Sascha Maassen enjoyed a fast start to the 2006 race season, with the third-fastest lap of the three-day Rolex 24 At Daytona test, held at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., Jan. 5 to 7. Maassen, of Raeren, Belgium, covered the 3.56-mile infield road course in one minute 43.953 seconds (123.286 mph) in the No. 58 Red Bull Porsche-powered Fabcar he shares with Ted Christopher of Plainville, Conn., David Donohue of Westchester, Pa., and Darren Law of Phoenix. Maassen recorded his fastest lap during the sixth of eight test sessions.

"The Brumos Racing team did a lot of work through the winter and it seems to have paid off. The car is really good! We gained a lot of performance and, handling-wise, the car feels completely different," he said. "We achieved a lot of things and we are pretty close to where we want to be. Of course, now it's a very important time to prepare for the race. At the end of the test, we stop preparing for the quickest lap and start preparing for endurance."

With a full field of 60 cars, Maassen expects a challenging race: "The race will be very, very interesting. Not only are there a lot of cars, but there are a lot of good ones. Even if I wasn't racing, I would be looking forward to it, but racing it is even better."

The Rolex 24 At Daytona is scheduled for Jan. 29 and 30.