Flying Lizard takes Daytona pole
Porsche factory driver Jorg Bergmeister made a spectacular return to the Daytona Prototype category when he claimed pole position for this weekend's Daytona 24 Hours
The 2006 Daytona Prototype champion, who last drove one of Grand-Am's prototypes in 2007, claimed the top spot with a new class qualifying record of 1m40.099s aboard the Flying Lizard Riley-Porsche MkXI/XX as the leading GT team made its DP debut. The German was just over three one hundredths of a second ahead of 2010 pole-winner Max Angelelli aboard the SunTrust Dallara-Chevrolet DP01.
Bergmeister, who shares his Riley with team boss Seth Neiman, Patrick Long and Johannes van Overbeek, said: "I have to thank the team. It is our first time with a DP, so this is pretty impressive. I was only aiming for a top five, so I was really surprised to get pole."
The first of the Ganassi Rileys qualified third in the hands of reigning Grand-Am DP champion Scott Pruett, who was just over a tenth slower than Angelelli. Expat Briton Ryan Dalziel, who was fastest in pre-event testing in early-January, ended up fourth fastest in the best of the Starworks Riley-Fords.
Former Daytona winner Martin Brundle was ninth fastest in his first major race in nearly 10 years. He ended up just under seven tenths shy of pole in his Michael Shank Racing-run United Autosports Riley-Ford.
Pos Drivers Car Time 1. Long/Bergmeister/Neiman/van Overbeek Riley-Porsche 1m40.099s 2. Taylor/Angelelli/Taylor/Briscoe Dallara-Chevy 1m40.133s 3. Pruett/Rojas/Rahal/Hand Riley-BMW 1m40.245s 4. Forest/Dalziel/Lowe/Braun/Enge Riley-Ford 1m40.250s 5. Dixon/Montoya/Franchitti/McMurray Riley-BMW 1m40.302s 6. Garcia/Edwards/Maassen Coyote-Chevy 1m40.396s 7. Frisselle/Richard/Bell/Kaiser Dallara-Ford 1m40.468s 8. Allmendinger/Wilson/McDowell Dallara-Ford 1m40.469s 9. Brown/Patterson/Blundell/Brundle Riley-Ford 1m40.784s 10. Fogarty/Gurney/Johnson Riley-Chevy 1m40.828s
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