Rolex 24 GTD class pole winner, others penalized (UPDATED) - MotorSportsTalk

UPDATE (8:58 p.m. ET): Post-qualifying inspection failures have resulted in three cars having their Rolex 24 at Daytona qualifying times disallowed, including the GTD class pole-winning No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Audi R8.

Christopher Haase had taken the No. 48 to P1 on the GTD charts but IMSA officials found an unapproved rear wing endplate on the Audi and have subsequently sent it to the rear of the field for Saturday’s race.

Another quick GTD machine, the No. 46 Fall Line Motorsports Audi R8, has suffered the same fate because of a ride-height violation. The car had originally qualified third in the class.

Finally, the No. 78 Starworks Motorsport Prototype was popped in inspection for both a ride-height violation and the use of an unapproved aerodynamic device. Brendon Hartley had originally put the No. 78 third on both the overall and Prototype grids.

With all of that taken into account, the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia (GRAND-AM GT driver’s champion Alessandro Balzan/Toni Vilander/Jeff Westphal/Lorenzo Case) has been elevated to pole in GTD. Corsa’s sister Ferrari, the No. 65, is now second on the class grid, and the No. 007 TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3 shall line up third.

As for the Prototype grid, everyone from fourth on back will now move up one position.

GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing took the overall and P class pole position in the hands of Alex Gurney, in the No. 99 Corvette DP. Before the penalty to the Starworks No. 78, Gurney’s lap of 1:38.270 led seven straight Daytona Prototypes, with the DeltaWing eighth in the hands of Katherine Legge and the fastest P2 car only 11th, 1.5 seconds behind the overall pole.

Colin Braun followed up his early pace in the day’s two practice sessions to earn the PC class pole in his No. 54 CORE autosport ORECA FLM09. Braun, a veteran of several Rolex 24s in DPs and GT cars, said he was adjusting to racing at Daytona with the expanded field of vision from an open cockpit car.

In GTLM, the No. 91 Viper GTS-R, driven by Marc Goossens, posted a flier of 1:44.506 to lead one of the factory Porsche 911s, the second Viper, the No. 4 Corvette C7.R and second Porsche in the class top five.

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Ryan Hunter-Reay was named to replace Conor Daly in Ed Carpenter Racing’s No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet, starting in the NTT IndyCar Series event next week at Road America.

Hunter-Reay is the 2012 series champion and 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner. He finished 11th for Dreyer & Reinbold last month in the 107th Indy 500, his first start since the 2021 season finale. He drove full time for Andretti Autosport from 2010-21.

“We need to improve our competitiveness and I wanted to add a fresh perspective from a driver like Ryan who has a massive amount of experience and success as well as a reputation as a team leader. I am excited to welcome Ryan to the team,” team owner Ed Carpenter said in a team release. “We have worked together in the past as teammates and he tested for ECR at Barber Motorsports Park in October 2021, where he made an immediate impact as we were able to qualify one of our cars on the pole following that test. I am confident that his experience and technical abilities will be an asset to ECR as we move forward toward our goals as a team.”

Hunter-Reay has 18 IndyCar victories, most recently in 2018. He also is a winner in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, having been a part of winning entries in the 2020 Twelve Hours of Sebring and 2018 Petit Le Mans. Last year, he was an endurance driver for Cadillac Racing while being on standby for Chip Ganassi Racing.

He replaces Daly, whose departure was announced a day earlier in what the driver and team said was a mutual decision.

“I was surprised when I got the call from Ed,” Hunter-Reay said in a team release. “He described how frustrated he was that his team has not been able to realize its potential despite their efforts, investments, as well as technical and personnel changes over the past few years and asked for my help. Ed and I are very close friends and have been for a long time. I’ve worked with the team in the past and they are a very talented group with high expectations and a committed partner in BITNILE.COM.

“This will certainly be a challenge for me as well. It’s a tough situation jumping in a car in the middle of the season without any testing in what I believe to be the most competitive series in the world. Certainly, part of my motivation in saying ‘yes’ to Ed is the great challenge ahead. The last time I turned right driving an NTT IndyCar Series car was in October of 2021 with this team at Barber. However, I remain very confident in both my driving and technical abilities and believe by working with the talented people at ECR and Team Chevy, while representing BITNILE.COM, we will make progress. I am going to do everything I can do to help the team achieve its long-term objectives.”

Said Milton “Todd” Ault, the chairman of sponsor BitNile.com: “It is great for BitNile.com to be aligned with an Indy 500 Winner and an NTT IndyCar Series champion. I have followed Ryan’s career for years and I am confident he will challenge the entire ECR team to perform at higher levels. I wish everyone luck at Road America.”