It’s really wet down in Florida, but the constant downpour couldn’t keep qualifying for the Rolex 24 at Daytona from taking place Thursday afternoon.
The field of four classes and 54 cars has been set for the endurance race that will begin on Jan. 30. Included in the race’s field are multiple drivers from the worlds of NASCAR and IndyCar.
The majority of those drivers will be in the Prototype class.
But the best qualifier was the car driven by Russian Mikhail Aleshin. Aleshin qualified on the pole for the Prototype class in the No. 37 SMP Racing BR01 Nissan.
But because of the rain and Rule 40.1.4 in the 2016 IMSA rulebook, the field will start in order of class, meaning Aleshin will have the overall pole.
The car will also be driven by Nicolas Minassian, Maurizio Mediani and Kirill Ladygin.
The No. 31 Action Express Racing Corvette DP, that IndyCar’s Simon Pagenaud will drive along with Dane Cameron, Eric Curran and Jonny Adam, qualified sixth in class.
The Chip Ganassi-owned No. 02 Riley-Ford, which will be driven by IndyCar’s Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan and NASCAR’s Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson, qualified seventh in class with Dixon behind the wheel.
Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay will be one of the pilots for the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing Corvette DP, which starts eighth in class.
Three IndyCar veterans will be in the GT Le Mans class.
Graham Rahal will drive in the Le Mans GT class. The No. 100 BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE starts third.
Sebastien Bourdais will be in the No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT, which rolls off ninth in class.
Ryan Briscoe, a driver for the No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT, will start 10th in class.
Here are how the rest of the IndyCar and NASCAR participants will start the 24 Hours at Daytona
- Jack Hawksworth in P5 (No. 8 Starworks Motorsport Oreca FLM09, Prototype Challenge)
- Spencer Pigot in P12 (No. 55 Mazda Motorsports Mazda Prototype, Prototype)
- AJ Allmendinger in P3 (No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ligier JS P2 Honda, Prototype)
- Townsend Bell in P9 (No. 11 O’Gara Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3, GT Daytona)
Here are the full qualifying results for the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona.