O quarteto formado por Scott Pruett/ Memo Rojas/ Dario Franchitti/ Juan Pablo Montoya, num Lexus/Riley da Chip Ganassi, venceu neste domingo as 24 horas de Daytona, etapa de abertura da Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.
O quarteto completou 695 voltas em 24h07m36s, com duas voltas de vantagem sobre o quarteto Jon Fogarty/ Alex Gurney/ Jimmy Vasser/ Jimmie Johnson, num Pontiac/ Riley da Bob Stellings Racing. Foi a terceira vitória consecutiva da Chip Ganassi na tradicional prova, que realizou a sua 46º edição.
Saindo da 6º posição, o quarteto assumiu a ponta na 18º hora de prova, com Pruett. Montoya assumiu o carro na hora seguinte, guiando tranquilamente até a bandeirada final. O trio Ryan Briscoe/ Helio Castroneves/ Kurt Busch, num Pontiac/ Riley da Penske-Taylor Racing, completou o pódio, com seis voltas de atraso.
Ricardo Zonta, em trio com Nic Jonsson e Darren Turner, nem Pontiac Riley da Krohn Racing, terminou em 4º. Depois de marcar a pole-position, Oswaldo Negri Júnior, num Ford/Riley da Michael Shank Racing, terminou em 6º. Ele formou a equipe com Mike Patterson/ Justin Wilson/ Grahan Rahal.
Pela classe GT Raphael Matos dividiu um Mazda RX-8 da SpeedSource com um Nick Ham/ David Haskell/ Sylvain Tremblay, vencendo na categoria com sete voltas de vantagem para o quarteto Bryce Miller/ Ted Ballou/ Andy Lally/ Richard Westbrook, Porsche GT3 Cup da TRG. No geral os vencedores ficaram em 9º lugar.
Vitor Meira/ Ed Carpenter/ A.J.Foyt IV/ John Andretti, num Porsche/Crawford da Vision Racing, foi o 25º colocado. O único brasileiro a abandonar a prova foi Thomas Erdos, que dividiu um Pontiac Coyote da Cheever Racing com Mike Newton/ Scott Mayer/ Brent Sherman/ Tom Kimber-Smith. Eles abandonaram com Erdos ao volante, logo na 45º volta.
A prova teve um total de 24 bandeiras, totalizando 95 voltas. Em bandeira verde foram 17h59s41s.
A próxima etapa acontece no dia 29 de março, no Homestead Miami Speedway.
Final:
1 01 DP 1 Pruett/ Rojas/ Franchitti/ Pablo Montoya 695 voltas Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Lexus / Riley
2 99 DP 2 Fogarty/ Gurney/ Vasser/ Johnson 693 voltas GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac / Riley
3 9 DP 3 Briscoe/ Castroneves/ Busch 689 Penske-Taylor Racing Pontiac / Riley
4 76 DP 4 Jonsson/ Zonta/ Turner 688 Krohn Racing Pontiac / Riley
5 10 DP 5 Taylor/ Angelelli/ Valiante/ Taylor 687 SunTrust Racing Pontiac / Riley
6 60 DP 6 Patterson/ Negri Jr/ Wilson/ Rahal 680 Michael Shank Racing Ford / Riley
7 75 DP 7 Krohn/ van de Poele/ Gavin 678 Krohn Racing Pontiac / Riley
8 91 DP 8 Matthews/ Goossens/ O’Connell/ Hunter-Reay 676 Bob Stallings/ Riley-Matthews Pontiac / Riley
9 70 GT 1 Haskell/ Tremblay/ Ham/ Matos 664 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8
10 66 GT 2 Miller/ Ballou/ Lally/ Westbrook 657 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
11 67 GT 3 George Jr/ Pumpelly/ Sellers/ Dumas/ Collard 657 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
12 64 GT 4 Lowe/ Pace/ van Overbeek/ Sugden/ Valentine 656 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
13 69 GT 5 Assentato/ Longhi/ Segal/ Pechnik 653 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8
14 6 DP 9 Pew/ James/ Allmendinger/ Frisselle 652 Michael Shank Racing Ford / Riley
15 09 DP 10 Cosmo/ Camirand/ McDowell 652 Spirit of Daytona Racing Porsche / FABCAR
16 80 GT 6 Greenberg/ Faulkner/ Heylen/ Arnold 651 Synergy Racing Porsche GT3 Cup
17 07 GT 7 Edwards/ Collins/ Magnussen/ Pilgrim 647 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R
18 87 GT 8 Werner/ Farnbacher/ Ehret/ Bernhard 646 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
19 57 GT 9 Liddell/ Davis/ Pobst/ Jeannette 644 Stevenson Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R
20 30 GT 10 Dobson/ Thorne/ Staveley/ Stone 642 Racers Edge Motorsports Mazda RX-8
21 74 GT 11 Skea/ Patch/ Hamblin/ Safina/ Murry 638 Autometrics Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup
22 88 GT 12 Lacey/ Wilkins/ Kaffer/ Stippler/ Curran 637 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
23 59 DP 11 France/ Barbosa/ Haywood/ Borcheller 622 Brumos Racing Porsche / Riley
24 84 GT 13 Bingham/ Pickering/ Cotter/ Pe 619 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
25 03 DP 12 Carpenter/ Foyt IV/ Meira/ Andretti/ George 615 Vision Racing Porsche / Crawford
26 44 GT 14 Paquette/ Nixon/ Van Zanten Jr/ Arnold 615 Bullet Racing Porsche GT3 Cup
27 58 DP 13 Law/ Donohue/ Rice/ Haywood 611 Brumos Racing Porsche / Riley
28 7 DP 14 Plumb/ Wahl/ Gregoire/ Cullen/ Shovlin 601 Sigalsport BMW / Riley
29 17 GT 15 Zitza/ Jensen/ Jensen/ Taylor 599 Terra Firma Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup
30 72 GT 16 Aschenbach/ Lewis Jr/ Stanton/ Papis 590 Autohaus Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R
31 34 GT 17 Willsey/ Papadopoulos/ Fitzger 589 Orbit Porsche GT3 Cup
32 65 GT 18 Oasis/ Atherton/ Stout/ Daskalos/ Archer 585 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
33 86 GT 19 Henzler/ Lux/ Keen/ Maassen/ Bergmeister 580 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
34 52 GT 20 Ragazzi/ Chi Min/ Castellano/ Machado 578 Mastercar Ferrari 430 Challenge
35 85 GT 21 Kitch Jr/ Bentley/ Miller/ Pal 572 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
36 23 DP 15 Auberlen/ Hand/ Long/ Wallace 569 Alex Job Racing Porsche / Crawford
37 06 GT 22 Edwards/ Reese/ Nearn/ Bunting/ Pilgrim 564 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R
38 81 GT 23 Johnson/ Huisman/ Doornbos/ Lietz 558 Synergy Racing Porsche GT3 Cup
39 40 GT 24 Foster/ Espenlaub/ Dempsey/ Kapudija/ Maxwell 552 Hyper Sport Mazda RX-8
40 68 GT 25 Gomez/ Auriemma/ Mayes/ Schroeder/ Milner 550 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
41 77 DP 16 Gidley/ Jaeger/ Gollin/ Gardel 546 Doran Racing Ford / Doran
42 3 DP 17 Lewis/ Lester/ Christopher/ Ba 527 Southard Motorsports Lexus / Riley
43 14 GT 26 Friedman/ McGehee/ Lazzaro/ Kelleners 524 Autometrics Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup
44 02 DP 18 Dixon/ Wheldon/ Duran/ Lloyd 515 Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Lexus / Riley
45 21 GT 27 Reindler/ Prewitt/ Trenery/ A 513 Matt Connolly Motorsports Pontiac GTO.R
46 62 GT 28 Burtin/ Baldwin/ Tucker/ Zabinski/ Ragginger 511 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
47 27 GT 29 O’Connell/ Roush/ Plumb/ Wilson 473 O’Connell Racing Porsche GT3 Cup
48 61 DP 19 Frisselle/ Wilkins/ Ranger/ Braun 448 AIM Autosport Ford / Riley
49 29 GT 30 Rosenzweig/ Gabel/ Woodman/ Dumoulin/ Gleason 418 Alegra Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup
50 43 GT 31 Sahlen/ Nonnamaker/ Nonnamaker/ Nonnamaker 401 Team Sahlen Corvette
51 83 GT 32 McCrackin/ Walker/ Ludwig/ Cre 397 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
52 26 GT 33 Jacalone/ Jacalone/ Michaelian/ Michaelian 364 Gotham Competition Porsche GT3 Cup
53 89 GT 34 Drudi/ Giammaria/ Rosa/ Hardt/ Petrobelli 284 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
54 50 GT 35 Farano/ Jensen/ Cloud/ Said/ Bradley 255 Blackforest Motorsports Ford Mustang
55 2 DP 20 Zogaib/ Rockenfeller/ McNish/ Luhr 233 SAMAX Pontiac / Riley
56 31 DP 21 Ingham/ / Schultis/ Contini/ Frost/ Konopka 231 Matt Connolly Motorsports Pontiac / Chase
57 15 GT 36 Nastasi/ Empringham/ Dumoulin/ Said 177 Blackforest Motorsports Ford Mustang
58 16 DP 22 Garcia/ Bobbi/ Ortelli/ Babini 170 Cheever Racing Pontiac / Coyote
59 90 GT 37 Thornton/ Long/ Varde/ Russell 163 Automatic Racing BMW M6 / Riley
60 22 GT 38 Gabel/ de Quesada/ Basseng / Swartzbaugh/ Pilet 149 Alegra Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup
61 11 DP 23 Dalziel/ Duno/ Enge/ Primat 97 SAMAX Pontiac / Riley
62 08 GT 39 Goldin/ Goldin/ Meassick/ Kenn 83 Goldin Brothers Racing Mazda RX-8
63 12 DP 24 Schramm/ Bell/ Kasemets/ Bell/ Dallenbach 65 RVO Motorsports Pontiac / Riley
64 56 GT 40 Monzon/ Marsh/ Montanari/ Veni 55 Mastercar Ferrari 430 Challenge
65 51 DP 25 Newton/ Erdos/ Mayer/ Sherman/ Kimber-Smith 45 Cheever Racing Pontiac / Coyote
66 63 GT 41 Ende/ Yarab Jr/ Bourque/ Maher 31 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
0 42 GT 42 Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker / Sahlen 0 Team Sahlen Corvette