TRG-AMR in good shape on Sebring grid after qualifying

TRG-AMR will be in strong contention for GT Daytona class victory at the Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday, March 15 after a strong qualifying performance Friday, March 14 at Sebring International Raceway.

James Davison drove the No. 007 Residences at the Hard Rock Hotel Daytona Beach Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 to fourth on the GTD grid with a top lap of 2:04.320. Davison's lap was less than a tenth of a second away from pole in the highly competitive class, which featured five different manufacturers in the top five spots, including Aston Martin.

#007 TRG-AMR Aston Martin V12 Vantage: David Block, Al Carter, James Davison

Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt

"It's a long race tomorrow, so let's see how everything goes. We've got a good car, good drivers, good team."

Davison showed his diverse talent by jumping from the team's V8 Vantage GT4 car in the two-hour, 30-minute Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race right into the V12 Vantage GT3 for TUDOR United SportsCar Championship qualifying in a matter of minutes.

"When you've been driving the Conti car all day, it's a completely different car," Davison said. "It's only sensible for me to build up to my ultimate performance (in qualifying). I was very pleased with how I drove. I definitely feel I got the most out of the car. The big picture is the race."

Davis flat-spotted a tire on the No. 009 in Turn 17 of the 17-turn, 3.74-mile Sebring circuit approaching his first flying qualifying lap. The ensuing vibration compromised his remaining laps and hid the true performance of the car and of Davis behind the wheel.

"To be honest, I made a mistake," Davis said. "The TRG guys gave me a great car, and coming around for the first lap, I went down into (Turn) 17 and locked it up pretty bad, threw that lap away. Once you lock it up that bad, it just finds that spot (on the tire). It's a long race. We'll go from here and look for a long and positive race."

James Davison (No. 007 Residences at the Hard Rock Hotel Daytona Beach Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3): "When you've been driving the Conti (Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge) car all day, it's a completely different car. It's only sensible for me to build up to my ultimate performance. I was very pleased with how I drove. I definitely feel I got the most out of the car. In hindsight, we could have made the rear stick a little bit. That was my limiting factor. But for the second race this year, we're within a half a tenth of the pole. It's a great result, regardless. The big picture is the race. It's great to have the pole, but the race is 12 hours long, and qualifying dictates who's got track position on the first lap."

Brandon Davis (No. 009 Residences at the Hard Rock Hotel Daytona Beach Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3): "To be honest, I made a mistake. The TRG guys gave me a great car, and coming around for the first lap, I went down into (Turn) 17 and locked it up pretty bad, threw that lap away. Then I was kind of driving around the rest of the way. Once you lock it up that bad, it just finds that spot (on the tire). I had to back those braking points up and just kind of throw one in there. It's not ideal; it's not as fast as we'd like. It's a long race. We'll go from here and look for a long and positive race."

Kevin Buckler (CEO, TRG-AMR): "Both cars, we had pretty high hopes there. Unfortunately with the 009, it looks like Brandon had a little chirp on the tires early in the session, so he wasn't able to show his potential. But there's a lot more in the car and a lot more in him. James was running great. We were all in. It's pretty damn cool when you've got five cars and five different manufacturers in the top five spots, two-tenths of a second apart. That's pretty close. I've got to give everybody credit. That's one hell of a qualifying effort. It's a long race tomorrow, so let's see how everything goes. We've got a good car, good drivers, good team."

TRG-AMR