After a productive week of testing and qualifying at Daytona International Speedway, the Paul Miller Racing team is set to roll off 11th for the 61st Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The No. 1 Quartz Engine Oil-backed BMW M4 GT3 will be piloted by full-season drivers Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow, as well as endurance driver Corey Lewis and BMW Factory driver Maxime Martin.
The twice-round-the-clock classic kicks off the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, where the PMR crew will be seeking their second Rolex victory following success in 2020. Additionally, a good result will boost their chances of full-season success as they try to reclaim the GTD championship title Sellers and Snow scored in 2018.
In their first visit to the Rolex with the BMW M4 GT3, Snow and the Paul Miller Racing crew qualified 11th for next Saturday’s race.
“It hasn’t been an easy week of testing. Daytona is always difficult, no matter if you’ve been here a dozen times or if it’s your first visit,” Paul Miller Racing team owner, Paul Miller said.
“It’s our first time here with this new car, and so we’re still very much learning how the BMW behaves at this track—it’s really like nothing else we go to on the IMSA schedule. So, while we aren’t as fast as we’d like to be now, we have all week next week to dial it in and get our car race-ready.
“This team of drivers has been working hard, our crew has been working hard. I have no doubt that we will put our best foot forward next week and try to be there at the end of this 24-hour race.”
The Rolex 24 at Daytona goes green Saturday, January 28, 2023 at 1:40 PM ET.
Madison Snow
“We have a year under us in the BMW now, and we did great last year, but we weren’t here at Daytona. I think we’re quite a bit behind the eight ball with this car after not being here last year compared to a lot of other teams. We have our work cut out for us leading up to the race and then in the race to stay with it. But, we are one of the best teams on pit stops and strategy and so we may struggle in some places, but we will absolutely make it up in others.”
Bryan Sellers
“A difficult qualifying for us. We’re unfortunately finding ourselves in a position we haven’t found ourselves in in a long time. Our pace seems to be a bit away from what we anticipated, and a fair bit away from what we hoped. I think we have a lot of work to do leading up to next week to try and find some speed and balance in the race car—but also some longevity on race pace. Luckily we have a few days to sit and decompress and figure some things out, but it looks like at the moment it will be a difficult race. Thankfully, it’s a long event and we have a good team and a good group around us and those are the things that carry you through these programs during endurance races.”
Corey Lewis
“Overall, the last few days for me have been a big learning experience. It’s great to be back at Paul Miller Racing and get all of us together again. Coming to grips with the new BMW has been a little bit of a learning curve, but it’s been fun. I have really good guys in my corner on this team that have been helping me get up to speed. Overall, I think we need a little bit of luck on long stints for this race, but it’s 24 hours and anything can happen. The last couple days have definitely been trying, but this team is great and I’m looking forward to figuring them out during race week.”
Maxime Martin
“Being a part of this team is really nice. We spent last year fighting each other in the IMSA championship and so it’s nice to be on the inside and discover the team. It’s a super professional organization and I’m looking forward to racing with them next week. Like everyone said, it was a difficult qualifying. We have to sit down now and try to optimize the package we have for the race and get the best result we can next week. I’m really looking forward to next week and the 24.”
Source. Paul Miller Racing
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