Times have changed at the highest levels of sports car endurance racing, with reliability requiring healthy doses of flat-out speed, no matter an event’s duration. That reality has transformed North America’s premier sports car race, the Rolex 24 At Daytona, into a veritable sprint, which means pole qualifying has never been more important.
With that modern reality a top-line concern, IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship teams rolled out their top guns for Thursday’s qualifying session, to set the field for the 53rd running of the Rolex 24, which rolls off on Saturday at 2:10 p.m. ET (TV – FOX Sports). When the 90-minute session involving four classes was complete, former Rolex 24 champion Ozz Negri had the No. 60 Honda HPD/Ligier JS P2 on the pole via a 129.201 mph lap (1 minute, 39.194 seconds) on the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course. Significant but hardly shocking; the No. 60 – which will be co-driven by Negri, NASCAR star AJ Allmendinger John Pew and Matt McMurry – was the fastest car in both of Thursday’s practices, leading both the headlining Prototype class and overall.
Buoyed by a strong performance in pre-season testing, Ozz Negri laid down a fast lap early in Thursday’s qualifying for the 53rd Rolex 24 At Daytona. He then kept improving as repeated challengers fell short, allowing him to claim his second career TOTAL Pole Award for Saturday’s season-opening race on the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship schedule.
Negri, driving a brand-new No. 60 Tire Kingdom Service Centers Honda HPD Ligier fielded by Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian, led the Prototype field with a lap of 1:39.194 (129.201 mph). Negri also paced qualifying in 2008, and then won the 50th Rolex 24 for Michael Shank Racing in 2012. He will be joined by returning co-drivers John Pew and AJ Allmendinger, along with team newcomer Matt McMurry.
“The combination with the Ligier chassis and the Honda engine has been incredible,” Negri said. “I knew it was going to be close. We knew we had a shot at the pole after the Roar Before the Rolex 24 test two weeks ago, so we worked real hard. We improved in the areas where we needed to, and it showed. We got faster and faster through practice and then in qualifying. The pole position is for bragging rights for the Rolex 24, but the real deal is the top step on Sunday.”
Post-qualifying, Negri tried to downplay the importance of winning the pole – “the race is the real deal” – but only after emphasizing how much effort his Michael Shank Racing team had put into qualifying.
“We worked pretty hard [for this],” Negri said and we thought we had a good [qualifying] package. I used up everything the car had [today].”
Starting alongside Negri on the front row Saturday will be another former Rolex 24 winner who’s also a former Indianapolis 500 champion, Scott Dixon, co-driver of the No. 02 Ford EcoBoost/Riley with Tony Kanaan, Kyle Larson and former DAYTONA 500 champion Jamie McMurray. Dixon qualified at 129.061/1:39.302.
The top nine qualifiers were separated by 1.136 seconds, with the second position changing hands several times late in the 15-minute session while Negri provided an elusive target.
Looking to make history as the first six-time overall winner of the Rolex 24, Scott Pruett qualified third by turning a lap of 1:39.309 (129.052 mph) in Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 01 Ford EcoBoost/Riley he shares with Joey Hand, Charlie Kimball and Sage Karam.
Defending Rolex 24 winner Joao Barbosa will start fourth in Action Express Racing‘s No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP, running 1:39.568 (128.716 mph) in the car co-driven by Christian Fittipaldi and Sebastien Bourdais. Fifth was the revolutionary No. 0 Claro/TracFone DeltaWing DWC13, qualified by Andy Meyrick with a lap of 1:39.625 (128.642 mph).
The three other respective class pole winners:
Prototype Challenge: Johnny Mowlem, No. 16 Chevrolet/ORECA FLM09 (125.257/1:42.318).
GT Le Mans: In a class record run, Oliver Gavin, No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R (123.840/1:43.488).
GT Daytona: James Davison, No. 007 Aston Martin V12 Vantage (119.472/1:47.272).
Also Thursday, Scott Maxwell put the No. 15 Ford Mustang Boss 302 R on the pole for Friday’s BMW Performance 200, the season-opening race for the production-based IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge. Maxwell, who will co-drive with Billy Johnson in the two-hour, 45-minute event (starting at 1:45 p.m. ET), had a fast lap of 109.990 mph (1 minutes, 56.520 seconds) to lead the Grand Sport class and the field overall. The other front-row spot was claimed by Hugh Plumb (109.746/1:56.779), co-driver of the No. 13 Porsche 911 with his brother Matt.
In the Street Tuner class, the pole went to the No. 56 Porsche Cayman (102.157/2:05.454) of Jeff Mosing, Eric Foss and Justin Piscitell, with Piscitell at the wheel.
Tickets for the Rolex 24 At Daytona weekend are available for purchase on-line at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP1-800-PITSHOP.
Fans can follow sports cars at www.imsa.com and go on Twitter at TUDOR United SportsCar Championship (@UnitedSportsCar). Fans can also stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter,Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest for the latest news all season long. Fans can follow the latest on DAYTONA Rising, the $400 million frontstretch renovation at the “World Center of Racing” by using #DAYTONARising on Twitter or visiting www.daytonarising.com.
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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