The TUDOR United SportsCar Championship paddock roared to life for the first time in 2015 with the annual Roar Before the Rolex 24 test at Daytona International Speedway Jan. 9-11. The three-day test is the lone official IMSA test of the offseason and the final dress rehearsal for teams competing in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 24-25.
The traditional test session has an entry list of 53 cars, made up of: 16 Prototype, including the 2014 Action Express Racing winning line-up of Christian Fittipaldi from Brazil, Frenchman Sébastien Bourdais and Portuguese native João Barbosa; 8 Prototype Challenge; 10 GT Le Mans and 19 GT Daytona.
Opening practice for the Roar Before the Rolex 24 began Friday at 10:20 a.m. ET.
Taking steps toward a record sixth overall victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates ran 1-2 in Friday’s opening day of the Roar Before The Rolex 24.
Joey Hand recorded the fastest lap of the day, running one minute, 39.397 seconds in the No. 01 Ford EcoBoost/Riley co-driven by Scott Pruett, Charlie Kimball and Sage Karam. Scott Dixon was second fastest, turning a lap of 1:39.406 in the No. 02 Target Ford EcoBoost/Riley shared by fellow Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regulars Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson.
“It’s exciting for me to be involved with Ford, period, no matter what we do,” Pruett added. “Putting them back in victory lane at Sebring overall was magical. If we could get to victory lane here with Ford, it would, again, recreate that magic that’s there.”
Defending Rolex 24 champion Action Express Racing returns its winning lineup of Christian Fittipaldi, Joao Barbosa and Sebastien Bourdais. Bourdais was fifth quickest on Friday, running 1:39.578 in the No. 5 Corvette DP.
A pair of Prototypes made their official Daytona International Speedway debuts Friday with Tequila Patrón ESM shaking down its No. 2 HPD ARX-04b/Honda and Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian and Krohn Racing turning laps with their new Ligier JS P2s. Of the new entries, Michael Shank Racing was third on the day with Ozz Negri’s lap of 1:39.517 in the No. 60 Honda-powered Ligier JS P2. Tequila Patrón ESM just took delivery of its No. 1 HPD ARX-04b/Honda Friday and the team hopes to have that car on track by the end of the weekend.
“The Honda coupe ran flawlessly all day,” added Scott Sharp, Owner/Driver – No. 1 Tequila Patrón ESM HPD ARX-04b/Honda. It is difficult for us at the moment because we’re trying to finish the second car in the garage. Today we ran six drivers in the one car. Our focus was cycling through the drivers, getting laps and being comfortable in the car. The Roar Before the 24 is deceiving because you always think you have a lot of time here and that’s not the case. Before we know it, we’re qualifying and racing the Rolex 24. It is important that every Tequila Patrón ESM driver gets laps during this three-day test. We’ve worked through a few things. I think everyone is pleased so far and we’ll make changes overnight.”
Pedro Lamy, Marc Goossens and Renger van der Zande led the respective GT Le Mans (GTLM), GT Daytona (GTD) and Prototype Challenge (PC) classes.
Starworks Motorsport came roaring out of the gate on Day 1 in the Prototype Challenge (PC) class. Renger van der Zande’s lap of 1:42.360 in the No. 8 ORECA FLM09 was 0.339 seconds quicker than runner-up Bruno Junqueira in the No. 11 AutoMaxUSA ORECA FLM09.
“We’re still sorting out some problems with the car, so there’s more to come,” stated van der Zande. “Last year, we had 27 fastest laps (in the Rolex 24), so our speed here is very good – which we showed again today.”
While Porsche North America led the way in GT Le Mans (GTLM) in the afternoon session, it was Lamy’s lap of 1:44.414 in the No. 98 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage that was fastest on the day. Porsche North America also is off to a strong start in its quest to win a second straight Rolex 24, with Nick Tandy second on the day with a lap of 1:44.486 in the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR.
Inaugural TUDOR Championship GTLM champion Kuno Wittmer will drive a Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R for Riley Motorsports in the GT Daytona (GTD) class of the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup, the team announced Friday. Dominik Farnbacher, Marc Goossens, Al Carter, Sebastiaan Bleekemolen and Cameron Lawrence also will join forces with season-long drivers Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen in a pair of Dodge Vipers sponsored by TI Automotive and ViperExchange.com. Goossens promptly set the fastest time of the day in GTD at 1:46.948.
“The team did a lot of development work last year with the car which is carrying over into this year,” concluded Goossens. “We tested here in November, showed some good pace here, and we are just working on a comfortable car, which we have right now. That consistency in the car is really the only thing we need to be working on. That’s what you need here, on the long runs, the double stints; you need to have a comfortable car that is easy to manage through traffic.”
A total of eight sessions will take place between Friday and Sunday, including a 90-minute night practice on Saturday beginning at 6:45 p.m. ET.
The Racing News section of Speedway Digest will be providing continuing coverage of the TUDOR Championship in the run up to the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and throughout the season. Stay tuned for more details and insight from the teams, fans, and drivers who help make the sport what it is today.
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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