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Level Five Motorsports Leads The Way In Rolex Series Testing At Daytona

Daytona Beach, FL – The Rolex Sports Car Series completed the second of three days of tests Sunday at the Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the upcoming Rolex24. Leading the way in the three-timed sessions was the Level Five Motorsports BMW Riley co-driven by Christophe Bouchut, Scott Tucker and Ed Zabinski.

Bouchut toured the 3.56-mile course at 125.790 miles per hour in the opening round of practice. “We are a bit unhappy with our car’s set-up,” said the French driver, who went to victory lane in 1995. He said the car ran better a few weeks ago. “The tires were different at that time as were the temperatures. Also, the track was fresher. We are continuing to work on the car as son and as soon as we get closer, our time will be faster. Absolutely, we can go faster.”

The Krohn Racing Ford Lola of Ricardo Zonta, Darren Turner and Nic Jonsson had the second fastest speed at 125.688 mph. Third fastest at 125.584 mph was the Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley of Oswaldo Negri Jr., Ryan Hunter-Reay, Colin Braun and Mark Patterson.

The three fastest times occurred in the morning practice.

Leading the way in the second round of practice was the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley of IndyCar stars Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti and Alex Lloyd. Their speed was 125.281 mph. A. J. Allmendinger, John Pew, Michael Valiante and Ian James, in the second Shank entry, had the second fastest time.

“We are getting a better balance on the car,” Allmendinger said. “We put a good lap in but it is all about 24 hours.”

Third in the round at 125.200 mph was the Orbit Racing BMW Riley of Darren Manning, Leo Hindery Jr. And Kyle Petty. “Any car up and down pit lane can win,” Manning said. “These cars are so even makes for a more enjoyable racing environment.”

In the late afternoon run, the Penske Racing Porsche Riley of Romain Dumas, Ryan Briscoe and Timo Bernhard led the way at 125.458 mph.
Said Dumas, “We continue to work on the car and we are trying different things. We are looking for the best thing to have for the race later this month.”

Added owner Roger Penske, who arrived today, “We had a good run. Romain (Dumas) is a great driver, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Everyone is probably sandbagging, so it is not time to turn it on. I was happy with the consistency of the run and three drivers.”

Penske acknowledged he has decided to have just one car in the race. “With the sponsorship and all the things we have going on, we elected to run one car in the race, just as we will be doing in the series.”

The Alegra Motorsports BMW Riley of Ryan Dalziel, Tomas Enge, Chapman Ducote and Carlos de Quesada was second quickest at 125.222 mph. “We could have run faster but we have had teething problems, so it was a good lap for us. It was a great result for us and there’s more there.”

Third was Dixon in the Ganassi entry.

Leading the way in the GT class was one of five Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3 entries, that of Eric Lux, Kevin Roush, Dominik Farnbacher and Matthew Marsh. Their speed was 115.020 mph, and it took place in the morning.

The Speed Source Mazda RX-8 of Sylvain Tremblay, David Haskell, Nick Ham and Jonathan Bomarito led round two at 114.389 mph and the TRG Porsche GT3 of Andy Lally, Jorg Bergmeister, Patrick Long, Justin Marks and R. J. Valentine led the final round at 114.696 mph.

Practice for the Rolex24 concludes Monday with two rounds of on-track action.

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