Darren Law drove the new No. 5 Action Express Corvette-powered Daytona Prototype for the first time this week, lapping the high banks of Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. Law, of Phoenix, and his co-driver, David Donohue of Malvern, Pa., put the car through its paces on the 3.56-mile infield road course in preparation for the 2012 season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona race, set for Jan. 28 and 29.
"Overall, the test went really well. The team performed flawlessly and we had no real issues," Law said. "The test was mainly for us to get used to the car – have the crew get used to working on it, drivers get used to running it. We were very impressed that the team received the car on Saturday, we were on track on Tuesday morning and we ran until five o'clock both [test] days. We were the quickest of the Corvette Daytona Prototypes, so we're happy with that."
The new car is built on a Coyote chassis, a change from the team's previous Riley.
"It's definitely different than driving a Riley," Law acknowledged. "But we all like it and we were up to speed very quickly. The Coyote chassis is a right-hand drive, compared to the Riley left-hand drive. You might think it would feel strange, but it really wasn't because we're almost sitting in the center of those cars, so we all adapted quickly."
Action Express has several more test sessions planned in the next two months.
"We were pleased with the test lap times, but we still have a long way to go and a lot to learn in a short period of time before the 24," Law noted. "For our team, it's a brand-new chassis, brand-new motor, brand-new body – everything is new to us, so we're on a steep learning curve. But we're encouraged with the performance and the lap times of the car and all the Corvettes."
Darren Law will drive the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette-powered Coyote Daytona Prototype in the 2012 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series. Additional race programs have not yet been announced. The versatile Phoenix driver is also the chief operating officer of the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving (bondurant.com). He is supported by OMPRacing (ompamerica.com) and CDOC (cdoc.com).
