Both Action Express Racing Chevrolet Corvette Daytona Prototypes will start the Rolex 24 at Daytona from outside of the top ten after struggling to find the ultimate pace during the 15 minute qualifying session.
Posting a best lap of 1:42.392 Christian Fittipaldi qualified the #5 eleventh fastest, pushed out of the bottom of the top ten by Ian James late in the session. Joao Barbosa – part of the Action Express Racing that won the Rolex 24 on debut in 2010 – was thirteenth fastest in the session at the wheel of the #9 car and will start directly behind his teammate when the green flag drops at 3:30pm local time (8:30pm UK time).
“I’m very confident for the race and very happy with the car,” said Fittipaldi, after the session. “The car was pretty comfortable in the infield, we are still looking for more straight line speed. The team has been working very hard and it is a long race, so we will just see what happens.”
Barbosa, by contrast was the more frustrated of the two qualifying drivers; “We’re doing everything we can, but obviously we don’t have the speed,” said the Portuguese driver. “We’re still far away, and just need to keep working and hoping for a good race, but it’s going to be a hard one for us.”
www.theCheckeredFlag.co.uk will cover the 51st Rolex 24 at Daytona from lights to flag with hour-by-hour updates.
