for 50th Anniversary of Rolex 24 At DaytonaNo. 69 is top Ferrari in GT class as Segal qualifies second for Golden Anniversary Rolex 24Jeff Segal and AIM Autosport Team FXDD welcomed Ferrari back to the Rolex 24 At Daytona in style Thursday as the former GRAND-AM Rolex Series GT Champion qualified the team’s new Ferrari 458 Italia GT Grand Am second in the GT class for this weekend’s 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Segal lapped the 3.56-mile, 12-turn road course at 1:49.357 (117.197 mph) on eighth and final flying lap of the quick 15-minute session. The 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona begins this Saturday, January 28, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage on SPEED starts Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT.
“I’ve been on the pole for the Rolex 24 in 2010 and that was a great achievement,” Segal said. “But for some reason, being on the front row in a Ferrari seems like an even bigger achievement. We’ve started with a brand new car with a lot of support from Ferrari, and a lot of support from Michelotto, and a lot of hard work from AIM Autosport FXDD, and it paid off. It’s not surprising, everybody has worked really diligently towards this, but it is very rewarding. Qualifying is a small part of this weekend but it’s a nice feather in the cap and hopefully this race will be just as good.”
Segal and the team are cautiously optimistic heading into Friday’s final practice sessions and will run through a full checklist of items in preparations for this weekend’s day-long race.
“My job up to this point is pretty much done,” Segal said. “We did a lot of car development this morning and just had to qualifying it and bring it back in one piece. From this point on, we’ll do a little driver change practice and rest up. That’s really all you can do. We’ve got a good car and I know the guys have some last minute things they’ve got to do to it, but I think the whole team now gets to sort of wax the car they helped prepare and come back for the race.”
For the 2012 season, Segal is piloting the new Ferrari with teammate and 2010 GRAND-AM Rolex Series GT co-champion Emil Assentato. During the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the team has enlisted to two additional drivers in familiar teammates Nick Longhi and Anthony Lazzaro who have joined Segal and Assentato in the last two runnings of the Rolex 24.
