Date: Jan. 24, 2013
Event: 51st Rolex 24 At Daytona (Round 1 of 12)
Series: Daytona Prototype division of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series
Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (3.56-mile, 12-turn road course)
Pole Winner: Scott Pruett of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (1:40.553 at 127.455 mph)
Wayne Taylor Racing: 12th by Max Angelelli (1:42.547 at 124.977 mph)

The No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette Dallara DP of Wayne Taylor Racing will start the 51st Rolex 24 At Daytona Saturday from the outside of the sixth row after GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series qualifying Thursday at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

Max Angelelli, the Italian veteran co-driving this season for the first time with 21-year-old Jordan Taylor and also this weekend with reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, turned a fast lap of 1 minute, 42.547 second at 124.977 mph on the 3.56-mile, 12-turn superspeedway road circuit. It was the 12th-best lap among 57 car-and-driver combinations that will take the green flag for this weekend’s traditional, season-opening endurance marathon.

“What you see is what we’ve got, at this point,” said Angelelli, who won the 2005 Rolex 24 alongside team owner Wayne Taylor and Emmanuel Collard en route to that year’s Rolex Series championship. “This is how it was at the test and this is how it is here today. It’s not the greatest feeling in the world, but it is reality and we will do our best with what we have in the race and see where we end up. That’s really all there is to say, at this point.”

The top-five in qualifying for the 51st Rolex 24 At Daytona are:

1. Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (No. 01 BMW Riley) with Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, Juan Pablo Montoya and Charlie Kimball (1:40.553 at 127.455 mph).

2. Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (No. 02 BMW Riley) with Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Jamie McMurray and Joey Hand (1:40.646 at 127.337 mph).

3. Team Sahlen (No. 42 BMW Riley) with Dane Cameron, Simon Pagenaud, Wayne Nonnamaker and Bruno Junqueira (1:41.213 at 126.624 mph).

4. Michael Shank Racing (No. 6 Ford Riley) with Michael Valiante, Chris Cumming, Gustavo Yacaman and Jorge Goncalvez (1:41.236 at 126.595 mph).

5. Spirit of Daytona Racing (No. 90 Corvette DP) with Richard Westbrook, Ricky Taylor, Antonio Garcia and Oliver Gavin (1:41.844 at 125.840 mph).

Race time Saturday is 3:30 p.m. EDT with SPEED kicking off 15 hours of live TV coverage beginning with its prerace show at 3 p.m. SPEED.com will stream live video from 11 p.m. Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday, when live SPEED television resumes through the race’s conclusion. Live radio coverage will be provided by the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90 in multiple segments. Check local listings. Live timing and scoring during all on-track sessions can be found at www.grand-am.com, and on mobile devices at m.grand-am.com and the GRAND-AM smartphone app.

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