Pole winning SMP Racing Nissan shown practicing in the wet. [Joe Jennings Photo]
Sporting a smile of satisfaction, Rolex 24 pole winner Mikhail Aleshin addresses the media. [Joe Jennings Photo]
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In the pouring rain and in near-darkness at the Daytona International Speedway, Mikhail Aleshin braved the elements to garner the prestigious pole for the 54th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Driving the new SMP Racing BR01 Nissan, the IndyCar driver slid around the 3.56-mile road course in a time of 2:05.693 seconds to win the pole position for the Protoype class.
“During the session, the track conditions became worse, and on my fastest lap, I almost hit the wall a couple of times. I was surprised to stay on the track,” said the Russian driver. “These conditions are the most difficult I have driven in during my career. It was difficult to drive over the standing water.
“When you see my face and smile, you know how important it is to me to win the pole. And I am driving a brand new Russian-made car, and I was one of the drivers that developed this car last year.”
Aleshin’s co-drivers are another Russian, Kirill Ladygin, Nicolas Minassian and Maurizio Mediani.
Even though the Prototype times were not the fastest, the class will start at front of the field on Saturday.
Starting alongside the pole winner will be the Tequila Patron Ligier Honda of Scott Sharp and company with row two being the 2015 pole winning Michael Shank Racing Ligier Honda of Oz Negri, A. J. Allmendinger and others, plus the Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP of the Taylor brothers, Max Angelelli and new addition Rubens Barrichello.
Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Prototypes run in tandem during Rolex 24 practice. [Joe Jennings Photo]
The 2015 winning Chip Ganassi Racing Ford of Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson starts seventh.
In the GTLM class, Nick Tandy splashed to the pole in a Porsche 911 RSR in a time of 2:01.408 minutes. His co-drivers are Patrick Pilet and Kevin Estre.
“It was an interesting qualifying session with the red flag, which reduced our time and only allowed one qualifying lap,” noted Tandy. “The pressure was on and I found it best to follow some other cars and let them blow the water off. I wanted to have a time that would put me ahead of the GT grid, so the risk-reward was quite high.”
Norbert Siedler of Austria pushed the Park Place Motorsports Porsche GT3 R to the top qualifying position in the GTD class. His time was 2:05.758 minutes. “Porches are always good in the rain, and it is good to get the pole,” the Austrian said.
Siedler shares the driving duties with Jorg Bergmeister, Patrick Lindsey and Matthew McMurry.
The PC Challenge pole went to Johnny Mowlen driving the BAR1 Motorsports Oreca FLM09. Tomy Drissi, NASCAR’s Brendan Gaughan, Marc Drumwright and Ricardo Vera co-drive the open-cockpit car.
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