Testing report
IMSA
Rolex 24 testing complete with Fittipaldi holding fastest lap
Christian Fittipaldi and his Action Express Racing teammates left the speedway feeling good about their chances of winning the 52nd Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Published: Jan 5, 2014, 11:32 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Three days of "Roar Before the Rolex 24" test sessions wrapped up Sunday at Daytona International Speedway with a somewhat odd result. The fastest lap came from the very first session, withstanding seven subsequent sessions and a total track time of 12 hours, 45 minutes over a three-day period,
#5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP Chevrolet: Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi, Sébastien Bourdais
Photo by: Trevor Horn
A disclaimer: This was a test -- and only a test. Nonetheless, Christian Fittipaldi and his Action Express Racing teammates left the speedway feeling good about their chances of winning the 52nd Rolex 24 At Daytona, set for Jan. 25-26, the season-opening race for the new TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.
Fittipaldi put down the quick time -- both overall and in the headlining Prototype class -- Friday morning in the No. 5 Corvette DP: 1 minute, 38.630 seconds/129.940 mph on the Daytona 3.56-mile road course.
The weekend's other top times by class:
· Prototype Challenge -- 1:42.010/125.635 by Sam Bird (No. 8 ORECA FLM09), in the Roar's third session on Saturday;
· GT Le Mans -- 1:45.564/121.405 by Nick Tandy (No. 911 Porsche 911), in the second session on Friday;
· GT Daytona -- 1:47.981/118.688 by Spencer Pumpelly (No. 45 Audi R8), also in the second session on Friday.
IMSA Vice President of Competition and Technical Regulations Scot Elkins called the "Roar" a success, saying, "we still have a little bit of work to do [on competition] before the Rolex 24 but we made the gains we expected to make [since a test in November]. We also got the new rule book out to the teams during the test.
"We feel like we're in a good position. There's a feeling of optimism in the garage."
Testing, of course, is about more than posting fast laps. It sometimes is about revealing potential problems that could derail the actual race effort. The Ford/Riley Prototype teams fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing and Michael Shank Racing were dealing with that sort of situation; after posting some impressive times Friday and Saturday, potential exhaust system issues resulted in both teams waving off Sunday's final practice sessions to head back to their shops and go to work.
After all, time does grow short. Only three weeks to go, until the Rolex 24.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Roar Before The Rolex 24 wraps up
Next article Westbrook fastest on final day of Daytona testing
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Spencer Pumpelly
Long Beach GT4 America: Pumpelly beats James, Keegan top Amateur
SRO America
SRO America
Long Beach
Long Beach GT4 America: Pumpelly beats James, Keegan top Amateur
St Pete GT4 America: James scores last-gasp victory for Panoz
SRO America
SRO America
St. Pete
St Pete GT4 America: James scores last-gasp victory for Panoz
IndyCar stars set for St. Pete’s Kart4Kids race and charity auction
IndyCar
IndyCar
St. Pete
IndyCar stars set for St. Pete’s Kart4Kids race and charity auction
More from
Chip Ganassi Racing
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
IndyCar
IndyCar 1 h
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
Alex Palou to drive Indy NXT machinery in Chris Griffis Memorial Test at IMS
IndyCar
IndyCar 6 h
Alex Palou to drive Indy NXT machinery in Chris Griffis Memorial Test at IMS
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
Indy NXT
Indy NXT
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
Latest news
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
38 min
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 1 h
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
2 h
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
Dale Jr. explains why he doesn't use 'Earnhardt' in his signature
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 4 h
Dale Jr. explains why he doesn't use 'Earnhardt' in his signature
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe