Qualifying report
IMSA Daytona 24
Gavin gives Corvette Racing first Daytona 24H pole since 2000
Oliver Gavin becomes 12th GTLM pole winner in 12 races.
Published: Jan 23, 2015, 10:00 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Daytona Beach, Fla.– OIiver Gavin gave Corvette Racing its first pole at Daytona International Speedway since 2000, in the process extending an impressive streak that highlights the competitiveness of the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class, Friday in qualifying for the 53rd Rolex 24 At Daytona.
With his lap of one minute, 43.488 seconds (123.840 mph) in the No. 4 Corvette C7.R, Gavin became the 12th different pole winner in 12 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship races, dating back to last year’s Rolex 24 – the inaugural TUDOR Championship event.
“It's a very competitive class, I think they all are,” said Gavin, who earned his first TUDOR Championship pole, his 21st career in North American endurance sports car racing. “That's the depth of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship; there are plenty of great drivers and great teams out there.
“I have to thank (teammate) Jan [Magnussen]; he towed me around a lot on that lap and helped me get this pole position, so I have to thank him for that. I tried to repay him by towing him around for a few laps. I just had a little bit of extra straight-line speed.”
Gavin used the draft to shoot to the top of the leaderboard early in the 15-minute session, besting the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia of Gianmaria Bruni by 0.342 seconds. After leading early in the session, Bruni turned his fastest lap of 1:43.830 (123.433 mph) shortly after Gavin’s flyer, narrowly edging Pedro Lamy in the No. 98 Aston Martin Racing Gulf Aston Martin Vantage, 1:43.960 (123.278 mph).
John Edwards qualified fourth in the No. 24 BMW Team RLL IHG Rewards Club BMW Z4 GTE, 1:43.966 (123.271 mph), making it four different automotive manufacturers in the first two rows.
Davison drives Aston Martin Vantage to fifth consecutive GTD TOTAL Pole Award
James Davison took advantage of a mid-session red flag to steal his fifth consecutive TOTAL Pole Award in the GT Daytona (GTD) class dating back to last season. After the wheel fell off of Kuno Wittmer’s No. 93 Riley Motorsports TI Automotive Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R seven minutes into the 15-minute session, teams had only three minutes to run one final lap before the end of qualifying.
While several teams opted not to go out for the final minutes, Davison did and promptly put the No. 007 TRG-AMR LaSalle/Royal Purple/Orion Energy Aston Martin Vantage on the pole with a lap of one minute, 47.272 (119.472 mph).
“I’m blown away we ended up on pole, to be honest,” said Davison, the leader in TUDOR Championship poles. “We waited in the pits and it went red, so I only had a lap to pull it off. Obviously the car was good and I hit my marks, but we were a bit lucky to pull it off.”
Jeroen Bleekemolen, who had the top spot prior to the red flag, qualified second with a lap of 1:47.424 (119.303 mph) while Christopher Zoechling qualified third at 1:47.451 (119.273 mph) in Konrad Motorsports’ No. 28 Porsche 911 GT America.
The 53rd Rolex 24 At Daytona is the season-opening TUDOR Championship event and also the opening round of the four-race Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup.
IMSA
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Memo Rojas ready to make a statement in the DeltaWing
Next article Rolex 24 at Daytona: Prototype field rundown - photos
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Gianmaria Bruni
Bruni to race JDC-Miller Porsche in IMSA after factory departure
IMSA
IMSA Jan 7, 2025
Bruni to race JDC-Miller Porsche in IMSA after factory departure
Friday favourite: The Ferrari partners that conquered GT racing
GT
GT Feb 23, 2024
Friday favourite: The Ferrari partners that conquered GT racing
Proton welcomes Mustang Sampling for 2024 IMSA Porsche 963
IMSA
IMSA
Daytona December testing
Dec 9, 2023
Proton welcomes Mustang Sampling for 2024 IMSA Porsche 963
Latest news
You Ask The Questions: Jack Miller
MotoGP
Qatar GP
You Ask The Questions: Jack Miller
Why the anticlimactic WEC title showdown was the worst-case scenario
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
1 h
Why the anticlimactic WEC title showdown was the worst-case scenario
How Istanbul is revamping its F1 circuit to clinch long-term future
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Turkish GP
2 h
How Istanbul is revamping its F1 circuit to clinch long-term future
The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 19 h
The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe