Negri puts MSR on Daytona pole
Michael Shank Racing claimed the top two positions in qualifying for the 2008 Rolex 24 at Daytona, with Oswaldo Negri Jr beating teammate AJ Allmendinger to pole by just 0.009 seconds
Negri, who will share his Riley-Ford with Mark Patterson and Champ Car frontrunners Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal, lapped in 1:40.793 - nearly three seconds faster than last year's pole time.
Riley-Matthews/Bob Stallings Racing's Marc Goossens held the top spot in the early part of the 15-minute Daytona Prototype qualifying session, before the MSR cars edged ahead with in the closing stages.
NASCAR driver Allmendinger beat Negri's first effort by 0.156 seconds, but the Brazilian retaliated with three minutes remaining, pushing his teammate back into second place.
The SunTrust Racing and AIM Autosport entries complete the top five, ahead of last year's Daytona 24 Hours winners Scott Pruett and Juan Pablo Montoya, who this season share their Ganassi Riley-Lexus with Memo Rojas and Dario Franchitti.
Reigning Grand-Am series champions Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty settled for 11th position in the GAINSCO/Bob Stallings car that will be co-driven by NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson and 1996 Champ Car title winner Jimmy Vasser.
In the GT class, SpeedSource Mazda driver Sylvain Tremblay beat Christian Montanari's Ferrari 430 to pole position, with TRG driver Spencer Pumpelly the best of the Porsche runners in third.
Leading qualifying positions:
Pos Drivers Car Time 1. Negri/Patterson/Rahal/Wilson Ford Riley 1:40.793 2. Allmendinger/Frisselle/James/Pew Ford Riley 1:40.802 3. Goossens/Hunter-Reay/Matthews/O'Connell Pontiac Riley 1:41.041 4. Angelelli/Taylor/Taylor/Valiante Pontiac Riley 1:41.161 5. Braun/Frisselle/Ranger/Wilkins Ford Riley 1:41.413 6. Franchitti/Montoya/Pruett/Rojas Lexus Riley 1:41.505 7. Donohue/Law/Rice Porsche Riley 1:41.764 8. Dalziel/Duno/Enge/Primat Pontiac Riley 1:41.878 9. Cullin/Gregoire/Plumb/Shovlin/Wahl BMW Riley 1:41.975 10. Dixon/Duran/Lloyd/Wheldon Lexus Riley 1:41.996 11. Fogarty/Gurney/Johnson/Vasser Pontiac Riley 1:42.160 12. Auberlen/Hand/Long/Wallace Porsche Crawford 1:42.230 13. Briscoe/Busch/Castroneves Pontiac Riley 1:42.257 14. Luhr/McNish/Rockenfeller/Zogaib Pontiac Riley 1:42.271 15. Jonsson/Turner/Zonta Pontiac Riley 1:42.296 16. Gardel/Gidley/Gollin/Jaeger Ford Doran 1:42.526 17. Barbosa/Borcheller/France/Haywood Porsche Riley 1:42.816 18. Lester/Lewis Lexus Riley 1:42.936 19. Bell/Bell/Dallenbach/Kasemets/Schramm Pontiac Riley 1:43.135 20. Andretti/Carpenter/Foyt/George/Meira Porsche Crawford 1:43.342
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