Krohn Racing/TRG - Daytona Thursday

 DP first qualifying 

 

The No. 66 Krohn Racing/TRG Pontiac-powered Riley Mk XI will start third on
the grid for the 2005 Rolex 24 At Daytona. Max Papis qualified the car in
one minute 47.166 seconds on the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway
infield road course, just 0.238 seconds off the pole position time. He is
driving with Jörg Bergmeister and Oliver Gavin. The trio's teammates Nic
Jönsson, Tracy Krohn, Jimmy Morales, Buddy Rice and Boris Said will qualify
the No. 67 Riley on Friday.

 

"It was the first time we put the 66 car in the qualifying grid. I think we
did a very, very good job; I'm proud of everyone in the Krohn/TRG
organization," Papis said. "We have a little bit more to go, but the two
people in front of us have a lot of experience. It's a good motivation for
the race. We're up there in front, now we have to do it for 24 hours."

 

GM link

 

The Rolex 24 At Daytona will be the first race in a Daytona Prototype for
General Motors factory driver Oliver Gavin. He usually races a Corvette, but
has Pontiac power for this race.

 

"It's my first time driving in the Riley Pontiac and I'm enjoying it an
awful lot," he said. "Both cars are a huge amount of fun to drive. The
Corvette has got a lot of low-down torque and really punches up the corner,
whereas the motor in the Pontiac will pull a little bit more at the top end.
It's a bit of a slower burner – it's still got plenty of punch, but it's not
quite so aggressive as the Corvette. It isn't any better or worse. The
Pontiac and the Chevrolet engines are both good engines and very strong
engines. They just have two quite different characteristics, so you have to
tune the car to that and tune yourself to that."

 

IROC

 

Max Papis and Buddy Rice are two of the 12 drivers selected to compete in
the 2005 Crown Royal International Race of Champions (IROC) series. The
four-race series carries a winner's purse of $1 million. The 12 drivers
represent the Rolex Sports Car Series; NASCAR Nextel Cup, Busch and
Craftsman Truck Series; Champ Car World Series; IRL IndyCar Series and World
of Outlaws.

 

"I drove a Craftsman Truck late in 2003 and to drive something similar to a
Cup car or a Busch car will be exciting," Rice said. "[The Rolex 24 At]
Daytona is one of those deals where guys from a bunch of series can get
together and race, and [IROC] is the same deal, only we get to do it four
times."

 

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Sylvia Proudfoot
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