Stoner Car Care Racing Qualifies for Season-Opener at Daytona 25.01.2019: Live broadcast on imsa.com Friday starting at 12:00 PM ET The Stoner Car Care Racing team put their three Aston Martin Vantage GT4 sports cars through their paces at

Live broadcast on imsa.com Friday starting at 12:00 PM ET



The Stoner Car Care Racing team put their three Aston Martin Vantage GT4 sports cars through their paces at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday, managing the rapidly changing conditions to solidly qualify for Friday’s IMSA MICHELIN Pilot Challenge (IMPC) season opener, the four-hour BMW Endurance Challenge.



The Stoner Car Care Racing entries, fielded by Orlando-based Automatic Racing, saw the day begin under torrential rains that all but cancelled the first of four scheduled practices. In the course of the three official practice sessions, the No. 99 Aston Martin (driven by Gary Ferrera and Kris Wilson), the No. 09 (Dale Katechis and Mickel Miller) and No. 97 (Rob Ecklin, Jr., Brandon Kidd and Ramin Abdolvahabi)  gained pace and consistency, qualifying 27th, 28th and 32nd respectively in the Grand Sport class.



Ecklin, in his ninth consecutive IMPC race at Daytona, qualified the No. 97 Aston Martin and was pleased with his qualifying time of 1:57.208 – 1.5 seconds quicker than he has ever paced around the Speedway. The day marked the first North American laps for the newest iteration of Aston Martin’s Vantage GT4 racer.



“We’ve got 35 cars out there so getting a top position is a tough haul,” said Ecklin. “But it’s the first time for the new Aston Martin on the track and we just ran the top speed of the day for the car, and I expect to chew into that time during the race. But the car was very predictable, and I have enough laps in it now that I feel as though I understand the car. It’s the fastest I’ve gone here by a good chunk and that says something! The plan for tomorrow will be to dial in steady lap times and given the fact that I did two successive identical laps, we know the car is consistent and predictable. Keep it clean and keep it steady and I think we’ll be surprised where we end up.”



Ferrera will compete in his first race at Daytona Friday, but he showed the experience of a veteran in qualifying, posting in the quickest time of the three entries with a lap at 1:56.689.



“The track was pretty green this morning and we had a few issues that we worked through during practice, and in qualifying, the car felt perfect,” said Ferrera. “It will be the longest stint I’ve done tomorrow so that will be interesting! We have a long way to go and my job will be to stay on the lead lap and turn it over safely to my co-driver.




But this was a fun day – it’s hard not to think about where you are. With the high banks, there are much longer stretches with your foot in the gas and you do have the chance to think, and that doesn’t happen anywhere else. But this is an iconic track and one every driver should race on.”



For Katechis, a rookie in the series, the focus is also on steady laps and a push toward the end of the race after finishing qualifying with a lap at 1:56.801.


“The car felt great, the grip was there – much better than this morning,” said Katechis. “The team did a great job with improvements throughout the session. I just hope I can repeat it for 60 or 80 times tomorrow, it will be my longest race ever. But tomorrow is my 50th birthday and I can’t think of anything better do to celebrate!”



The BMW Endurance Challenge at Daytona – part of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Rolex 24 at Daytona – takes the green flag at 12:15 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, live on IMSA.tv. NBCSN will broadcast a two-hour race recap on Wednesday, February 6 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.
www.stonercarcare.com




Sunday Group Management- photos Stoner