The new United SportsCar Championship (USCC) is making a good first impression at Daytona: lap records are falling over the first half of a two-day test, ahead at the 52nd 24 Hours of Daytona, round one of the inaugural season.
Action Express' Joao Barbosa unofficially bettered Jorg Bergmeister's 2011 record in DP, while Kuno Wittmer and Marc Goossens drove SRT Motorsports' Viper GTS-R below the existing GT record.
“That’s no surprise (that we’re under the record),” said Christian Fittipaldi, who joins Barbosa and Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 5 Corvette DP. We knew it was going to be faster. At the end of the test I think it’s going to be between three to four seconds quicker than the track record.
“I wish it was only my car, but that’s not the case. Everyone is going to be a lot quicker. We have a good package, and we hope we can make it work better than the other teams.”
While IndyCar veteran Katherine Legge and her teammate Andy Meyrick were racking up 47 laps at the wheel of the DeltaWing, Michael Shank Racing's John Pew and Ozz Negri were shaking down their EcoBoost-powered Prototype.
“The mechanics have been working endless hours to get the car ready for the test,” Negri said. “The car is not 100-percent converted. But the new turbo changes everything. We’re still learning about the throttle lap and the way the power comes on – it’s better than we expected – and working on the new aero package.”
The twin-turbo V6 had already made quite a stir last October, when it beat the Daytona track record with Colin Braun at the wheel.
Action Express' Joao Barbosa unofficially bettered Jorg Bergmeister's 2011 record in DP, while Kuno Wittmer and Marc Goossens drove SRT Motorsports' Viper GTS-R below the existing GT record.
“That’s no surprise (that we’re under the record),” said Christian Fittipaldi, who joins Barbosa and Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 5 Corvette DP. We knew it was going to be faster. At the end of the test I think it’s going to be between three to four seconds quicker than the track record.
“I wish it was only my car, but that’s not the case. Everyone is going to be a lot quicker. We have a good package, and we hope we can make it work better than the other teams.”
While IndyCar veteran Katherine Legge and her teammate Andy Meyrick were racking up 47 laps at the wheel of the DeltaWing, Michael Shank Racing's John Pew and Ozz Negri were shaking down their EcoBoost-powered Prototype.
“The mechanics have been working endless hours to get the car ready for the test,” Negri said. “The car is not 100-percent converted. But the new turbo changes everything. We’re still learning about the throttle lap and the way the power comes on – it’s better than we expected – and working on the new aero package.”
The twin-turbo V6 had already made quite a stir last October, when it beat the Daytona track record with Colin Braun at the wheel.