#20 Liqui Moly Team Englster/Mitchum Motorsports Porsche Porsche GT3: Franz Engstler, David Murry, Joseph Safina, Gunter Schaldach
Eric Gilbert
The Liqui Moly Team Engstler Mitchum Motorsports Porsche Qualifies for the Rolex 24 at Daytona
Murry, Engstler and Schaldach to Pilot Porsche in 50th Anniversary of the Historic Race
Daytona Beach, FL (January 26, 2012) The Liqui Moly Team Engstler Mitchum Motorsports Porsche qualified for Saturday’s race this afternoon, earning a starting position of 34th in one of the largest GT class fields ever seen at the Rolex 24. David Murry laid down the qualifying lap in the short, 15 minute qualifying session and will be starting the race on Saturday afternoon.
Sharing driving duties with Murry are Franz Engstler and Gunter Schaldach. Murry, who has raced in the historic 24-hour race more than a dozen times, is the veteran and natural choice to start the race. Schaldach has also raced here before, having competed in last year’s race, while Engstler will make his racing debut on the high banks of Daytona this weekend. Although new to Daytona, Engstler is far from a rookie, having raced around the world in series including the World Touring Car Championship, Formula Three, German Touring Car, Asian Touring Car, German ADAC Procar Series, The Dubai 24 hour and The Nurburing 24.
Mitchum Motorsports returned to the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2011 after having run multiple entries in years prior. The team finished 30th last year after multiple off track incidents and several trips to the garage for repairs. This year they are looking to show the GRAND-AM racing community they are a team to be reckoned with. The #20 Porsche has consistently gotten quicker through the test days and practice sessions and has a competitive race pace.
“Things are looking very positive for our effort this weekend. The drivers are comfortable, the car is quick and the crew is ready to go,” said team principal Chris Mitchum. “Obviously we would prefer to be starting from pole, but the reality is, in a 24-hour race your starting position doesn’t really matter. We need to run consistent laps, stay out of trouble and have clean pit stops. We are very much capable of that so I am optimistic for the race.”
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