Joao Barbosa Will Start From The Pole When The Rolex 24 Takes The Green Flag Saturday afternoon.
Story & Photos By: ISMA SERIES MEDIA
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –January 27, 2017- Joao Barbosa captured the pole on Thursday for the 55th Rolex 24 at Daytona Int’l Speedway, showcasing one of the new Cadillac DPi Prototypes that are racing for the first time this week.
Barbosa, a resident of nearby Ormond Beach, Fla., had a fast lap of 1 minute, 36.903 seconds (132.2 mph) in the No. 5 entry on the 3.56-mile DIS road course to lead both overall and Prototype class qualifying. He’ll take the green flag Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Alongside Barbosa on the outside pole will be his Action Express Racing teammate Dane Cameron, who qualified second in the team’s No. 31. Barbosa will be joined by co-drivers Christian Fittipaldi and Felipe Albuquerque.
“Obviously, a great result for Action Express,” said Barbosa, a two-time Rolex 24 champion. “It’s good to know you have your teammate next to you at the start. And it’s good to know that we have a fast car, a real good car for the race. It’s really cool to give the Cadillac DPi its first pole position.”
Wayne Taylor Racing’s No. 10 Cadillac DPi being co-driven by three-time Daytona 500 champion Jeff Gordon qualified fourth, with Ricky Taylor at the wheel.
In Prototype Challenge, James French turned a pole-winning lap of 1:42.559/124.9 mph in the No. 38 ORECA FLM09 from Performance Tech Motorsports.
In GT Le Mans, 2011 Rolex 24 champion Joey Hand put the No. 66 Ford GT of Ford Chip Ganassi Racing on the pole, with a 1:43.473/123.8 mph effort.
The GT Daytona pole was won by Alessandro Pier Guidi in a Ferrari 488, at 1:47.099/119.6 mph.
Qualifying was also held for Friday’s four-hour BMW Endurance Challenge – the season-opener for IMSA’s production-based Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge. Dean Martin took the overall and Grand Sport class pole at 1:55.754 in the No. 59 Ford Mustang. The Street Tuner pole was won by Connor Bloum in the No. 18 Porsche Cayman, at 2:04.900.
