Ferrari F430 around the Daytona road
course in a time of 1:50.873 (115.592 mph) in the team’s
first appearance at the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
“Honestly, we were
really surprised, me and the team,” Montanari said.
“I think we did a very good job today. It is my second time
in Daytona at the Rolex 24. First time with Ferrari, first time in GT
and my first time with the team. I think we did a very good job today.
We’ll see for the race, because it’s very
long.”
Montanari, who drove a SAMAX
Daytona Prototype to a sixth place finish in last year’s
Rolex 24, will be joined by Thomas Biagi, Matthew Marsh and Luis Monson
in one of two Ferarris entered into the event.
Spencer Pumpelly was the fastest
Porsche in the session and third quickest overall, piloting the No. 67
TRG Monster Cable/Need For Speed Porsche
GT3 to a lap of 1:50.945 (115.517 mph). Pumpelly will pilot the TRG
machine with co-drivers Emmanuel Collard, Romain Dumas, Tim George Jr.
and Bryan Sellers.
Johnny Mowlem (1:51.348, 115.099
mph) in the No. 34 Orbit PositiveOutput.com Porsche GT3 and Diego Alesi
(1:51.450, 114.993 mph) in the Matt Connolly Motorsports CityDeals.com
Pontiac GXP.R rounded out the GT class top
five.
The top 30 times posted overall
have been locked in for Saturday’s grid. Twenty-four of the
25 Daytona Prototypes posted a qualifying time, while six GT cars
locked in times. The remaining 36 GT machines may try to improve their
times tomorrow for positions 7 through 42.
The Rolex Series returns to the
track for practice at 9
a.m.
Friday, with final qualifying at 11:40
a.m.
The final practice for the Rolex 24 At Daytona is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday, with the
twice-around-the-clock commencing at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and ending at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
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