Monday, 28th January 2008

Top ten results no consolation for the team that pushed ganassi all the way at Daytona.

The result of the 2008 Rolex 24 at Daytona will show Michael Shank Racing sixth and ninth in the Daytona Prototype results, but the numbers don't do anything to demonstrate the strength of the two-car team's campaign.

Putting the new Roush-Yates Ford powered-Riley XX upgrade to excellent effect, Oswaldo Negri set a new track record in qualifying with the #60 entry, while AJ Allmendinger set a time merely 0.009secs behind the Brazilian to start alongside in an MSR front row sweep but, in a race that plays no favourites and takes no prisoners, the weekend did not reward that early performance.

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Establishing a strong presence at the front of the field early on, and never wavering through conditions that went from bad to worse on occasion as the famous green Rolex clicked off the seconds, minutes and hours, the team emerged in a prime position to challenge for victory late in the day - before fate intervened. Only the eventual race-winning Ganassi team led more laps than the two-car MSR assault but, after a series of setbacks, the team was forced to accept a double-top ten race result.

“We're tremendously proud of the qualifying effort we put together, but we were of course looking for more out of the race itself,” team owner Mike Shank admitted, “There just aren't words to describe the disappointment we're experiencing. We showed again that we have what it takes to be there on Sunday morning, with a shot at a win, but our luck just didn't last the whole day today.”

The #60 machine suffered from multiple tyre issues, beginning with Graham Rahal having to do a long slow lap after losing pressure early in his run, but, despite the problems, the entry remained firmly at the sharp end of the field. As the race found its stride on Sunday morning, however, the campaign was further hampered when Justin Wilson was forced into the barriers after a dropping a wheel over a kerb and damaging the suspension.

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