2014 Rolex 24 At Daytona Qualifying Report

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 23, 2014) – The SRT® (Street and Racing Technology) Motorsports driver Marc Goossens captured the GTLM class pole for Saturday’s 52nd running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona with a fast lap of 1:44.506 in the No. 91 Viper in Thursday’s qualifying session.

Close behind Goossens, fellow SRT driver Jonathan Bomarito was the third-fastest GTLM entry in qualifying with a quick lap of 1:44.617. By virtue of qualifying first and third, the SRT Motorsports Viper GTS-Rs will start nose-to-tail on the inside row for the 2014 edition of the endurance race.

In practice, the No. 93 SRT Viper GTS-R team was fastest in both the afternoon and evening sessions with times of 1:45.016 and 1:44.992, respectively. The No. 91 SRT Viper GTS-R team recorded a best time of 1:45.233 in the afternoon practice.

Following Thursday’s qualifying session and trio of practice periods, the team will return to the track for a final, 60-minute practice session on Friday at 11:30 a.m. EST before the Rolex 24 At Daytona begins on Saturday at 2:10 p.m. EST.

• SRT® (Street and Racing Technology) Motorsports Viper GTS-R driver Marc Goossens captured the GTLM pole for Saturday and Sunday’s Rolex 24 At Daytona with a fast lap of 1:44.506 in the No. 91 Viper in Thursday’s qualifying session.
• The No. 93 SRT Viper GTS-R team qualified third in class with a time of 1:44.617 with driver Jonathan Bomarito behind the wheel at Florida’s Daytona International Speedway.
• The pole was the first for Goossens with SRT Motorsports. His co-driver, Dominik Farnbacher, captured one pole in the No. 93 SRT Viper GTS-R in 2013 (Long Beach), while the No. 91 RT Viper GTS-R claimed two poles in 2013 (Mosport and Road America) with Bomarito at the wheel.
• In addition to qualifying, the SRT Motorsports team participated in three practice sessions on Thursday – a morning, afternoon and evening session – with the No. 93 team posting a best time of 1:44.992 in the afternoon session where they were fastest in class. The No. 91 was the fastest GTLM in the afternoon session when they posted their top time of the day (1:45.233).
• On Wednesday, SRT Motorsports drivers participated in local community events. Marc Goossens and Kuno Wittmer visited a group of children at Florida’s Camp Boggy Creek that morning. Jonathan Bomarito and Dominik Farnbacher spent time with patients at the Halifax Health Speediatrics facility, an in-patient pediatric unit, with the Austin Hatcher Foundation in the afternoon.
• Kuno Wittmer, a triathlete, also participated the RacersWhoRide.org charity photo opportunity in the Daytona International Speedway Victory Lane to promote cycling safety on Wednesday.
• Following the evening practice, the SRT Motorsports Viper GTS-Rs will next participate in a final practice for the Rolex 24 on Friday, Jan. 24.
  The Rolex 24 At Daytona will serve as the inaugural event for the new IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship with a start time of 2:10 EST on Saturday, Jan. 25.

Ryan Hunter-Reay, driver, No. 91 SRT Viper GTS-R
Has the car improved since the Roar?
“Knowing how hard these guys have worked since the test and how good the car was at the test, we’ve definitely made it better. I’m just really proud of the team for putting it there. Qualifying is not the end all be all for a 24-hour race, but certainly it’s indicative of all the hard work we’ve put in and, hopefully, of the pace to come in the race. I’m just really happy to be here with SRT with this driver line-up and really proud of Marc. Marc’s still the quickest guy out there after all these years.”

SRT Motorsports and the Viper GTS-R
SRT Motorsports has partnered with Riley Technologies, based in Mooresville, N.C., on the design-and-build of the SRT Viper GTS-R race cars. Two identical SRT Viper GTS-Rs will compete in the production-based GT Le Mans (GTLM) class in the new TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. The SRT Viper GTS-Rs will be competing against the Aston Martin Vantage, BMW Z4 GTE, Corvette C7.R, Ferrari F458 Italia, and Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. The GTLM class cars share many styling similarities to their showroom brands.