Backstretch Motorsports

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 22, 2009) - Forty years after his father won the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona (Mark Donohue with Chuck Parsons in 1969 in a Lola), David Donohue, from Malvern, Penn., put his #58 Brumos Porsche Riley on the pole by the slimmest of margins – one-thousandth of second – for Saturday’s 47th running of the Rolex 24 at DaytonaDavid Donohue edged Timo Bernhard by a scant .001 seconds Thursday to capture the pole position for the 47th Rolex 24 At Daytona, breaking the Daytona Prototype track record in the process.

Donohue turned in a lap of 1:40.540 (127.472 mph) in the No. 58 Brumos Porsche Riley he will share with Darren Law, Buddy Rice and Antonio Garcia. The race will take the green flag at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. FOX will open live network coverage at 3 p.m. Saturday. SPEED will resume coverage at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, continuing until 10 p.m. Sunday coverage on SPEED will run from 7 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Bernhard was at the wheel of Penske Racing’s No. 16 Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Porsche Riley, turning a lap of 1:50.541 (127.470 mph) in the Daytona Prototype he shares with Romain Dumas and Ryan Briscoe.

“Actually, winning the pole was a bit of a surprise,” said Donohue. “We had a bit of a problem with traffic on what I thought was my fastest lap. We were having an electrical gremlin, so I didn’t know how quick I was running. The team told me I was P-1, but I didn’t know by how much and what to do with the tires. But I said it before, all that counts is where you are at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.”

Donohue joins his father, the late Mark Donohue, as a pole winner of the event. The elder Donohue won the pole for Penske Racing in 1971. The pair join Dan and Alex Gurney as father-son pole winners for America’s most prestigious sports car race.

While Donohue wasn’t sure of his position in qualifying, Bernhard thought he was atop the charts.

“I knew I put down a pretty good lap, and when they give me the time I thought it would be good enough for the pole,” said Bernhard, overall winner of the 2003 Rolex 24. “Then they told me it was very close, but I was second, but by that time my tires were done. It was a great result for Penske Racing. It’s a new series for us in Grand-Am, and we’re already very competitive. Looking at it that way, P-2 is a very good result.”

Starting from the second row will be Michael Valiante, posting a time of 1:40.651 (127.331 mph) in the No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley, and Richard Zonta, with a time of 1:40.892 (127.027 mph) in the No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford Lola.

Scott Pruett, seeking a third consecutive victory in the Rolex 24 and fourth in a row for TELMEX/Target Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, will start sixth after running a lap of 1:41.016 (126.495 mph) in the No. 01 Lexus Riley.

“That’s about what we expected to run in qualifying,” said Pruett. “For 24 hours, it’s not going to make a difference. The Ganassi guys have done a great job, as always, and we’ve got a great car for the race. With a little bit of luck, the TELMEX No. 01 car will be fighting for the victory at the end.”

Alex Gurney, the 2007 Rolex 24 pole winner, will start 11th in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley co-driven by three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, Jon Fogarty and Jimmy Vasser.

The No. 2 Childress-Howard Motorsports Pontiac Crawford of Danica Patrick, Casey Mears, Rob Finlay and three-time Rolex 24 winner Andy Wallace lost an engine during Friday’s practice and failed to qualify. They will start the race 18th, at the back of the Daytona Prototype grid.

In GT, Sylvain Tremblay captured the Rolex 24 pole for the second consecutive year in dramatic fashion, waiting until near the end of the session to turn a track record lap of 1:49.455 (117.100) in the No.70 SpeedSource Castrol Syntec Mazda RX. Tremblay and Nick Ham will be seeking their second consecutive GT victory in the Rolex 24, and fourth consecutive triumph at Daytona - all from the pole position. David Haskell and Jonathan Bomarito will co-drive in the Rolex 24.

“We were short by about three- or four-tenths, and I had to do quite a bit of work to make it happen,” Tremblay said. “I could see that that last lap had potential. I kept my head down and drove as hard as I’ve ever driven here to try to get that lap. I know it doesn’t mean much for a 24-hour race, but it means a lot to the team, it means a lot to my boys and it means a lot to me.”

Tremblay knocked Andy Lally off the pole, after the driver of the No. 67 TRG Porsche GT3 turned in a lap of 1:49.450 (116.998 mph) early in the session.

Martin Ragginger, Jeff Segal and Wolf Henzler rounded out the top five GT qualifiers.

Thursday’s qualifying locked in the top 40 positions for the Rolex 24. Final qualifying will be held Friday at 11 a.m., followed by the Fresh From Florida 200 Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge race.

Results Q1

POS NO. CLASS PIC DRIVER TEAM/CAR TIME SPEED SPONSORS
1 58 DP 1 Donohue / Garcia / Law / Rice Brumos Racing / Porsche Riley 1:40.540 127.471 Brumos Porsche, Kendall
2 16 DP 2 Bernhard / Briscoe / Dumas Penske Racing / Porsche Riley 1:40.541 127.470
3 6 DP 3 Allmendinger / James / Pew / Valiante Michael Shank Racing / Ford Riley 1:40.651 127.331
4 76 DP 4 Jonsson / Turner / Zonta Krohn Racing / Ford Lola 1:40.892 127.026 Krohn Racing
5 22 DP 5 Dalziel / de Quesada / Ducote / Dumoulin / Enge Alegra Motorsports / BMW Riley 1:40.915 126.997 Gatorade, TodayMD, Strategic Air, Assist Card
6 01 DP 6 Dixon / Montoya / Pruett / Rojas Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates / Lexus Riley 1:41.016 126.870
7 10 DP 7 Angelelli / Frisselle / Lamy / Taylor SunTrust Racing / Ford Dallara 1:41.311 126.501 Sun Trust
8 02 DP 8 Dixon / Franchitti / Lloyd / Pruett Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates / Lexus Riley 1:41.316 126.495
9 59 DP 9 Barbosa / Borcheller / France / Haywood Brumos Racing / Porsche Riley 1:41.375 126.421 Brumos Porsche, Kendall
10 55 DP 10 Bouchut / Matos / Tucker / Zabinski Level 5 Motorsports / BMW Riley 1:41.569 126.180 Edata Solutions, Super Car Life, Ecomm Link, US Bank
11 99 DP 11 Fogarty / Gurney / Johnson / Vasser GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing / Pontiac Riley 1:41.666 126.059 GAINSCO Auto Insurance
12 60 DP 12 Braun / Hunter-Reay / Negri / Patterson Michael Shank Racing / Ford Riley 1:41.796 125.898
13 13 DP 13 Beyer / Martinez / Taylor / Taylor Beyer Racing / Pontiac Riley 1:42.058 125.575
14 61 DP 14 Empringham / Farano / Figge / Frisselle / Wilkins AIM Autosport / Ford Riley 1:42.086 125.541
15 09 DP 15 Cosmo / Pridmore / Russell / Ward Spirit of Daytona Racing / Porsche Coyote 1:42.475 125.064
16 77 DP 16 Bobbi / Gidley / Gollin / Jaeger Doran Racing / Ford Dallara 1:42.740 124.742
17 75 DP 17 Gavin / Krohn / van de Poele Krohn Racing / Ford Lola 1:44.041 123.182 Krohn Racing
18 70 GT 1 Bomarito / Ham / Haskell / Tremblay SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8 1:49.445 117.099 Castrol Syntec, Mazda
19 67 GT 2 Bergmeister / Lally / Long / Marks / Valentine TRG / Porsche GT3 1:49.540 116.998 Construct Corps, CRG, No Fear Energy Drink, K1 Speed, Voodoo Ride, Gemstone Winery
20 14 GT 3 Baldwin / Burtin / Friedman / McGehee / Ragginger Autometrics Motorsports / Porsche GT3 1:49.634 116.898 Foametix, Mac Papers
21 69 GT 4 Assentato / Longhi / Plumb / Segal SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8 1:49.822 116.697 FXDD
22 85 GT 5 Campollo / Gomez / Graeff / Henzler / Yarab Jr. Farnbacher Loles Racing / Porsche GT3 1:49.865 116.652 Children’s Tumor Foundation
23 87 GT 6 Farnbacher / Henzler / Keen / Werner / Westbrook Farnbacher Loles Racing / Porsche GT3 1:49.946 116.566 PowerPlus, Oakley Design, Shock Doctor, 0-60
24 66 GT 7 Ballou / Collard / George Jr / Lietz / Pumpelly TRG / Porsche GT3 1:50.109 116.393 AXA, Mitchell Rubber, Wealth Management Strategies
25 26 GT 8 Bonilla / Jacalone / Jacalone / Lewis / Pobst Gotham Competition / Porsche GT3 1:50.206 116.291 Jacalone Fine Art, Bernard Goldberg Fine Art, www.BFGA.com, www.Center44.com
26 86 GT 9 Farnbacher / Lux / Marsh / Roush Farnbacher Loles Racing / Porsche GT3 1:50.234 116.261 Flex Box, Wheel Enhancement
27 65 GT 10 Holzer / Miller / Potter / Stanton Riegel/ Stanton/ TRG / Porsche GT3 1:50.455 116.029 Riegel-Stanton, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 65 Roses, Magnus Racing, Marquis Jet, Resorts International, IPC, Total Lubricants
28 33 GT 11 Maassen / Martien / Pilet / Zacharias Wright Motorsports / Porsche GT3 1:50.517 115.964
29 64 GT 12 Lowe / Pace / Sugden / van Overbeek JLowe Racing / Porsche GT3 1:50.573 115.905 Porsche of the Main Line, SRS, Think First
30 52 GT 13 Bertuzzi / Castellano / Swartzbaugh / Wagner / Wilton Mastercar-Coast 2 Costa Racing / Ferrari 430 Challenge 1:50.649 115.825 HANDMADEFILMS, CJR Logistics, Ferrari Owners Club, Wilton Partners, LA Dodgers
31 15 GT 14 Morris / Nastasi / Said Blackforest Motorsports / Ford Mustang 1:51.036 115.422
32 07 GT 15 Collins / Edwards / Magnussen Banner Racing / Pontiac GXP.R 1:51.236 115.214 Pontiac
33 89 GT 16 Kaffer / Petrobelli / Rosa / Rosa / Simonsen Farnbacher Loles Racing / Porsche GT3 1:51.254 115.195 Orsogril, Rofinco
34 30 GT 17 Cameron / Peterson / Sellers / von Moltke Racers Edge Motorsports / Mazda RX-8 1:51.290 115.158 3-Dimensional.com, IDEMITSU, P1 Groupe, South African Airlines
35 88 GT 18 Johnson / Lacey / Nearn / Sofronas / Westbrook Farnbacher Loles Racing / Porsche GT3 1:51.376 115.069 Johnson Commercial Development, Doncaster Racing, GMG, Lowe’s, Verizon Wireless, Food City
36 57 GT 19 Bucknum / Davis / Liddell Stevenson Motorsports / Pontiac GXP.R 1:51.481 114.961 BryanMark Fiancial, Stevenson Automotive Group
37 42 GT 20 Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker / Sahlen Team Sahlen / Corvette 1:51.482 114.960
38 32 GT 21 Barrett / Forest / Merrill / Salvo / Westphal PR1 Motorsports / Pontiac GXP.R 1:51.629 114.808 Miralce Sealants
39 97 GT 22 Bieker / Eversley / Gue / Long Stevenson Motorsports / Corvette 1:51.780 114.653 Stevenson Automotive Group
40 35 GT 23 Aschenbach / Cruz / Rodriguez / Valverde / Willsey Orbit Racing / Porsche GT3 1:52.050 114.377
41 21 GT 24 Daskalos / Stout Battery Tender/ MCM Racing / Pontiac GTO.R 1:52.062 114.365 Battery Tender, Coastal Pet Products, P1 Groupe, Find.com, Pacific Teaze
42 45 DP 18 Hindery Jr. / Lester / Manning / Petty Victory Junction-Orbit Racing / BMW Riley 1:52.108 114.318
43 56 GT 25 Campanico / Drudi / Montanari / Papis / Pirri Mastercar-Coast 2 Costa Racing / Ferrari 430 Challenge 1:52.402 114.019 Ferrari Owners Club, Wilton Partners
44 44 GT 26 Bentley / Carter / Harrington / Nixon / Paquette Bullet Racing / Porsche GT3 1:52.568 113.851
45 68 GT 27 Ende / Gutierrez / Miller / Pallis / Schroeder TRG / Porsche GT3 1:52.571 113.848 James Farrell & Co., Pallis Properties, Inc., COLO Columbia River Logistics, Cohen Financial
46 40 GT 28 Dempsey / Espenlaub / Foster / Lewis Jr / Thornton Dempsey Racing / Mazda RX-8 1:52.944 113.472 Mazda Speed
47 63 GT 29 Kossmann / Ledoux / Quinlan / Watkins / Zadig TRG / Porsche GT3 1:53.366 113.049 Guardian Angel Motorsports, Children’s Hospital Boston, jetblue.com
48 43 GT 0 Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker / Sahlen Team Sahlen / Corvette - -
49 31 GT 0 Kapudija / Lewis / Michaelian / Michaelian / Montano Battery Tender/ MCM Racing / Porsche GT3 - - Battery Tender, P1 Groupe, Find.com, Bizrate.com
50 34 GT 0 Aschenbach / Cruz / Rodriguez / Valverde / Willsey Orbit Racing / Porsche GT3 - -
51 2 DP 0 Finlay / Mears / Patrick / Wallace Childress-Howard Motorsports / Pontiac Crawford - -
52 7 DP 0 Bernhard / Briscoe Penske Racing / Porsche Riley - -