Chevy Grand-am at Roar Before the 24: Day 1 – Testing Notes and Quotes

Team Chevy Kicks Off 2012 Grand-Am Road Racing Season at Roar Before the 24

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla (Jan. 6, 2012) – The 2012 Grand-Am season officially kicked off for Team Chevy with a three day test at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the 50th running of the Rolex 24 Hour at Daytona for the Rolex Sports Car Series as well at the Grand-Am 200 for the Continental Sports Car Challenge.

The Corvette Daytona Prototype took to the track with authority Friday, taking the top five positions in the Roar Before the Rolex 24.

Max Angelelli led the day with a lap of 126.382 mph in the No. 10 SunTrust Corvette DP he shares with Ricky Taylor and Ryan Briscoe. He was followed by David Donohue in the No. 5 Action Express Corvette DP (co-drivers Darren Law and Christian Fittipaldi)(126.213 mph), Max Papis in the No. 9 Action Express Corvette DP (co-drivers Terry Borcheller, J.C. France and Joao Barbosa) (126.138 mph), Alex Gurney in the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Corvette DP (co-drivers Jon Fogarty and Memo Gidley) (125.893 mph) and Antonio Garcia in the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP (co-driver Richard Westbrook, Oliver Gavin and Jan Magnussen) (125.832 mph).

MAX ANGELELLI QUOTES:

ON THE FIRST DAY OF TESTING: “Our Corvette today handled really well and we’re pleased with our first day of practice. We’ll continue our test program which is focused on long runs. I did a little bit of that today. Tomorrow we’ll do some more, and then we’ll do some performance testing later tomorrow. “

ARE YOU SURPRISED AT BEING THE FASTEST TODAY? “I think we shouldn’t really be concerned about that. Everybody here is just checking stuff, being the first day. I doubt anybody else really pushed, as I didn’t, either. I think it was just a matter of coincidence”

HOW IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW CORVETTE GOING? “There is a lot to do. If you think that we worked on the Dallara for three years and kept improving it and just kept improving it, so it’s a long walk we have in front of us.”

JIM LUTZ, GRAND-AM PROGRAM RACING, GM RACING:

ON THE FIRST DAY OF TESTING: “The Corvette Daytona Prototype team and the five cars had a good day working on minor adjustments and getting the drivers track time, the normal things we do at the Roar getting ready for the Rolex 24 Hour race. We got a late start this morning with fog but the teams quickly got down to work.

“Day two tomorrow will be a much longer day because we will also have a night practice session that will give the teams a great deal more track time to prepare for the Rolex.

“In GT (Grand Touring), our Camaros are doing well. The Stevenson Motorsports teams had some minor issues to work through while the Autohaus Motorsports entry had a trouble free day.

“Our Camaros in GS (Grand Sport) were a little bit off pace and we have a little more of a challenge there, but with two more days of testing, we have the opportunity to gain a great deal of ground.

“I am sure we will see the order on the time sheets move around in the next two days as teams continue to improve their race packages. But for day one, I am extremely pleased with the results of the day and look forward to more progress the next two days.”