Spirit of Daytona Racing will start the Grand-Am of the Americas from the third row of the grid at the new Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Ricky Taylor, partnered with Richard Westbrook, placed the #90 Chevrolet Corvette Daytona Prototype fifth in the 15 minute qualifying session ahead of the second round of the 2013 Rolex Sports Car Series.
“I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to capitalize on the clear laps that we should have been able to,” said Taylor, who will start the race before handing over to Westbrook for the closing stages. “I think we have a great car–I thought we had a pole car. But tomorrow’s the race and that’s all that counts but I would have liked to start the year out with the pole.”
Only two practice sessions on Friday morning allowed drivers to get used to the new 3.4-mile Formula 1 circuit, meaning drivers had a tough task to learn the circuit and post competitive times. The Spirit of Daytona drivers showed they could pick up the circuit quickly, however, after setting the second fastest time in first practice.
“I think we probably had a better car [than fifth place], but we caught another car on our fast lap which was kind of disappointing,” said Team Owner Troy Flis. “But as a whole we have a great car for tomorrow. We’re excited – it is great to be racing on this track, and hopefully tomorrow will be a good day for us.”
