Daytona Test: SAMAX report

SAMAX Motorsport capped a strong test for the Rolex 24 At Daytona with the third-fastest GT lap time during the three-day test. Johnny Mowlem logged the team's quick lap, covering the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway infield road course in one minute 53.668 seconds (112.749 mph). He is sharing the No. 17 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car with Rolex 24 veteran David Shep, German Porsche Junior Team drivers Lance David Arnold and Jan Seyffarth, and American hotshoe Bryan Sellers.

Lance David Arnold "It was a nice experience. For me, everything was new. I learned driver changes and driving on the banking was very cool! I think we have a good car, a good team, and it's a nice atmosphere. To race in America is a big experience, it's really good."

Bryan Sellers "We have a lot of fast guys on the team -- two German guys we can learn from and try to match their pace, and some experienced guys who can give us a race pace to shoot at and let us know how the race is going to play out for 24 hours, because they've been there. We have a great lineup because we have speed and we have experience."

Jan Seyffarth "I learned the track very quickly. It's lots of fun to drive here in Daytona, so I think that's why I was so quick. I hope that on the race weekend we'll be as quick as we are now and hopefully, we'll be on the podium."

The new No. 71 SAMAX/Doncaster Racing Porsche also came up to speed quickly, with Dave Lacey turning the team's fastest lap of the test (1:54.464, 98.607 mph). He and his co-drivers Brent Martini, Greg Wilkins and Mark Wilkins are aiming for Doncaster's third Rolex 24 GT podium in as many years. With consistent driver test performances, they're ready.

Dave Lacey "The biggest things for us right now are a predominant understeer at the exit of the Bus Stop [turn] and just confidence in the brakes. It's a new braking system for us, so we're getting used to it. I think we made great progress from the time the car rolled off the trailer until now. We found a lot of little things and we made significant progress -- we took four seconds off our time yesterday and we're right there, we're right in the thick of things."

Mark Wilkins "We've got a very strong team. Each of us has done pretty much the same lap times, so we've got a very close team. We're one of the fastest teams in GT and we're probably the closest we've been to the top of the time sheets in the past few years. The car is fantastic; the SAMAX guys have done a great job on a new car. I'm confident we're going to compete for the GT win."

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