Ten years after winning the GT class of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Alegra Motorsport is proud to have added another class win at the 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona in their inSync sponsored Porsche 911 GT3 R powered by Porsche Centre Oakville.

The multi-championship winning team was made up of Carlos de Quesada (2007 Daytona GT winner), Michael de Quesada (2016 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama Gold Champion), Jesse Lazare (2016 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama Platinum Champion), Daniel Morad (2016 Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama and IMSA North American Champion), and Michael Christensen (Porsche Factory Driver).

After successfully testing at the Roar Before the Rolex 24, earlier this month, the team went into qualifying with quiet confidence. Ultimately, it was Daniel Morad that qualified the car eighth in the GT Daytona (GTD) class, with a lap of 1:48.341.

The Alegra drivers had one plan for the race – take it easy and don’t scratch the car. Daniel executed a clean start, and soon settled into ninth place. Unfortunately, once Carlos took over, a GTLM car had different ideas and Carlos soon found himself spinning into the runoff in turn one. After eventually restarting the car, the team found themselves a lap down.

As the drivers cycled through into the evening, unfortunate luck and timing in pit lane resulted in the team briefly falling two laps down and in 22nd place. Rain started to all in the evening at times placing the race under several weather related full course yellows. The time behind the pace car ended up working in the team’s favour. “Our time behind the pace car brought us back onto the lead lap, so that’s always a plus.” Michael de Quesada, who at 17 years old is the youngest driver in the grid, said.

Now only one lap down, the Alegra mantra that carried the team through the 2016 season returned - #nevergiveup.

Each driver was able to claw back track position and eventually found the #28 Alegra 911 GT3 R on the lead lap. Michael Christensen took over for the final stint, taking the team from third place to first.

Michael was successfully able to defend his position on multiple restarts following various caution periods, and ultimately crossed the finish line just .293 seconds ahead of the second-place Christopher Mies in the #29 Audi R8 LMS of Land Motorsports.

"It was just unbelievable for us. We had the right team, the right drivers, the right equipment." said C. de Quesada.

The No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R team showed once again why it is a three-time Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup championship-winning team in the 55th Rolex 24 At Daytona as it took the lead just prior to the six-hour mark, earning the maximum five points for leading the first segment of the season.

Filipe Albuquerque held the lead in the No. 5 machine he shares with co-drivers Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa, while teammate Eric Curran held down second place – and earned four Patrón Endurance Cup points – in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi-V-R. Curran is sharing the No. 31 Cadillac with Dane Cameron – with whom he also co-drove to the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype title – as well as Mike Conway and Seb Morris.

Jordan Taylor was third at six hours in the No. 10 Konica Minolta entry, completing a top-three sweep for the new Cadillac DPi race cars. Taylor and co-drivers Ricky Taylor, Max Angelelli and four-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon earned three points toward the Patrón Endurance Cup. Jordan Taylor was leading as the six-hour mark approached, but an intensifying rain brought him to pit lane for rain tires, forcing him to surrender the lead to Albuquerque, who had taken on rains during an earlier full-course caution.

Frederic Makowiecki and the No. 911 Porsche GT Team earned the five Patrón Endurance Cup points for leading the GT Le Mans class at the six-hour mark. Makowiecki –who co-drives the No. 911 with Patrick Pilet and Dirk Werner – had a 1.492-second lead over Dirk Mueller in the No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT.

Mueller’s teammates are Sebastien Bourdais and Joey Hand, who started the race from the class pole position. The No. 66 trio also is looking to score a second consecutive 24-hour race victory after taking a victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans last summer.

Shane van Gisbergen led the GT Daytona (GTD) class in the No. 50 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 at the quarter mark with teammates Cooper MacNeil, Gunnar Jeannette and Thomas Jaeger. Defending WeatherTech Championship GTD champion Alessandro Balzan was second in GTD at six hours in the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 he shares with 2016 co-champion, Christina Nielsen, Matteo Cressoni and Sam Bird.

Seventeen-year-old Patricio O’Ward led Prototype Challenge (PC) in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA FLM09. Mexican driver O’Ward is co-driving with polesitter James French, Kyle Masson and Nick Boulle. Buddy Rice, the 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner, was second in PC in the No. 20 BAR1 Motorsports ORECA FLM09 alongside co-drivers Don Yount, Mark Kvamme, Chapman Ducote and Gustavo Yacaman.

View full results via Al Kamel Systems at Results.IMSA.com.

NOTEBOOK

Electrical issues in in the defending champion No. 4 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R dropped it from contention for the GTLM class victory in the fifth hour. The car was scored 10th in class, 13 laps behind the class leader at the six-hour mark.
Scott Pruett’s bid for an 11th Rolex 24 class victory ended just an hour and 40 minutes into the race when Pruett spun and crashed the No. 14 3GT Racing Lexus RC F GT3 coming into the infield portion of the Daytona International Speedway road course.
“Well, we were just rolling around,” Pruett said. “The Lexus was running. We were just putting in the hours, you know? Not exactly sure what took place. We were racing pretty hard there in a group. It felt like I got just a little nudge from behind. It could have been just the air taken off the rear wing cause we were in a pack or something, but it snapped pretty hard, pretty quick down in turn one and unfortunately it got into the fence on the left hand side

The No. 13 Rebellion Racing ORECA LM P2 car ran among the leaders for the first hour and 45 minutes before mechanical issues sent the car to the garage for lengthy repairs. The team returned to the race 11 laps down to the leaders and was scored ninth, 10 laps down, at the six-hour mark with Neel Jani at the wheel.

Performance Tech Motorsports is adding Prototype Challenge class pole sitter and winner of the 55th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona to its resume.

Performance Tech finished over 20 laps ahead of the competition to become the final winner of the PC class at Daytona International Speedway this weekend. This is the first-time Performance Tech has won the endurance classic. Previously, its best finish was a third-place finish in 2014. To add to the momentum, this is the team’s first PC class win since 2013 at the ALMS Baltimore Grand Prix.

The race was executed flawlessly though the rain and cold by both crew and drivers. Not once did the No. 38 Ric-Man Construction / NeuroSpine Institute / Stand Up MRI / Cardio Access / AIG Technologies / Justice Brothers PC experience mechanical issues nor did it ever come in contact with another vehicle on track. Though the wear and tear of the 24-hour race was evident at the end, the No. 38 was engineered to near perfection by Lead Engineer Ross Bunnell.

Team Principal Brent O’Neill praised his crew and young drivers for undertaking the 24-hour challenge with the calm steadiness of professionals. O’Neill shared his first victory with James French, Patricio O’Ward, Kyle Masson and Nick Boulle. Each driver had his turn leading the PC class. Performance Tech led the most laps with 614 of the 638 headed by the team and had the fastest lap of the race with French’s 1:42.559 lap.

“This was really special,” O’Neill said. “I think we led all but about 10-minutes of 24 hours. There were a lot of people after the Roar that didn’t think that our car was going to be winning any races any time soon, but here we are. This was good for the whole team. It was a great morale booster as we head into the rest of the season. We had a lot of guests here this race , friends and family, because it’s near our home base. So, it was pretty cool to be able to pull it off. This was a great team effort. The guys in the pits did awesome and each of our drivers drove their butt off. The team deserved this.”

The team win was placed above the individual. Of course, all the hard work pays off for the individual at Daytona as well. Each of the four drivers took home a brand-new Rolex Daytona timepiece. The 2017 edition of the luxury watch features both gold and stainless steel with an oyster face. The watch was designed to meet the demand of the professional racing driver.

James French: “Honestly, it’s very exciting for the team,” French said. “I’ve been with them for a while now, we’re at the beginning of the third year. We’ve had lots of podiums, a lot of seconds and a lot of thirds but no wins. To get our first one together here is pretty huge. I know everybody worked really hard to get it, they work really hard for every race. This one was no different, everybody did an amazing job and I can’t thank them enough for all they do to make this possible.”

Patricio (Pato) O’Ward: “I think we did a pretty good job honestly,” O’Ward said. “With all the rain and the weather, everything was destined to fail. With all of us making almost no mistakes, not one corner was knocked off the car. The car was maybe off in the grass once or something but it was never hit. That is a big achievement, that’s something to be proud of.

“We were talking about being very careful and very cautions with our surroundings. There were definitely some close calls with other cars because it was slippery but we made it out. We got things together and we got out with a win and I think we really deserve it. We finished like 20 laps ahead of P2 so it’s a very special win for us. Not just for me but for all the drivers and the team especially.”

Kyle Masson: “Honestly it hasn’t really hit me yet, I’m kind of in shock right now. I don’t feel like I’ve realized I’ve won it,” Masson said. “I’m sure it’ll hit me tomorrow and I’ll be super excited about it. This was my first go at it, first time winning. My first win is the Rolex. It’s a great race to have as your first win ever in an IMSA series. I’ll probably have more to add to this later but right now I’m just taking in everything we accomplished. And thank you to the team and my family for the support.”

Nick Boulle: “I’ve only had one other shot at winning this race so I’m overjoyed with this experience,” Boulle said. “Things come together for a reason and this deal came together last minute. I knew Brent and James well from a race last year, I was happy to join their team for the 24. Obviously, this is a dream come true. This is a race you dream about growing up and now I have a watch to look down at and remind of this moment every day. Beyond happy.”

Up next Performance Tech will hope to start a winning hot streak. They take to their home track of Sebring International Raceway for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida for Round Two of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the Tequila Patròn North American Endurance Cup. The race takes place March 15-18, visit imsa.com for details.

Despite a test in December followed by the Roar Before the Rolex 24 after the New Year, it wasn’t clear who would be fastest in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s premier class, Prototype (P), when they hit the track this weekend.

Sometimes teams and drivers are reluctant to show their hand too early, a game of motorsports poker that is especially telling in this case. For the first time in WeatherTech Championship history, the P-class cars are all-new for 2017. And they finally showed what they are capable of Thursdayafternoon in qualifying for the 2017 Rolex 24 At Daytona endurance race that will be broadcast on FOX at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday.

In those pre-season practice days, the No. 13 Rebellion ORECA was consistently the quickest, but in qualifying, driver Neel Jani was only able to run the third-quickest lap.

The quickest two cars? The two-car team formerly known as Action Express Racing, which won the WeatherTech Championship Prototype title all three years since the series was formed, gave the new Cadillac V-8 engine the front row in its first time out. On the pole was the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPI-V.R driven by Joao Barbosa with a blistering lap of 1:36.903.

Right behind Barbosa was Dane Cameron, driver of the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac, just 0.070 seconds back. And third was the Rebellion car, thanks to Jani’s best lap of 1:37.123. Fourth was the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac of Ricky Taylor, who had the fastest car for most of the qualifying session before pitting before time ran out. NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon will serve as a co-driver on the No. 10.

Barbosa, who hasn’t qualified on a WeatherTech Championship pole since 2014, was a bit surprised. “We generally race better than we qualify,” he said, which could be a cautionary warning to the rest of the field. “This is going to be a tremendous race with the new Prototypes.”

There are 12 cars in the Prototype field – there were 11 qualifiers, as the very fast No. 81 DragonSpeed ORECA uncharacteristically crashed in practice earlier in the day with Loic Duval behind the wheel, and couldn’t be fixed by qualifying.

The Prototype Challenge (PC) class is making its final appearance at the Rolex 24 before it is discontinued at the end of the season.

James French was fastest in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA FLM09, with a lap of 1:42.559. Second was veteran Johnny Mowlem in the No. 26 BAR1 entry with a best lap of 1:43.396, snapping Mowlem’s Rolex 24 pole-winning streak at two consecutive races. Third was 1994 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice with a lap of 1:43.515 in the second BAR1 car.