Rolex testing under way with Roar Before the 24

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Max Angelelli and Pat Long led their respective classes Friday in the opening day of the Roar Before the Rolex 24, a three-day test session at Daytona International Speedway to open the 2010 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.

Angelelli led the Daytona Prototypes with a lap of 1:40.466 (127.566 mph) late in the morning session in the No. 10 SunTrust Ford Dallara. Teammates Wayne and Ricky Taylor and Pedro Lamy took turns atop the afternoon session, which was run in drizzly conditions that resulted in slower times.

However, the GT class turned in its fastest speeds in the afternoon. Long closed out the day with a lap of 1:49.961 (116.550 mph) in the No. 67 Porsche GT3 co-driven by Jorg Bergmeister, Seth Neiman and Johannes van Overbeek.

The Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge also participated Friday with a pair of hour-long practice sessions. Matt Plumb led a BMW sweep of the top five in the Grand Sport class as three different teams laid down times in the 120-second range -- 2:00.073 (106.735 mph) the fastest for Plumb -- with their BMW M3s.

In Street Tuner, Seth Thomas in a BMW 328i was fastest, his first session time outlasting a trio of Honda Civic's from defending team champion Compass360 Racing by more than three-tenths of a second.

Scott Dixon was second overall in the two Daytona Prototype practices with a lap of 1:40.588 (127.411 mph) in the No. 02 BMW co-driven by Dario Franchitti, Juan Montoya and Jamie McMurray. He was followed by Michael Valiante in the No. 6 Ford, 1:40.963 (126.938 mph), Scott Pruett in the No. 01 BMW, 1:40.986 (126.909 mph) and Christophe Bouchut in the No. 55 BMW Riley, 1:41.121 (126.739 mph).

"I am very happy with [Friday]," Angelelli said. "All the drivers were very good, we are very happy with the car, and it is driving really well. At the moment we are just running laps. We are all right there. We are looking forward to the race. I feel all we need right now is to wash it and we can go racing."

Alex Gurney was fastest in the afternoon session with a lap of 1:41.761 (125.942 mph) in the No. 99 Chevrolet co-driven by Jon Fogarty and Jimmy Johnson. Four-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will join the trio for the race.

Martin Ragginger was second among the two GT practices with an afternoon lap of 1:40.216 (116.261 mph) in the No. 23 Porsche, followed by Andy Lally in the No. 66 Porsche, 1:50.276 (116.217 mph), and Spencer Pumpelly in the No. 71 Porsche, 1:50.636 (115.839 mph).

A total of 54 cars -- 36 from GS and 18 in ST -- participated in the two Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge practice sessions. Saturday practice, which also features the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Course, runs from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET, with Sunday activities running from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., weather permitting. Both days are open to the public as the teams prepare for the 48th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, set for Jan. 30-31.