January 9, 2010
Valiante Quickest at 2010 Daytona Test days
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 9, 2010) - Cold temperatures and precipitation, including light snow, freezing rain, sleet and patches of ice, merely dampened the morning practice sessions for the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.
But drivers, teams and crews kept their cool, and once their sessions started, posted admirable times under the cloudy skies of central Florida.
Michael Valiante recorded the fastest lap of the day in the No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley, 1:41.237 (126.594 mph), to lead the Daytona Prototypes. Leh Keen was fastest in GT practice in the No. 41 Dempsey Racing/Team Seattle Mazda RX-8, 1:49.214, set late in the night practice session.
Competitors in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge found conditions more to their liking, with Scott Maxwell unofficially bettering the existing track record.
The Roar Before The Rolex 24 wraps up Sunday. The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge will practice from 9 -10 a.m. and 1:30 - 2:15 p.m. The Rolex Series will practice from 10:15 a.m. - noon and 2:30-3:30 p.m. The session is open to the public.
Rarely is it as cold as it was Saturday morning in Daytona Beach, where temperatures stayed in the low 30s, and an ice buildup around the race track forced cancelation of the first Rolex Series session. A handful of competitors in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge braved the untested track during their first session before waiting it out for the afternoon.
Valiante, who was fastest during several practice sessions during the 2009 Daytona Prototype season, set his time late in the afternoon. Times in Daytona Prototypes dropped off during the 90-minute night practice session, while GT times picked up.
"Michael Shank Racing has done a fantastic job, and it's great to be teamed up with Mark Patterson, Brian Frisselle and AJ Allmendinger here," Valiante said. "I think we will be challenging for the top spot at every race we go to this year. I think we will have a shot at the pole here. Unfortunately, it's been quite cold here. The temperature here today is the same as it is back home in Vancouver (B.C., Canada), and I was expecting Florida to be a lot warmer."