The No. 01 Ganassi entry

While much of the U.S. is in the midst of dealing with winter weather woes, the forecast for this weekend’s Rolex 24 At Daytona couldn’t be better.  Although central Florida did see extreme weather earlier in the week when thunderstorms and 70 mph winds left a trail of damaged structures in its wake, the storm’s effect on Daytona has been to put a shine on the preparations for one of the most iconic endurance races in motorsports.

The historic track at Daytona International Speedway underwent a 23-week repaving project that was completed in time for the 2011 race season, headlined by the Rolex 24 At Daytona.  The entire 2.5-mile tri-oval was repaved, as well as the skid pads, apron and Pit Road, with approximately 50,000 tons of asphalt used to repave more than 1.4 million square feet of track.  The torrential rain earlier in the week cleansed the new surface of any rubber deposited during the recent shakedown for the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the Roar Before the 24, but the track did not stay green for long as the GT and DP cars headed out to take their laps during practice sessions on Thursday. 

Patrick Dempsey

Television and film star Patrick Dempsey was enthusiastic about the first race of the season after driving his practice session.  “I hope to make as many races as possible this year and that’s why I took last year off to make movies.  We hope to go into production on the film [The Art of] Racing in the Rain this year.  For me it would be great to both race and make a film that will help bring visibility to the series.” 

The Qualifying Sessions to set the grid for Saturday’s race start took place on Thursday afternoon and saw record times set.  TRG’s #67 car, driven by Andy Lally, was disqualified after he set a new track record in the GT class with a time of 1:48:487 when, during the inspection following the qualifying session, the Porsche GT3’s rear wing position was determined to be set a millimeter too far to the rear.  The violation relegates Lally to the rear of the field and he will start the race on Saturday in last position.  Assuming the pole position in GT is his TRG teammate Dominik Farnbacher in the #66 car.  Farnbacher’s pole winning time of 1:48.781 became the GT lap record once Lally’s time was disallowed.  Farnbacher, the GT class winner at the Rolex 24 At Daytona in 2008, was quite pleased to have inherited the GT pole and feels his Porsche GT3 has benefited from the smoother surface of the Daytona track.

Jorg Bergmeister came over from ALMS with the Flying Lizard team and gave the others a driving lesson

Flying Lizard’s Jorg Bergmeister, in the #45 Porsche Riley, won the DP pole after posting a time of 1:40.099 during the qualifying session.  Bergmeister will start the race in position one, having edged out Max Angelelli, the 2010 pole sitter, who posted a time of 1:40.333.  Ironically, Bergmeister was about to come in from qualifying when he received instructions from the pit to stay out. 

“I was hoping for a top-five, and had some good laps,” said Bergmeister.  “I was about to come in and they told me to try again and I went for it.  It worked out.  Approaching turn one is the biggest improvement [in the track] to me.  The angle is better and the braking point is later.  After the lap I was breathing very little because I was pushing really hard.”

“It’s very nice to be back here on the front row,” said Angelelli who was also pleased with his qualifying session.  “The track is a lot smoother.  On the banking you can go anywhere you want anytime you want.  This year is beautiful and a lot easier all around.”

SPEED's live television coverage of the Rolex 24 At Daytona runs from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 29 (ET), and 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 30.  The forecasted sunshine, along with predicted daytime temperatures in the low 70s, and nighttime mid-40s, bodes well for the race teams and track conditions are expected to be ideal when the Rolex 24 At Daytona takes the green flag at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 29.