Negri turns fast lap for team that includes Sprint Cup driver AJ Allmendinger
Photo: Courtesy of IMSA
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A brand-new car, a brand-new engine — that’s typically not the prescription for a pole-winning run for a 24-hour race. But Michael Shank Racing defied the odds, as driver Oswaldo Negri Jr. dominated Prototype qualifying on Thursday for the 2015 Rolex 24 at Daytona with a blistering lap of 1 minute, 39.194 seconds, and 129.201 mph.
This early success for the MSR No. 60 Ligier JS P2 car, powered by a Honda engine, could be bad news for the competition, but there could be even worse news: “We’re still learning the car,” Negri said. If they can eliminate a little understeer, he said, he thinks they’ll be even faster.
In second was IndyCar regular Scott Dixon in the No. 02 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Riley DP, powered by a Ford EcoBoost engine, followed by the No. 01 Ganassi team car driven by Scott Pruett. In fourth was the No. 5 Action Express Corvette DP — the defending champion of the race, as well as the 2014 series champion — followed by the innovative No. 0 DeltaWing. The top seven cars were within eight-tenths of a second in lap times.
Despite the pole run, Negri, who also scored a Rolex 24 pole in 2008, was realistic: Qualifying first for a 24-hour race gives you “bragging rights,” he said, “but the real deal is being there at the end on Sunday.” After all, “We’re all dancing to the same music — we just danced a little bit faster than anyone else.” Negri will share the car with co-drivers John Pew, Matt McMurry and NASCAR star AJ Allmendinger.
In Prototype Challenge (PC), a late-session dash put Johnny Mowlem and the No. 16 BAR1 Motorsports entry on the class pole with a lap of 1:42.318 at 125.257 mph. Close behind is the No. 54 CORE autosport car, with the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen car in third. All PC cars use ORECA FLM09 chassis, with Chevrolet engines. Mowlem said the Continental tires the class uses improve as you drive, “and most of us were at our quickest on the last lap” of the qualifying session. He will split driving duties with Tomy Drissi, Tom Papadopoulos, Brian Alder and Martin Plowman.
In the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class, Oliver Gavin placed the No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R solidly on the pole with a lap of 1:43.488 at 123.840 mph, a new class record. Unlike many of the other team cars, the two Corvettes — the other being the No. 3, driven by Jan Magnussen — teamed up and often ran close together to take advantage of the draft, so familiar at Daytona to NASCAR fans. “There was a good bit of teamwork” that went into the fastest lap, Gavin said. He will share the car with Tommy Milner and IndyCar’s Simon Pagenaud.
Second in GTLM was Gianmaria Bruni in the No. 51 Ferrari 458 Italia of AF Corse, followed by Pedro Lamy in the Gulf-sponsored No. 98 Aston Martin Vantage V8.
And in GT Daytona, the largest of the four classes, James Davison saved his best for the session’s last lap, running a 1:47.272 circuit around the 3.56-mile track, at 119.472 mph.
His No. 007 TRG-Aston Martin Racing Vantage V12, which he shares with Christina Nielsen, Brandon Davis and Christoffer Nygaard, will line up ahead of the No. 33 Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper SRT qualified by Jeroen Bleekemolen, and in third, the No. 28 Konrad Motorsport Porsche 911 GT America qualified by Christopher Zoechling.
Aston Martin driver Davison was genuinely surprised at qualifying first — simulation runs had suggested they were slightly off the pace. “I’m blown away at ending up on the pole,” Davison added, despite winning his fifth consecutive pole in the class.
Davison summed up race strategy for his team and, for that matter, every team: “It’s all about having nothing going wrong.”
With a stout field of 53 entries, and an unsure weather forecast for the weekend, “having nothing go wrong” might be a tall order.
Broadcast coverage of the 2015 Rolex 24 at Daytona begins at 2 p.m. Saturday on the FOX Network. At 4 p.m., it moves to FOX Sports 2, and at 8 p.m., back to FOX Sports 1. From 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., it will be broadcast live in IMSA.com, before returning to FOX Sports 1 Sunday morning at 7 a.m., where coverage will continue for the remainder of the race, concluding at 2:30 p.m. All times are Eastern. For additional information, log onto IMSA.com.
‘Super Sub’ Leads Continental Tire Challenge ST Qualifying
The last time Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge team owner and co-driver Jeff Mosing missed a race, it was a painful occasion: Back spasms kept him out of the cockpit at last year’s event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Still, he and his teammate, Eric Foss, went on to win the season championship.
For the first race of the 2015 season, Mosing is again among the missing, but this time, it’s a happier occasion: Fill-in driver Justin Piscitell said Mosing’s wife is pregnant, and due to give birth right about the time the green flag drops on Friday’s BMW Performance 200.
But there is a reason why Piscitell, of Patterson, New York, is earning a reputation as being a “super sub” in the sports car series: He put the Murillo Racing Porsche Cayman on the pole for the 31-car Street Tuner class during qualifying Thursday.
“The car felt great,” he said. His qualifying lap, he said, benefitted from the draft off of cars in front of him. His lap of 2 minutes, 5.454 seconds (102.157 mph) was just ahead of the second-place BimmerWorld Racing BMW 328i of Jason Briedis and James Clay, with a 2:05.462 (102.150 mph) lap. In third was another Porsche Cayman, the No. 18 RSI entry driven by Jon Miller and Adam Isman with a lap of 2:05.482 at 102.134 mph.
In the faster Grand Sport (GS) class, Ford Mustang specialist Scott Maxwell put the Multimatic Ford Mustang Boss 302R on the pole, his ninth, with a fast lap of 1:56.520 (109.990 mph) around the 3.56-mile road course. Maxwell said he didn’t need the draft to set fast time — “I went out by myself,” he said, because in the end, relying on the draft can help you – or hurt you.
Second was the Rum Bum Porsche 911 of Matt Plumb and his brother Hugh, with a lap of 1:56.779 at 109.746 mph. Third was the Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R of Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell, which was the fastest car in the second practice session Wednesday. They came up a little short with a lap of 1:56.941 (109.594 mph). Twenty-two cars in the GS class took time.
The season-opening, 150-minute BMW Performance 200 starts at 1:45 p.m. on Friday.