By Tarek Ramchani
Action has started at Daytona International Speedway, with the first two TUDOR United SportsCar Championship test sessions in the Roar Before the Rolex 24.
Two Audi Sport customer racing teams are on site. Flying Lizard Motorsport and Paul Miller Racing entered their Audi R8 LMS cars in the demanding GT Daytona class (GTD). Both teams worked really well showing strong pace and performances.
In the first the Audi R8 LMS was fast and among the front runners. Flying Lizard Motorsport ended in a very strong third place. The #45 R8 LMS shared by Markus Winkelhock, Tomonobu Fujii, Satoshi Hoshino and Robert Thorne set a best time of 1:47.797. The Lizards were right behind the two leading Porsche 911 GT Americas.
Paul Miller Racing was eleventh in class. Their #48 Audi R8 LMS set a best time of 1:48.411. The car was driven by Dion von Moltke, Christopher Haase, René Rast and Bryce Miller.
TUSC Daytona first session results are here
Later in the second session only the Flying Lizard Motorsport entry managed to enter the Top 10. Markus Winkelhock, Tomonobu Fujii, Satoshi Hoshino and Robert Thorne were again fast and set a best time of 1:48.027. The Lizards ending in ninth place within the GT Daytona class.
The Paul Miller Racing car finished in position thirteen. Dion von Moltke, Christopher Haase, René Rast and Bryce Miller set a best time of 1:48.166 with their #48 Audi.
Up ahead it was an all Dodge affair, a 1-2 Viper GT3-R in class. Third place went to a Porsche 911 GT America.
TUSC Daytona second session results are here
TUDOR United SportsCar Championship teams and drivers will hit the track again on Saturday. The two Audi teams will have four sessions at the famous Florida circuit.
Photo credit: Flying Lizard Motorsports / Paul Miller Racing
