Qualifying: Theys on pole for Doran
Belgian Didier Theys will start from pole position at this weekend's Daytona 24 Hours after averaging over 125mph at the famous track in his Doran-Lista Racing Dallara-Judd
It is the second time Theys has secured the top starting slot for the race, repeating the feat he accomplished back in 1996.
"The most important thing for me was to try to find a clean spot on the track where there wasn't much traffic in front of you," said Theys, who won the race in 1998. "The track was very slippery today; mainly the heat did that. The colder weather that's forecast for this weekend will be better for the car and engine."
Former F1 drivers Max Papis and Mauro Baldi, together with Fredy Lienhard of Switzerland, will share driving duties with Theys, although the rotation order has yet to be decided.
South African Werner Lupberger took second spot in the Judd-powered Team Ascari entry, which will also be driven by Timothy Bell jr and Harri Toivonen. He was less than a tenth of a second off the pole. The Jan Lammers/Tony Stewart/Johnny Mowlem Crawford-Judd will start from third place.
After taking pole for the past three Daytonas, James Weaver was expected to challenge for the top spot in his Ford-powered Riley & Scott. However, rules changes mean the Ford engine carries a weight penalty compared to the Judd and he had to settle for fifth.
The all-star line up of Eric van de Poele, David Brabham, Stefan Johansson and Ralf Kelleners qualified the sole Ferrari 333SP in sixth, just over a second off the pole time.
Paul Gentilozzi was the fastest of the GTS runners in his Jaguar and will start from 15th place. Top honours in the SportsRacing Prototype II class went to the Rand Racing Lola-Nissan of Anthony Lazarro, while Irv Hoerr was fastest of the American GT runners in the Sky Blue Racing Mustang. Joao Barbosa qualified his Mosler MT900 R in 31st place, the only GT entry to make the 35-car cut.
The remaining starting slots will be decided in a second qualifying shoot-out to be held later today.
Theys/Lienhard/Papis/Baldi Dallara-Judd SRP 1m42.058s
Lupberger/Bell jr/Toivonen Ascari-Judd SRP 1m42.157s
Lammers/Stewart/Mowlem Crawford-Judd SRP 1m42.478s
Smith/Matthews/Sharp/Gordon Riley & Scott-Elan SRP 1m42.538s
Weaver/Leitzinger/Gavin Riley & Scott-Ford SRP 1m42.856s
van de Poele/Brabham/Johansson/Kelleners Ferrari 333SP SRP 1m43.159s
Forbes-Robinson/R Dyson/Schroeder/C Dyson Riley & Scott-Ford SRP 1m43.915s
Wallace/Haywood/Maassen/Luhr Lola-Porsche SRP 1m44.231s
Baldwin/Robinson/Dallenbach jr/Simo Riley & Scott-Judd SRP 1m45.019s
Field/Durand/Dayton Lola-Judd SRP 1m45.079s
Gentilozzi/Simo/Pruett/Lauer Jaguar GTS 1m48.277s
Lazzaro/Rand/Borcheller/Kelleners Lola-Nissan SRPII 1m49.449s
Hoerr/Brassfield/Busch/Duncan Mustang AGT 1m50.957s
Barbosa/Perrier/Neugarten Mosler MT900 R GT 1m53.988s
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