After three days and a wide variety of weather conditions to play with, Paul Miller Racing left the Roar Before the 24 with plenty of notes and development results to work with in preparation for the Rolex 24 at Daytona on January 23-26.
Rene Rast and Matt Bell will join full-season drivers Bryce Miller and Christopher Haase in the Audi R8 LMS for the twice-round-the-clock race that will mark the start of the inaugural TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. All four drivers were in action over the test weekend.
“It’s a pleasure for me to be here,” said Haase. “We have a great car, great team, and I have great teammates. We all work well together. We improved our car step by step, but we are still getting there. We have everything we need to win the race, but now we need good luck and speed.”
“The test has been really good for us,” added Miller. “We have had a wide range of weather conditions to test different kinds of setups and starting pressures with the tires. We did a long run to see the trend on the car, and having the opportunity to circulate with all the categories being new gives you a really good idea for the rhythm and pace, and variations and speed between the classes.”
The highlight of the team’s weekend came on Saturday afternoon, when the #48 Audi R8 LMS topped the GTD class with a time of 1:48.535 seconds.
“I think yesterday was very positive, as we were always running up in the front,” said Bell. “The team was P1 in one of the sessions, so it’s always nice to be at the top of the time sheets in any session. I’m continuing to get used to the car and track. The night session was interesting for me to learn where the track is lit well and where it isn’t. It’s been a good, solid test for us. There is still a little bit for us to find, but it’s always nice to be at the top. I think everyone is very positive heading into the race. We have a great lineup and a good team, and everyone is getting to know the car very well.”
