Risi Competizione - Daytona first qual

2003 Rolex 24 at Daytona
Daytona International Speedway
first qualifying, Thursday 30 January

Risi Competizione set the fourth-fastest GT class time during the first 
qualifying session for this weekend's Rolex 24 at Daytona.  Ralf Kelleners 
posted a lap time of one minute 55.084 seconds on the 3.65-mile Daytona 
International Speedway road course for fourth on provisional GT grid.  He 
will share the No. 35 Ferrari 360 Modena GT with Anthony Lazzaro and Johnny 
Mowlem.

"We're where we expected to be and we're happy about that," Kelleners said.  
"I think we have a very good race car.  We're lacking a little bit on speed 
to the Porsches - we knew that before, that's down to power.  But the setup 
of the car is very comfortable at the moment.  We'll do a long-distance run 
this evening to see if that's the case for a long-distance race."

Mauro Baldi qualified seventh in GT (1:56.045) in the No. 34 Ferrari he's 
driving with Eric van de Poele, Ryan Hampton and Justin Keen.

"I'm happy with the handling of the car," he said.  The car is very new to 
all of us so we are trying to do our best.  Maybe it could have gone quicker 
but it was taking a risk I didn't like."

pit position

Risi Competizione has selected the final two spaces on pit lane for the Risi 
and Ferri cars.  Rick Mayer, chief engineer for the No. 35 Ferrari, noted the 
choice was a strategic one.

"When it goes full-course yellow, they close the pits when the pace car is at 
start/finish," he explained.  "So since we only have 10  feet to the pit-out 
line, the odds of us getting stuck in the pits under a yellow are minimal.  
Also if you get on the throttle and get out of here quick you don't have to 
worry about speed limits on the exit.  And, during the race, it's difficult 
for the drivers to know where our pit is if we're in the middle.  When we're 
the the last pit, it makes it much easier for them to judge where the pit is.

"The only disadvantage is the crew has to walk all the way down [to pit out] 
during practice, but for 24 hours no one will leave, so it won't make any 
difference."

sunny start

Johnny Mowlem says the Florida sunshine contributes to his on-track 
performance.

"The weather here is so much better than in England where we're having 
blizzards, which is very unusual for us," he noted.  "The conditions here are 
so much finer, I'm going to go as quick as I possibly can because I always 
drive better when it's sunny."

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Sylvia Proudfoot
spur07@cs.com
403 287 3945