Daytona Sunday Notebook

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

***Tom Blomqvist became the first pole-sitter for the new IMSA GTP era, taking the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 to top qualifying honors on the final flying lap in dramatic fashion. Blomqvist was seventh on the time charts prior to the resumption of the session with two minutes to go after an accident by Nick Tandy in the No. 6 Porsche 963.

***Blomqvist said it was one of the “most difficult” sessions he ever had done. “My tires weren’t exactly fully, fully ready and I didn’t have much of a good real reference to go off,” he said. “I had to wing that one a little bit.”

***His pole-winning 1:34.031 lap time was just four-tenths slower than the DPi track qualifying record that was set by Oliver Jarvis in a Mazda RT24-P in 2019. The top eight GTP cars in qualifying were separated by eight-tenths, including all four LMDh manufacturers.

***MSR topped the time charts in all but one session at the Roar Before the Rolex 24, with the team electing not to go out during Saturday evening’s rain-impacted night session.

***Changes to the top class qualifying format for this year, including extending the time from 15 to 20 minutes and not being limited to a single set of set of tires, could add “some excitement” later this season according to Michelin IMSA WeatherTech Series manager Hans Emmel.

***Emmel told Sportscar365: “Think of a place like Long Beach. [Track position is] critical. I think you’ll see people throwing two sets of tires at it and maybe at some of the other tracks where qualifying is a bit more critical.”

***The pole-winning MSR Acura was the only GTP car to change tires in qualifying, with Blomqvist admitting the first set was just used to get some heat into the car, and for tire scrubbing purposes ahead of the race. GTP teams are allowed to carry over one set of qualifying tires into the race.

***Philipp Eng appeared unconcerned at BMW M Team RLL qualifying down in seventh and eighth. “I think we could already see that in free practice we don’t have the outright one-lap pace,” he said. “But we just need to make sure that the car is in a good window and the driveability is good. The 24-hour race starting position doesn’t really matter.”

***Both Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-LMDhs were visibly sparking on the start-finish banking during qualifying. CGR’s global director of operations Mike O’Gara told Sportscar365 that this was a “combination of wind and tire pressure.”

***O’Gara said that a headwind on the main straight pushed the car down, causing friction with the underside. Low tire pressures also contributed, but the sparking lessened as the session went on as the pressures rose.

***The start of qualifying was delayed by 20 minutes, with a 15-minute session added for GTP class cars only to accommodate a “systems check” for the new LMDh prototypes. The event tire allocation and driver qualifying rules remained unchanged from what was originally announced.

***GTD Pro class pole-sitter Maro Engel, who qualified fourth amongst the GT cars, all of them being Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos, believes not every GTD Pro/GTD car were showing their full strength in qualifying. “I think it’s clear when you look at the results sheets that we were told to push,” he said. “I’m not sure that’s the case across the grid. I’m sure there’s a few competitors that will suddenly find some pace next week.”

***Jan Heylen ended up as the quickest Porsche 911 GT3 R in qualifying in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports entry, which was good enough for 21st out of the 33-car combined GTD Pro/GTD field. Heylen’s time was 2.8 seconds slower than the class pole-sitting No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Philip Ellis.

***Sportscar365 understands that Porsche encouraged its GTD customers to utilize their Gold or Platinum-rated drivers in qualifying in order to show the full potential of the new Type-992 Porsche 911 GT3 R, which has brought up the rear of the timing charts at the Roar. Qualifying its Bronze-rated drivers would have netted an extra set of tires in the race.

***The Porsche was given a 33 mm air restrictor for the Roar, which compares to the 38 mm diameter permitted during last year’s race with the previous generation Type 991.2 variant that ran with a smaller displacement 4.0-liter flat-six powerplant compared to the new 4.2-liter version in the 992 model.

***One source indicated that the anything smaller than a 36 mm air restrictor doesn’t have a significant effect on the engine’s power output.

***James French has replaced Alex Vogel in the 43 MRS GT-Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan due to Vogel’s “concerns with cockpit geometry to comfortably drive at the level required” according to a team statement. French, who was already on-site in a spotter capacity, joins Sebastian Alvarez, Danial Frost and Guilherme de Oliveira in the LMP3 entry.

***The Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 underwent an engine change on Sunday morning, after a fault in one of the cylinders arose during Saturday night practice. Rahel Frey qualified the pink-liveried car 15th in GTD.

***Michelle Gatting told Sportscar365 that the Iron Dames crew is driving the Lamborghini for the first time at the Roar. She said the drivers expect a significant challenge at Sebring where they will jump between the Huracan GT3 EVO2 and the Porsche 911 RSR-19 that it’s running in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

***Louis Deletraz, who has joined Tower Motorsports for the LMP2 sprint races, recalled how his partnership with Bronze driver John Farano started 12 months ago: “I went to Best Buy at Daytona and bought a computer to download an app for the data, and we started looking at onboards together!” he said. “What’s very nice for John is that he sees the data and can easily apply it on-track. He improved so much throughout the year.”

***Michael Andretti confirmed that Andretti Autosport’s LMP3 program will only be for the Michelin Endurance Cup races this year, with team set to do take part “some GTD stuff” for the WeatherTech Sprint Cup rounds.

***Dinner with Racers’ co-host Sean Heckman is again calling strategy for Magnus Racing this year, with the former team PR representative set to reprise the role that began with last year’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

***Jan Magnussen told Sportscar365 that he’s hopeful of again racing with his son, Kevin, in the future following the Haas Formula 1 driver’s withdrawal from the Rolex 24 due to undergoing hand surgery.

***The ex-Corvette Racing factory driver explained that Kevin is permitted to take part in races only during the F1 offseason, which would again allow a run at the Gulf 12 Hours in December, next year’s Rolex 24, as well as the potential of the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

***Parker Thompson is understood to no longer be a Porsche North America Selected Driver, amid the Canadian’s Endurance Cup program in Vasser Sullivan’s No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3. The 2022 Porsche Carrera Cup North America presented by The Cayman Islands champion, however, still holds ties to the manufacturer.

***Newly confirmed Selected Driver addition Kay van Berlo said he’s focused on his full season GTD effort with Kellymoss with Riley this year and downplayed the prospects of combining it with a program in Europe. The 22-year-old Dutchman contested the European Le Mans Series last year in a United Autosports LMP3 entry.

***Van Berlo, who is in his final year at the University of Miami studying economics, told Sportscar365: “Porsche has put me into a great program. Kellymoss and Riley have given me great opportunities so I feel like I need to have the responsibility to prioritize the program.”

***While there are no Audis on the GTD grid at Daytona for the second year in a row, Audi Sport factory driver Christopher Mies was spotted in the paddock hanging out with some of his friends from the European GT3 scene.

***The Twenty-Four Premier returns to One Daytona on Wednesday evening, allowing fans to get up-close to cars taking part in the Rolex 24 and meet a number of drivers. Included activities in the free-of-charge event include a pit stop demonstration, driver fan forum and autograph session.

Daniel Lloyd contributed to this report

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John