Daytona Beach, January 28, 2010 - Christophe Bouchut's fast lap of 1:41.463 (126.312 mph) Thursday afternoon put the No. 55 Crown Royal Level 5 Motorsports BMW Riley in the sixth starting position for Saturday's 48th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the season opener for the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16. Bouchut's final qualifying lap of eight proved to be his fastest.
"Christophe really turned it up at the end," said the Crown Royal-sponsored Level 5 Motorsports team owner/driver Scott Tucker. "Qualifying doesn't really mean a whole lot in a 24-hour race like this, but Christophe turned some really good laps. We've got an awesome driver lineup for the race, an awesome crew, and a lot of 24-hour race experience. We're about as prepared as we can be, and we're looking forward to a great race. I believe we've got just as good a chance as anyone to win."
Tucker, Bouchut, four-time Champ Car World Series champion Sebastien Bourdais and veteran sports car drivers Sascha Maassen and Emmanuel Collard will pilot the No. 55 BMW Riley this weekend.
The No. 55 BMW Riley will start from the third row, alongside the No. 01 BMW Riley of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. The No. 10 Ford Dallara of SunTrust Racing, with Max Angelelli behind the wheel, scored the pole position for the prestigious race with a lap of 1:40.681. The No. 60 Ford Riley of Michael Shank Racing qualified second, followed by the No. 6 Ford Riley of Michael Shank Racing, the No. 02 BMW Riley of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates and the No. 01 BMW Riley.
Level 5 Motorsports' other entry, its No. 95 BMW Riley, will qualify on Friday after an incident in practice in which a Grand Touring Class car hit the car's rear tire and it spun off the track."It was really an unfortunate deal where two race cars tried to occupy the same space. The other driver thought he had cleared ours and ran into us," said Level 5 Motorsports team manager David Stone. "For a 24-hour race like this, however, qualifying is fairly insignificant. You're not talking about much ground to make up when the race is this long. We had a really good setup for the No. 95 in practice, so we're really confident that we can get back on track and have a great run this weekend with that car."
Driving the No. 95 BMW Riley this weekend will be Tucker, Bouchut, German Lucas Luhr, Texan Ryan Hunter-Reay and Englishman Richard Westbrook.
Crown Royal and its Crown Royal Cask No. 16 brand is featured as the primary sponsor on both the No. 55 and No. 95 BMW Rileys during the weekend. The No. 55 Level 5 BMW Riley, with Tucker and Bouchut behind the wheel, is the only car in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series to have finished in the top 10 in every race (nine) it entered in 2009.
Back with Level 5 Motorsports for the 2010 season is US Bank and SupercarLife, the Las Vegas-based driving experience. Additional partners include record label Bulldog Productions, SellingSource, Boardwalk Ferrari and Kennol Performance Oil.
ABOUT CROWN ROYAL CANADIAN WHISKY
Crown Royal Canadian whisky is the number one selling Canadian whisky brand in the United States by value, and has a tradition as long and distinctive as its taste. Specially blended to commemorate a grand tour of Canada made by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain in 1939, Crown Royal Canadian whisky's smooth, elegant style reflects its aristocratic origins and is considered the epitome of Canadian whisky. For more information visit www.crownroyal.com. It's about quality, not quantity.
ABOUT DIAGEO
Diageo (Dee-AH-Gee-O) is the world's leading premium drinks business with an outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, wines and beer categories. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Smirnoff, J&B, Baileys, Cuervo, Tanqueray, Captain Morgan, Crown Royal, Beaulieu Vineyard and Sterling Vineyards wines.
Diageo is a global company, trading in more than 180 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE). For more information about Diageo, its people, brands and performance, visit us at http://www.diageo.com. For our global resource that promotes responsible drinking through the sharing of best practice tools, information and initiatives, visit DRINKiQ.com. Celebrating life, every day, everywhere, responsibly.
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