•Ricky Taylor runs second for Acura Team Penske in Rolex 24 qualifying

•Juan Pablo Montoya takes his Acura ARX-05 to third on the grid

Strong Rolex 24 qualifying performances from both Acura teams Thursday at Daytona International Speedway saw Ricky Taylor qualifying on the outside of the front row, second, for Acura Team Penske, and Meyer Shank Racing's Trent Hindman posting the third-quickest GTD qualifying run in his Acura NSX GT3 Evo.

Acura Team Penske

Both Acura Team Penske ARX-05s will be well placed for the start of Saturday's 24-hour endurance contest, opening round in the 2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Both Taylor and pole qualifier Oliver Jarvis set track-record times in the 15-minute qualifying session, with Jarvis claiming the pole at 1:33.685 and Taylor just behind at 1:33.873. Juan Pablo Montoya, driving the second Acura ARX-05, will start third at 1:34.095.

Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo

Trent Hindman lead the way for Meyer Shank Racing in the ultra-competitive GT Daytona category qualifying session, and will start his Acura NSX GT3 Evo third in the class, sharing the car with co-drivers Mario Farnbacher, Justin Marks and A.J. Allmendinger.

After leading the GTD field in the 'Roar Before the 24' open test earlier this month, Bia Figueiredo qualified her Acura NSX GT3 Evo 11th, less than a second off the class pole of 1:45.267. Figueiredo's co-drivers will include Katherine Legge, Simona de Silvestro and Christina Nielsen.

Full television coverage of the Rolex 24 starts Saturday, January 26, at 2 p.m. EST on the NBC Sports Network. Nighttime coverage will be found on NBC Sports Network from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Race coverage concludes with the final hours of the contest and finish on NBC Sports Network from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Additional coverage can be found on the NBC Sports Gold App, from 5-9 p.m. EST Saturday and again from 3-6 a.m. EST on Sunday.

Quotes

Ricky Taylor (driver, #7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05) qualified second in prototype: 'It was a really good session for us even though the track was very different from the open test. To show this kind of pace in qualifying is really encouraging for the race. We have a night practice session to get the car really dialed in, and then the race will be here before we know it.

Trent Hindman (driver, #86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3) qualified third in GTD: 'To be starting up front, and hopefully ahead of anything bad that might be going on during the first couple of laps is a good thing for us. I'm just grateful to be back with Meyer Shank Racing again this year. It's been a fantastic day, and now our focus shifts to how to maintain this pace throughout the 24-hour race this weekend.

Photo credit: Acura
posted on conceptcarz.com

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