Ford on provisional pole,
but Chevy faster for Rolex 24
January 30, 2003
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.
(January 30, 2003) -- The Rolex Sports Car Series held first round
qualifying for this weekend's 41st Rolex 24 At Daytona today at
Daytona International Speedway. Scott Maxwell put the #88
1-800-PITSHOP.COM Ford Focus Daytona Prototype of Multimatic on the
pole with a 115.969 mph lap in 1:50.512, however it was Justin Bell
clocking the quickest time in the #40 Xtremelens Corvette of Derhaag
Motorsports with his 1:49.394 lap at 117.155 mph.
Maxwell was awarded the pole position per Grand American rules, which
state that all the Daytona Prototypes will start at the front of the
grid for the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
"We are a little bit confused because these guys (Daytona Prototype
teams) are kind of getting slower every time we go out onto the track.
They were running 47s at beginning in December, 48s at the test and
50s today, but we were running exactly what we did during the test
weekend. I don't know why they're sandbagging on me," joked Bell
following qualifying.
"These races are rarely won from the pole," quipped David Donohue in
response. Donohue will start the #58 Red Bull Porsche-powered FABCAR
Daytona Prototype in the number two position on Saturday after
recording a 1:50.775 lap at 115.694 mph.
"We weren’t expecting this, that's for sure," said Maxwell of his
first Rolex 24 pole. "And I have to thank David (Donohue) for giving
me the world's greatest tow around the bank," he quickly added with a
smile.
Porsche factory driver Marc Lieb grabbed the GT pole at the wheel of
the #43 YES Network Porsche GT3 RS of Orbit Racing. Leib's 1:53.386
lap time at 113.030 mph was nearly a second quicker than the number
two GT qualifier of Schumacher Racing/Champion Porsche. Sascha Maassen
piloted the #98 Champion Porsche GT3 RS to a 1:54.264 lap at 112.161
mph.
“The car felt brilliant. With these tires, you only have one lap to do
a really, really fast lap in qualifying. The first lap I had a few
mistakes. But it was still a good lap and I was very happy," said Lieb
of his GT pole-winning lap.
The #21 Team Seattle Nissan-powered Lola of Essex Racing was awarded
the SportsRacing Prototype pole position for the Rolex 24 after the
lap time posted by the #97 Lucchini Engineering Nissan-engined
Lucchini was disqualified due to an illegal air box in post-qualifying
technical inspection. The Team Seattle Lola, which is raising funds
for the Seattle Children's Hospital, clocked a 1:56.898 lap at 109.888
mph.
Positions one through 36 were set during today's first round
qualifying and the remaining slots on the grid for Saturday's 41st
Rolex 24 At Daytona will be filled on Friday during second round
qualifying at 9:45 a.m.
Tickets for the 41st Rolex 24 At Daytona are available online at
www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling the Speedway
ticket office at 386-253-RACE. SPEED Channel will provide 16 hours of
live coverage of the Rolex 24 on Saturday, Feb. 1, 12:30 p.m.-9 p.m.
ET, and Sunday, Feb. 2, 6 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. ET.
Preliminary starting grid for Saturday's Rolex 24 At Daytona
based on first round qualifying on Thursday at Daytona International
Speedway. The first six positions are reserved for the Daytona
Prototypes class with an additional 30 starting positions from the
other classes.
The Rolex 24 At Daytona, a 24-hour endurance contest, will start at
1:00 p.m. on Saturday. It is the first round of the 12-race Rolex
Sports Car Series, sanctioned by Grand American Road Racing
Association.
Provisional grid listings include starting position, (car number),
drivers and hometowns, class, car, qualifying time and speed.
1. (88) Scott Maxwell, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; David Brabham, Ft.
Lauderale, Fla.; David Empringham, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, DP,
Multimatic Motorsports Ford Multimatic, 01:50.512, 115.969.
2. (58) David Donohue, Westchester, Pa.; Mike Borkowski, Scottsdale,
Ariz.; Chris Bye, St Catharines, Ontario, Canada; Randy Pobst,
Gainesville, Ga., DP, Brumos Racing Porsche Fabcar, 01:50.775,
115.694.
3. (59) Hurley Haywood, Ponte Vedra, Fla.; JC France, Daytona Beach,
Fla.; Scott Goodyear, Carmel, Ind.; Scott Sharp, Jupiter, Fla., DP,
Brumos Racing Porsche Fabcar, 01:52.843, 113.574.
4. (3) Darius Grala, Weston, Mass.; Joshua Rehm, Plymouth, Mass.;
Oswaldo Negri Jr., Aventura, Fla.; Guy Cosmo, S Setauret, N.Y., DP,
Cegwa Sport Toyota Fabcar, 01:55.981, 110.501.
5. (8) Boris Said, San Marcos, Calif.; Darren Law, Phoenix, Ariz.;
Dieter Quester, Austria; Luca Riccitelli, Italy, DP, G&W Motorsports
BMW Picchio DP2, no time posted.
6. (54) Didier Theys, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Christian Fittipaldi, Key
Biscayne, Fla.; Terry Borcheller, Phoenix, Ariz.; Forest Barber, Fort
Worth, Texas, DP, Bell Motorsports Chevrolet Doran, no time posted.
8. (48) Tommy Riggins, Jacksonville, Fla.; David Machavern, Charlotte,
Vermont; Kevin Lepage, Shelburne, Vermont; Scott Lagasse, St
Augustine, Fla., GTS, Heritage Motorsports Mustang, 01:50.163,
116.337.
9. (05) Craig Conway, Edgewater, Fla.; Rick Carelli, Arvada, Colo.;
Davy Liniger, Castle Rock, Colo.; John Metcalf, Aurora, Colo., GTS,
Team Re/Max Racing Corvette, 01:50.892, 115.572.
10. (24) Jerome Policand, France; Michel Neugarten, Monaco; Andy
Wallace, England, GTS, Perspective Racing Mosler MT900R, 01:51.944,
114.486.
11. (46) Charles Morgan, Little Rock, Ark.; Rob Morgan, Little Rock,
Ark.; Lance Norick, Oklahoma City, Okla.; Jim Pace, Monticello, Miss.,
GTS, Morgan Dollar Motorsports Corvette, 01:52.433, 113.988.
12. (7) Franz Konrad, Austria; Airton Dare, Brazil; Jean Francois Yvon,
France; Tony Seiler, Switzerland, GTS, Konrad Motorsport Saleen S7R,
01:52.926, 113.490.
13. (43) Marc Lieb, Germany; Leo Hindery, New York, N.Y.; Kyle Petty,
Trinity, N.C.; Peter Baron, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., GT, Orbit Racing
Porsche GT3 RS, 01:53.386, 113.030.
14. (19) Anthony Puleo, St Augustine, Fla.; Kerry Hitt, Camp Hill,
Pa.; Robert Dubler, Switzerland; Mark Kennedy, Daytona, Fla., GTS, ACP
Motorsports/ Xtreme Racing Group Corvette, 01:54.121, 112.302.
15. (98) Sascha Maassen, Belgium; Martin Snow, Pleasant Grove, Utah;
Lucas Luhr, Monaco; Larry Schumacher, West Chester, Ohio, GT,
Schumacher Racing/ Champion Porsche Porsche GT3 RS, 01:54.264,
112.161.
16. (66) Kevin Buckler, Sonoma, Calif.; Michael Schrom, Ghent, N.Y.;
Timo Bernhard, Germany; Jorg Bergmeister, Germany, GT, The Racers
Group Porsche GT3 RS, 01:54.865, 111.574.
17. (35) Ralf Kelleners, Germany; Anthony Lazzaro, Hickory, N.C.;
Johnny Mowlem, England, GT, Risi Competizione Ferrari 360GT,
01:55.084, 111.362.
18. (33) Cort Wagner, Los Angeles, Calif.; Brent Martini, Laguna
Beach, Calif.; Sylvain Tremblay, Sunrise, Fla.; Selby Wellman, St
Petersburg, Fla., GT, Scuderia Ferrari of Washington Ferrari 360GT,
01:55.124, 111.323.
19. (10) David Terrien, France; Didier Moinel Delalande, France; Marco
Saviozzi, France; Gianluca De Lorenzi, Italy, GT, MAC Racing Porsche
GT3 RS, 01:55.664, 110.804.
20. (31) Rob Barff, England; Andy Britnell, England; Richard Stanton,
England; Richard Sutherland, Los Gatos, Calif., GTS, Rollcentre Racing
Mosler MT900R, 01:55.727, 110.743.
21. (30) Martin Short, England; John Burton, England; Tom Herridge,
England; David Shep, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, GTS, Rollcentre Racing
Mosler MT900R, 01:55.848, 110.628.
23. (34) Mauro Baldi, Monaco; Justin Keen, England; Ryan Hampton,
Chandler, Ariz.; Eric Van de Poele, Poway, Calif., GT, Ferri
Competizione Ferrari 360GT, 01:56.045, 110.440.
24. (44) Mike Fitzgerald, Fountain Hills, Ariz.; Joseph Policastro
Sr., Greensburg, Pa.; Joseph Policastro Jr., Greensburg, Pa.; Manuel
Matos, Puerto Rico, GT, Orbit Racing Porsche GT3 RS, 01:56.499,
110.010.
26. (5) Ross Bentley, White Rock, B.C., Canada; Don Kitch, Bellevue,
Wash.; Joe Pruskowski, Woodinville, Wash.; Justin Pruskowski,
Woodinville, Wash., SRPII, Team Seattle/ Essex Racing Nissan Lola,
01:56.898, 109.634.
27. (99) Jim Hamblin, Franconia, N.H.; Jim Nelson, Pasadena, Calif.;
Barry Brensinger, Manchester, N.H.; Mark Greenberg, Boston, Mass., GT,
NETTTS Racing Porsche GT3 RS, 01:57.144, 109.404.
28. (6) Gunnar Jeannette, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; Duncan Dayton,
North Salem, N.Y.; Peter Kitchak, Minneapolis, Minn.; Ron Zitza,
Maitland, Fla., GTS, Gunnar Racing Gunnar Porsche GT1, 01:57.591,
108.988.
29. (21) Larry Oberto, Seattle, Wash.; Derrike Cope, Huntersville,
N.C.; Chris Bingham, Bellevue, Wash.; Brian DeVries, Grand Rapids,
Mich., SRPII, Archangel Motorsport Services Nissan Lola, 01:57.609,
108.971.
30. (61) Peter van Merksteijn, Netherlands; Charles Brugman,
Netherlands; Frans Munsterhuis Jr., Netherlands; Cougar Jacobsen,
Deland, Fla., GT, System Force Motorsport Porsche GT3 RS, 01:58.336,
108.302.
31. (20) Augusto Farfus, Brazil; Max Papis, Miami Beach, Fla.; Andrea
Garbagnati, Monaco; Emmanuel Collard, England, GT, JMB Racing USA Team
Ferrari Ferrari 360GT, 01:58.644, 108.021.
32. (69) Brian Cunningham, Danville, Ky.; Craig Stanton, Long Beach,
Calif.; Hugh Plumb, Chadds Ford, Pa.; Cory Friedman, Charleston, S.C.,
GT, Marcus Motorsports BMW M3, 01:58.815, 107.865.
33. (15) Wade Gaughran, Auburn, Wash.; Peter Macleod, Bellevue, Wash.;
David Gaylord, Graham, Wash.; Steven Gorriaran, Providence, R.I.,
SRPII, Team Seattle/ Essex Racing Nissan Lola, 01:59.580, 107.175.
35. (22) Stephen Earle, Garden Ridge, Texas; Philip Shearer, New York,
N.Y.; Ludovico Manfredi, Key Biscayne, Fla.; Stephan Gregoire,
Indianapolis, Ind., GT, JMB Racing USA Team Ferrari Ferrari 360GT,
02:00.385, 106.458.
36. (49) Bebo Orlandi, Italy; Michele Merendino, Italy; Derek Clark,
Corona Del Mar, Calif.; Jay Wilton, Los Angeles, Calif., GT, MAC
Racing Porsche GT3 RS, 02:02.657, 104.486.
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