BRASELTON, Ga. (Oct. 3, 2014) – David Ostella qualified ninth in the Prototype Challenge class in the No. 38 Dash Neighborhood/Phillips 66 of Performance Tech Motorsports for his first Petit Le Mans start.
Ostella turned steady laps that averaged in the 1-minute, 17-second range. His top lap of 1:17.533 was just more than a second slower than pole sitter Jack Hawksworth.
Ostella wanted a quicker qualifying lap was but was willing to settle with consistency after missing the final TUDOR United SportsCar Championship practice session of the day.
The session originally was red-flagged due to lightning. The storm turned to heavy rain, and the track opened for practice. But Performance Tech Team Principal Brent O’Neill thought the possible outcome of an incident in heavy rain was too much of a gamble. The team didn’t participate in the practice.
Ostella was not worried he found himself starting further back in the field than usual. Instead, rookie Ostella focused on the 10 hours of racing Saturday instead of the 15-minute qualifying session Friday.
“I think we’re looking pretty good for the race,” Ostella said. “We have a strong and consistent car. With 10 hours ahead of us, that’s the best you can ask for. We just have to make sure we stay out there and make as few mistakes as possible during the race. I think I personally could have used that last practice, but I think it only hindered us a little bit because we we’re going to throw on new tires and see how we did. We’ll be good for the race.”
The 17th Annual Petit Le Mans Powered by Mazda begins at 11:15 a.m. (ET) tomorrow Saturday, Oct. 4. The race will be broadcast live starting at 11 a.m. on IMSA.com, with live coverage on FOX Sports 2 starting at 3 p.m. FOX Sports will air a highlight show Sunday, Oct. 5. Check local listings for details.
For updates from David Ostella, follow him on Twitter at @davidostella and @OstellaCorsa and Facebook.