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Porsche driver Nick Tandy has played down the crash that ended his qualifying session at the Roar Before The 24 in Daytona on Sunday.
Tandy was at the wheel for the all-important session before a mistake at the Daytona Chicane drew the red flag.
The #6 Porsche 963, which he shares with Mathieu Jaminet and Dane Cameron, failed to record a time meaning it will start Saturday’s Rolex 24 from last place.
Last weekend’s Roar consisted of five practice sessions which led into qualifying, the results from which set the starting order for the coming weekend’s endurance race at the venue.
“I’ve never experienced the 963 in these conditions with that sort of speed and balance,” Tandy said of the car prior to the crash.
“Honestly, the car was just amazing.
“The lap time looked very good, I [needed] just to complete going nicely through the Bus Stop and it looked like we would have had a good time for the pole.
“Unfortunately I just locked the left-front wheel in entry to the Bus Stop and got slightly wide and on the dirt,” he added.
“By the time I tried to correct the car for the second curb, the rear stepped out and I lost control.
“It doesn’t look like we’ve done too much damage, luckily.
“Of course, it’s not the ideal preparation going into a 24-hour race when parts are limited.”
The Porsche 963 is making its IMSA SportsCar Championship debut as new GTP regulations come into force this season.
The #6 entry is one of two such Porsche in the race, the other driven by Australian Matt Campbell, Felipe Nasr, and Michael Christensen.
Tandy had topped Saturday evening’s Session 5, held in wet, dark conditions, though it was largely unrepresentative due to the conditions.
The #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura will start from pole, the entry having topped all four meaningful sessions in the lead-up to qualifying at the Roar.
Opening practice for the Rolex 24 at Daytona begins on Thursday (local time) with a total of four sessions preceding the race itself, the green flag for which drops at 13:40 on Saturday.
