Dalziel puts Ford on pole for 50th Rolex 24

Ryan Dalziel grabs pole

The catch-phrase “position is everything," accurately reflects the action today at Daytona International Speedway as competitors at the 2012 Rolex 24 At Daytona qualified for the grid in advance of Saturday’s start of the historic 50th edition of the classic endurance race. As the traditional season-opening motorsports event in America, the Rolex 24 At Daytona always delivers plenty of excitement, and when taken in combination with golden anniversary celebrations, this weekend’s race is in a league of its own.

Oswaldo Negri, Jr. (Miami, FL) is all too familiar with “taking pole" at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, having done so in 2008 (while setting a lap record), and again in 2010. Negri is driving the #60 Ford Riley DP for Michael Shank Racing, and although the car is showing great balance, it did not have quite enough top speed to put the native of Brazil on the front row. “The car is good but we need more straight line speed," said Negri. “We’re not as fast as we want to be on the tri-oval, but we are working on it pretty hard. We have a solid driver lineup with A. J. Allmendinger (Denver, Colo.), Justin Wilson (UK) and John Pew (North Palm Beach, Fla.). We need to keep it on the track and come into the pits only for fuel and tires. The last four years I have qualified on the front row twice. That’s pretty cool for bragging rights, but at the end of the day on Sunday all I want is a trophy in one hand and a new Rolex timepiece in the other."

Ryan Dalziel beat all the imitation Chevy Corvette bodied cars to take pole in his Riley Ford

While already a Rolex 24 At Daytona champion, having won in 2010, today Ryan Dalziel (Orlando, Fla.), earned his first career pole in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series while driving the #8 Starworks Motorsports Ford Riley. The 2011 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series DP Champion, Dalziel, who is a native of Scotland, was not surprised with the DP qualifying position – even though he was at the wheel of the last new Riley to be delivered, which was run for the first time during the second practice today.

“Pole proves to us that we have a fast car," said Dalziel, who has been the only driver in the car thus far. “I felt pretty confident coming out of the car and I’m really excited for all my teammates. We triple and quadruple checked everything. We were the only team last year not to have a mechanical failure, and we’ve carried the same team over. Now we just have to concentrate for the next day and a half on making the car reliable."

A mere 0.121 seconds was all that separated Max Angelelli (Monaco) from taking the DP pole position. “I cannot hide my disappointment," said the Italian in reference to the #10 SunTrust Racing Corvette having led in pre-practice. “I wasn’t expecting P2. I still feel our car is really fast and that for the Rolex 24 At Daytona we will be the car to beat. The new cars, we have no idea what can happen. I’m expecting issues for everybody. We feel pretty strong with our SunTrust Corvette. It is 24 hours, and Daytona … anything can happen. We are really focused on not having major problems, or something we can fix quick – within five minutes."

Andrew Davis

In the GT class, the qualifying session has set the stage for the revival of a classic rivalry – between Porsche and Ferrari. Andrew Davis (Bogart, Georgia), the 2011 Grand-Am Sports Car Series GT champion, set the pole with a time of 1:49:342 at the wheel of Brumos Racing’s #59 Porsche GT3, with Jeff Segal (Miami, Fla.) taking P2 in the AIM Autosport Team‘s #69 Ferrari 458 with a time of 1:49:357.

“It was intense session," said Davis who missed winning pole in 2006 by a hundredth of a second. “I pushed as hard as I could after having struggled during the practice earlier today. From all the testing, including the Roar [Before the Rolex 24], it’s the best the car has done."

Davis emphasized that the important thing about Daytona is the race, not qualifying. “Everyone wants a good qualifying because it’s a feather in their cap, but it’s a 24-hour race so we want to be there in the end and get that Rolex on the podium. The best place to start is up front, but qualifying will be a distant memory after 24 hours, so I’ll enjoy this for now."

For Jeff Segal, it was “a nail biter" in the car during qualifying. “I’ve never seen anything like this," he said. “The level of talent and the preparation this year is phenomenal. We’ve got an excellent car and I think it shows in our qualifying P2. We’re hoping to bring the car home in good shape on Sunday. I didn’t know what to expect [in qualifying], except that it wasn’t going to be separated by much. When Ferrari comes to Daytona they come to win. We’ve had a lot of support, and there’s been a tremendous amount of development, last minute updates. We expected the car to be good, to be fast…that’s why we signed on. If we do our part, keep the car clean, we have a good chance."

The historic 50th Anniversary of the Rolex 24 At Daytona gets underway on Saturday, January 28 at 3:30 p.m. when Grand Marshal A.J. Foyt issues the command “Drivers, start your engines." Among the special events planned to celebrate the 50th Anniversary is the Rolex 50 Years of Champions display which will feature over 30 of the championship winners at a charity gala to benefit the Halifax Health Foundation this evening, Thursday, 26 January, at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach. After a procession of the championship cars from the Ocean Center to Daytona International Speedway at 9:00 a.m. on Friday morning, January 27, weather permitting, the cars will be on display throughout the weekend.

Results

Pos No. Class Pic Drivers Team/Car Time Speed
1 8 DP 1 Dalziel / Luhr / McNish / Popow Starworks Motorsport / Ford Riley 1:41.119 126.741
2 10 DP 2 Angelelli / Briscoe / Taylor SunTrust Racing / Corvette DP 1:41.240 126.590
3 02 DP 3 Dixon/Franchitti / McMurray / Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing / BMW Riley 1:41.463 126.312
4 99 DP 4 Fogarty / Gidley / Gurney GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing / Corvette 1:41.519 126.242
5 90 DP 5 Garcia/Gavin / Magnussen / Westbrook Spirit of Daytona / Corvette DP 1:41.611 126.128
6 60 DP 6 Allmendinger / Negri / Pew / Wilson Michael Shank Racing/ Ford Riley 1:41.662 126.064
7 9 DP 7 Barbosa / Borcheller / France / Papis Action Express Racing / Corvette DP 1:42.074 125.555
8 6 DP 8 Goncalvez/McDowell / Nasr / Yacaman Michael Shank Racing / Ford Riley 1:42.414 125.139
9 2 DP 9 Hunter-Reay / Luhr / Mayer / Scala Starworks Motorsport / Ford Riley 1:42.657 124.842
10 77 DP 10 Frisselle / Frisselle / Lowe / Tracy Doran Racing / Ford Dallara 1:42.773 124.702
11 50 DP 11 Defoor /Forbes-Robinson/Johnson/ Pace 50+Predator/Alegra / BMW Riley 1:43.723 123.559
12 76 DP 12 Braun / Jonsson / Krohn / Zonta Krohn Racing / Ford Lola 1:44.433 122.719
13 59 GT 1 Davis / Haywood / Keen / Lieb Brumos Racing / Porsche GT3 1:49.342 117.210
14 69 GT 2 Assentato / Lazzaro / Longhi / Segal AIM Autosport Team FXDD Racing / Ferrari 1:49.357 117.194
15 44 GT 3 Lally / Lietz / Potter / Rast Magnus Racing / Porsche GT3 1:49.388 117.160
16 45 GT 4 Bergmeister/Long/Neiman / Rockenfeller Flying Lizard Motorsports / Porsche GT3 1:49.550 116.987
17 62 GT 5 Bruni / Fisichella / Matos Risi Competizione / Ferrari 458 1:49.661 116.869
18 42 GT 6 Cameron / Nonnamaker / Sahlen Team Sahlen / Mazda RX-8 1:49.700 116.827
19 23 GT 7 Collard / Holzer / Leitzinger / MacNeil Alex Job Racing / Porsche GT3 1:49.766 116.757
20 88 GT 8 Edwards / Marsh / Milner / Taylor Autohaus Motorsports / Camaro GT.R 1:49.773 116.750
21 17 GT 9 Asch/Baldwin/Burtin/ Ragginger / Sellers Burtin Racing / Porsche GT3 1:49.891 116.624
22 48 GT 10 Bell / Maassen / Miller / Wilkins Paul Miller Racing / Porsche GT3 1:50.044 116.462
23 63 GT 11 Beretta / Bertolini / Vilander Risi Competizione / Ferrari 458 1:50.191 116.307
24 03 GT 12 Brown / Cosmo / Sharp / van Overbeek Extreme Speed Motorsports / Ferrari 458 1:50.197 116.300
25 75 GT 13 Bell / Carter / Curran / Plumb Stevenson Motorsports / Camaro GT.R 1:50.273 116.220
26 26 GT 14 Cisneros / Edwards / Kauffmann / Tandy NGT Motorsport / Porsche GT3 1:50.298 116.194
27 74 GT 15 Al Masaood / Al Mehairi / Kane Oryx Racing / Audi R8 Grand-Am 1:50.312 116.179
28 57 GT 16 Bremer / Edwards / Liddell Stevenson Motorsports / Camaro GT.R 1:50.426 116.059
29 4 GT 17 Bell / Eversley / Graeff / Yarab Jr. Magnus Racing / Porsche GT3 1:50.456 116.028
30 66 GT 18 Farnbacher / Keating / Pilet / Simonsen TRG / Porsche GT3 1:50.557 115.922
31 22 GT 19 Blaylock / O'Young / Roush / Van Blankers / White Bullet Racing / Porsche GT3 1:50.572 115.906
32 93 GT 20 Auberlen / Dalla Lana / Marsal / Muller / Muller Turner Motorsport / BMW M3 1:50.582 115.895
33 32 GT 21 Armindo / Curtis / Lewis / Sofronas / Willsey Orbit/GMG / Porsche GT3 1:50.605 115.871
34 51 GT 22 Baas / Canache / Norman / Pirro / von Moltke APR Motorsport / Audi R8 Grand-Am 1:50.749 115.721
35 15 GT 23 Cook / Earnhardt / Harrington / Hill / Ware Rick Ware Racing / Ford Mustang 1:50.762 115.707
36 24 GT 24 Avenatti / Faieta / Poordad / Sweedler / Wagner Alex Job Racing / Porsche GT3 1:50.824 115.642
37 70 GT 25 Bomarito / Franchitti / Hinchcliffe / Tremblay SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8 1:51.022 115.436
38 56 GT 26 Aguas / Kauffman / Pastrana / Waltrip AF – Waltrip / Ferrari 458 1:51.105 115.350
39 40 GT 27 Dempsey / Espenlaub / Foster / Long Dempsey Racing / Mazda RX-8 1:51.416 115.028
40 87 GT 28 Heylen / Peterson / Soulet / Valverde Racers Edge Motorsports / Dodge Viper 1:51.555 114.885
41 55 GT 29 Del Vecchio / Grunnet / Jester / McKee / Pobst Acumen Motorsport / Porsche GT3 1:51.575 114.864
42 94 GT 30 Auberlen / Dalla Lana / Johnson / Said / Werner Turner Motorsport / BMW M3 1:51.680 114.756
43 12 GT 31 Miller / Prewitt / Rettich / Schneider / Shoff Alliance Autosport / Porsche GT3 1:51.727 114.708
44 18 GT 32 Jones / Lester / McCutchen / Thomas Muehlner Motorsports America, LLC / Porsche GT3 1:52.250 114.173
45 43 GT 33 Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker Team Sahlen / Mazda RX-8 1:52.541 113.878
46 20 GT 34 Englster / Murry / Safina / Schaldach Liqui Moly Team Englster/Mitchum Motorsports Porsche / Porsche GT3 1:52.641 113.777
47 64 GT 35 Ardagna / Costabal / Di Guida / Orjuela / Salazar TRG / Porsche GT3 1:52.679 113.739
48 41 GT 36 James / Johnson / Kitch Jr / Maxwell / Rogers Dempsey Racing / Mazda RX-8 1:52.998 113.417
49 82 GT 37 Fergus / Finger / Greer / Hotchkis / Trinkler Dick Greer Racing / Porsche GT3 1:53.161 113.254
50 36 GT 38 Andretti / Andretti / Hacquard / Krohn Yellow Dragon Motorsports / Mazda RX-8 1:53.202 113.213
51 65 GT 39 Castellano / Cox / Hedlund / McCarthy / Michaelian TRG / Porsche GT3 1:53.919 112.500
52 67 GT 40 Bertheau / Bleekemolen / Goossens / Henzler / Pumpelly TRG / Porsche GT3 1:54.347 112.079
53 34 GT 41 DeFontes / Fogg / Konopka / Vonka Orbit/GMG / Porsche GT3 1:54.402 112.026
54 46 GT 42 Breukers / Fumal / Nowicki Michael Baughman Racing / Corvette 1:55.577 110.887
55 68 GT 0 Cumming / Estre / Faulkner / Gomez / Keating TRG / Porsche GT3
56 49 GT 0 Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker / Sahlen Team Sahlen / Mazda RX-8
57 19 GT 0 Dollahite / Nater / O'Doski / Seefried / Whitis Muehlner Motorsports America, LLC / Porsche GT3
58 16 GT 0 TBA Rick Ware Racing / Porsche GT3
59 5 DP 0 Donohue / Fittipaldi / Law Action Express Racing / Corvette DP
60 01 DP 0 Hand / Pruett / Rahal / Rojas Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates / BMW Riley