Aguas, Kauffman, Pastrana and Waltrip
AF Waltrip Racing Rolex 24
TEST: Daytona International Speedway
CORNELIUS, N.C. — Many of the world’s greatest sports car drivers will gather at Daytona International Speedway this weekend for the Roar Before the Rolex 24 test on the 3.56-mile road course. AF Waltrip Racing drivers Michael Waltrip, Rob Kauffman, Rui Aguas and Travis Pastrana plan to participate in the three-day test that begins Friday driving team’s Ferrari 458 GT. The entry is a joint project of the Italian sports car team AF Corse and Michael Waltrip Racing. The 2012 Rolex Series opens with the Jan 28-29 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona.
WALTRIP ON TEST: “We have a very fast teammate in Rui Aguas. This weekend will be a matter of Travis, Rob and I listening to Rui’s input on the chassis and understanding what Rui sees and thinks then adapting to his direction. In this type of racing, you have to find a happy medium for all the drivers. I’ve never driven the latest version of the 458 so instead of worrying about learning the track and car, which is what I usually do when I race a Ferrari, this weekend I’m just focused on the car.”
KAUFFMAN: “Daytona is unique, so firstly, getting the new car set up to run well there is a priority, then of course posting competitive, consistent times from all of us drivers, and lastly, putting the car away Sunday as clean as it rolled off the truck when we got here!”
PASTRANA: “I have some pretty simple goals this weekend. I need to learn the track, learn the car and work hard with the other guys on pit stops exchanges. It might look easy on television but getting drivers in and out of the car quickly takes some practicing. The real key for me will be to learn how to drive the Ferrari without burning through the tires. We have a lot of work to do.”
NOTES
· The Rolex Sports Car Series is the top series sanctioned by GRAND-AM. Its two classes – the exotic Daytona Prototypes and production-based GT cars – run simultaneously at road racing venues across the U.S. and Canada. The GT class is home to production-based race cars that are similar in appearance to the latest high-performance sports cars. GT is a mixture of U.S.-produced muscle cars going against the international flavor, mainly German, Japanese and Italian models.
· Waltrip and Kauffman, both owners of Michael Waltrip Racing, tested at Daytona in December in a Porsche. The Ferrari 458 was still on its ocean voyage from Italy to Daytona. Pastrana, an 11-time X Games gold medal winner and four-time North American Rally champion, tested at Infineon Raceway in California on Monday in preparation for the Rolex 24.
· Aguas, 39, of Portugal, is one of the top GT drivers in the world and joined Waltrip and Kauffman at Le Mans in 2011.
