Thursday, January 22, 2009

Rolex 24: 2009 race commences this weekend

YIPEE! Its finaly time to kick off the new year’s racing season whit the 47th running of the 24hrs of Daytona endurance race. (Saturday - Sunday)

As previously noted in Grand Am tests at Daytona, there will be the usual plethora of “Big Names,” with RASSCAR and Indy Car drivers aplenty, along with a personal favourite, as Robert Nearn is set to take part once again.

This year Robert’s with the Farnbacher Loles team, aboard the #88 car in the GT category. (Porsche 911) And according to Robert: The test went well – “We actually ended up 2nd in the final session and the car ran with no problems. We should be able to qualify in the top 6 so we are in good shape for the race.”

So be sure to check out all of the racing action which kicks off on FOX at 3PM Eastern Saturday before switching over to SPEED at 4:30PM Eastern...

Also, you may wish to check out the following story that describes the abundance of Racer Blog’s SPEED will conduct this weekend...
UPDATE
Interestingly, as one of the two Porsche GT teams sporting 5 car armada’s, as The Racers Group (TRG) battles against Farnbacher Loles Racing, (FLR) it was the little car that could that swept to the GT pole position instead, with the #70 Speedsource Mazda RX-8 of Sylvain Tremblay starting 20th overall.

Andy Lally scored first blood for TRG, by putting his #67 Porsche 911 second on the GT grid, (21st Overall) while the highest qualifying FLR Porsche was the #85 with Wolf Henzler behind the wheel. (4th in class; 24th Overall) This is the same Farnbacher Loles entry that will race for charity, racking up laps for the Children's Tumor Foundation this weekend. And if you’re wondering where the #88 of Robert Nearn lined-up... Their Porsche slotted into P37 (Overall) as apparently it suffered from set-up issues, which are now reportedly cured, as Richard Westbrook will be taking the green flag Saturday...

Rolex 24 Starting Grid