Grand AM »

Bouchut paces day two of Rolex test

Christophe Bouchut and Dominik Farnbacher recorded the fastest laps in the respective Daytona Prototype and GT classes during Sunday's second day of Grand-Am testing at the 'Roar before the Rolex 24'.

The three-day session has 52 cars entered in preparation for the 47th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona later this month, but Bouchut - driving for the new LevelFive Motorsports team - led the DP class with a lap of 1min 41.884secs in the #55 BMW Riley he will co-drive with Scott Tucker and Ed Zabinski. Farnbacher, meanwhile, lapped the #86 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3 in 1min 51.424secs to join Bouchut in unofficially bettering the existing class lap records.

"Having a fast car actually has no affect on how you will do in the race," 1995 race winner Bouchut admitted, "When I won this race, I was 16th on the grid. But, especially for a new time coming to Daytona with a Daytona Prototype, it's a nice feeling [to be quickest]. We are not quite happy with our set-up right now, and we are working to be closer to [that] so, for sure, our time will be faster - and it would be nice to win the pole position."

Reigning IRL champion Scott Dixon led the second session with a lap of 1min 42.298secs in the #02 Chip Ganassi Lexus Riley, while Romain Dumas led the third and final session with a lap of 1min 42.154secs in the #7 Penske Racing Porsche Riley. In the GT class, David Haskell led the second session in the #70 Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8, while Andy Lally was fastest in the final hour in the #67 TRG Porsche GT3.

Despite Bouchut's day two pace, Michael Valiante's lap of 1min 41.760secs - set in the #6 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley on Saturday - remains the fastest lap completed during the opening two days of the test. SpeedSource Mazda's Sylvain Tremblay leads the GT class with a lap of 1min 51.205secs, recorded during Saturday's opening session.

Rob Finlay had a scare late in the afternoon when he cut a tyre and spun the #2 Childress-Howard Motorsports Pontiac Riley, but he avoided hitting anything and escaped with only bodywork damage. Finlay will co-drive the #2 with three-time winner Andy Wallace, IndyCar Series regular Danica Patrick and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Casey Mears in the season-opener later this month.

Comments
Comments

Social Networking
Social Networking


Latest Comments
Latest Comments
Be the first to comment on this article and see your comment appear right here!
Latest Comments
Related Images

Related Images

The No. 09 Spirit of Daytona Porsche Coyote that will be tested by 2009 Radical European Masters Champion Derek Johnston at Virginia International Raceway
Related Images
 
Site Map

MOTORSPORT

F1
NASCAR
WRC
WTCC
Indycar
GP2
Renault WS

 

Sportscars
F3
DTM
BTCC
V8 Supercars
A1GP
Rally UK

 

MotoGP
WSBK
BSB
Moto-X

INTERACTIVE

Audio
Podcasts
Have Your Say
Polls
RSS Newsfeeds
Make Homepage

 

Contact Us
Jobs
Free Screensavers
Official Links
Unofficial Links
Race Cars for Sale

SERVICES

Motorbike Insurance
Bike Insurance
Motoring Experiences
Motorcycling Experiences
Loans
Loading...
© 1999 - 2009 Crash Media Group
The total or partial reproduction of text, photographs or illustrations is not permitted in any form.

Contact Crash.Net  |  Advertise on Crash.Net  |  Our Privacy Policy  |  About Crash.Net  |  Get News Feeds  |  Need a Website?

Find car reviews on sports cars such as Ferrari, BMW, Porsche and many more.