Childress-Howard Motorsport has lost vital time in the Rolex 24 at Daytona after the team ran into electrical problems in the third hour.

The team had run in the top 20 during the first two hours, but Rob Finlay was forced to bring the car into the pits and behind the wall after the problem developed.

While the team was able to trace the problem and get Finlay back on track, he has now slipped well down the order and is languishing in 41st place.

“We had an electrical problem which we have traced to a wiring loom,” team-mate Andy Wallace – who completed a double stint at the start of the race – said. “The caution period [caused by an off from the #40 Mazda] has helped us but I still think we have probably lost 20 laps or so.”

Wallace also added that the team had been struggling with the tyre pressure on the new car during the opening hours, when temperatures had been at their highest.

“It's a new car so we are still getting to grips with it at the moment,” he said. “We have an issue, like all the teams do, with the tyres. We have to run a certain pressure due to the banking but its outside our optimum pressure on the rest of the lap so the car has been sliding around a lot. The second stint was better and as its getting cooler it will hopefully improve.”