Corvette Racing Qualifies 2nd, 9th For 2019 Rolex 24 at Daytona
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The two Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs of Corvette Racing will start their 2019 Rolex 24 at Daytona from second and ninth in the GTLM class.
Jan Magnussen set the fastest time for Corvette Racing in his No. 3 Corvette C7.R, getting a tow off teammate Oliver Gavin down the backstretch to turn in a time of 1:42.583. Gavin was never able to turn in a very quick lap himself, though, with his 1:43.239 lap only good enough for ninth in class – or last.
Gavin explained that after getting in a fast lap using their usual drafting strategy, it was hard for him to switch the tires back on.
“We have been battling grip level since the start of today, and qualifying was no different,” the Corvette Racing driver said. “We are not entirely sure why we are getting very low bite from the tire. We tried to our tow strategy but things got a bit messy. After that the speed just wasn’t there for us. I’m not entirely sure why. The tire pressures were split which was a bit unusual, so maybe that was part of it. The track also is very different from the test earlier this month. We have a couple more sessions to work on a few things, so I’m confident the guys at Corvette Racing will come through.”
The GTLM pole time, a 1:42.257, was set by Porsche GT Team’s Nick Tandy in his No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR. Four different manufacturers will occupy spots 1 through 4 on the GTLM grid, with the No. 67 Ford GT set to line up third for the start on Saturday and the No. 62 Risi Competizione starting from fourth.
The Cadillac DPi-V.R teams, meanwhile, struggled in their qualifying session. The top qualifying Cadillac was the No. 31 Action Express/Whelen Engineering car, which qualified fifth with a time of 1:34.433. The No. 10 WTR car will start the race from sixth, followed by the Juncos Motorsports Cadillac in seventh and the two JDC Miller Motorsports Cadillacs in eighth and ninth. The No. 5 Action Express Cadillac was not able to set a lap time after its brakes caught fire in the pits.
The overall pole time, set by Olly Jarvis in his No. 77 Mazda DPi, was a record-breaking 1:33.685. The Team Penske Acura of Ricky Taylor was closely behind in second with a time of 1:33.873, while the top three was completed by Juan Pablo Montoya in the second Acura car, who turned in a lap of 1:34.095.
Click here for full results from qualifying from the DPi, LMP2, GTLM and GTD classes. The 2019 Rolex 24 at Daytona will go live on Saturday, January 26th at 2:25 p.m. ET.
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