Oliver Gavin earned his first GT Le Mans (GTLM) class pole position during qualifying for the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and gave Corvette Racing their first pole at the event since 2000.
The Briton benefited from a tow from team-mate Jan Magnussen to take top spot with a 1m43.488s lap, and set a class lap record around the legendary track in the process. It was the twelfth different pole winner in twelve Tudor United SportsCar Championship races, and once again showcased just how competitive the GTLM class is within the series.
“It’s a very competitive class, I think they all are,” said Gavin after the session. “That’s the depth of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship; there are plenty of great drivers and great teams out there.
“I have to thank Jan [Magnussen]; he towed me around a lot on that lap and helped me get this pole position, so I have to thank him for that. I tried to repay him by towing him around for a few laps. I just had a little bit of extra straight-line speed.”
In the GT Daytona (GTD) class, it was Australian James Davison who drove to a fifth consecutive pole position in the series, with the Riley Motorsports driver taking advantage of the mid-session red flag to set the best time of 1m47.272s to beat the Dodge Viper of Jeroen Bleekemolen by 0.152s.
“I’m blown away we ended up on pole, to be honest,” said Davison. “We waited in the pits and it went red, so I only had a lap to pull it off.
“Obviously the car was good and I hit my marks, but we were a bit lucky to pull it off. As a team, we got on top of the car to find the pace and I was able to put together a really good lap. We’re going for the Championship this year without question and this is a great way to start off the season.”
