DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Mikhail Aleshin will make his fulltime return to the Verizon IndyCar Series in six weeks at the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The talented Russian driver showed he’s ready for the intense competition today by capturing the pole position in soggy qualifying for the Rolex 24 At Daytona endurance sports car race.
Driving the No. 37 SMP Racing Prototype BR01 chassis built in his native country and powered by Nissan, Aleshin posted the best lap of 2 minutes, 5.793 seconds (101.882 mph) in downpour conditions on the 3.56-mile road course at Daytona International Speedway. While not the fastest overall time clocked among the four classes of entrants, by rule the Prototype will lead the field to the green flag to kick off the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season Jan. 30-31.
“It feels great,” Aleshin said. “I’m very happy to be at this track and this race with SMP Racing. It’s the first race in the U.S. for the BR01 car. I was developing it with other drivers through all of 2015 and I’m very happy that one of our great results is to be the pole sitter in Daytona. It’s one of the greatest races and one of the most difficult, for sure, that I have raced.”
Aleshin made a strong impression as a fast rookie for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports during the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season, with a best start and finish of second in the second race of the Houston weekend doubleheader. He missed the season finale at Auto Club Speedway after suffering serious injuries in a practice crash. After making a full recovery, he spent last season developing the BR01 chassis in the European Le Mans Series, helping it post three podium finishes in five races, before returning to Indy cars for the season finale at Sonoma Raceway.
Confirmed to return fulltime to the Verizon IndyCar Series with Schmidt Peterson this year, he was added to the SMP Racing stable for the 24-hour Daytona race because of his familiarity with the car. That was in evidence in the treacherous qualifying session, when standing water puddled at numerous spots on the track following an all-day rain.
“It was not easy,” said Aleshin, 28. “It was not easy to hold the car on track because it was aquaplaning all over the place – on the oval and on the straights. Sometimes I needed to lift on the straights because the car was moving. But I’m happy that in these difficult conditions we could still show our pace. The first time in the U.S. for this brand new car and winning this qualifying is very important for us.”
Aleshin is among nine current Verizon IndyCar Series drivers on the Rolex 24 roster this year. He will team with former Indy car driver Nicolas Minassian, Maurizio Mediani and Kirill Ladygin in the No. 37.
Reigning INDYCAR champion Scott Dixon struggled in qualifying in the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 02 Ford EcoBoost/Riley. He was seventh fastest of the Prototypes and 32nd overall. Dixon is paired with INDYCAR teammate Tony Kanaan and Ganassi NASCAR drivers Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson as they defend their 2015 Rolex 24 overall win.
“It’s just been one of those days where it’s been wet for the majority and, come qualifying, it was a bit of a monsoon, especially for the last half,” Dixon said. “It is what it is. We didn’t qualify that well, but in a 24-hour race that doesn’t matter too much.
“I did a bit of grass checking there at the end. I was literally going half throttle on the straight in third gear, came into pit lane and there was a massive lake there. Instead of going down pit lane, I started going to the right and took on the grass. The car’s fine and they’ll get through their engine change and get ready for the race.”
Other current Verizon IndyCar Series drivers driving in the Prototype class this weekend are: Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud (No. 31 Action Express Racing), Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Spencer Pigot (No. 55 Mazda Motorsports) and Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 90 VisitFlorida Racing). Jack Hawksworth of AJ Foyt Racing is driving the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport in Prototype Challenge, while Rahal Letterman’s Graham Rahal No, 100 BMW Team RLL BMW M6) and KVSH Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais (No. 66 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT) are in the GT Le Mans class.
With the late addition of Rubens Barrichello and James Davison to teams, there are now 25 drivers with Indy car race experience competing in the Rolex 24. The final practice session is set for Jan. 29, with the race starting at 2:40 p.m. Jan. 30.
Wetter is better for Briscoe
Ryan Briscoe is a veteran of 137 Indy car races dating to his 2005 debut. Not scheduled to drive fulltime in the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series, he is part of Ganassi’s development effort with the Ford GT and drove it in qualifying at Daytona.
While he was only able to complete one full lap after the GT Le Mans session was interrupted by a rewd flag, Briscoe was appreciative of the conditions.
“It’s really the first time that we’ve got to run the Ford GT in these conditions, so it’s been really good actually just to check inside the car with the fogging, demisting and the wiper,” said Briscoe, a seven-time race winner and 13-time pole sitter in the Verizon IndyCar Series. “It’s the first time we’ve used the wiper on this car, so it’s all sorts of first experiences that you want to do in practice and not in the race. It’s been a productive day; I’ve been really happy with the car. I feel confident about our setup in dry conditions.”