Tony Kanaan finally gets his chance to play with his best Christmas present during this weekend’s Roar Before the 24 test session at Daytona International Speedway.
The Verizon IndyCar Series veteran will have his first taste of driving the Ford GT for Chip Ganassi Racing in the GT Le Mans class at the open test session in preparation for the Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance sports car race Jan. 28-29.
Driving the supercar is something the 2004 Verizon IndyCar Series champion and 2013 Indy 500 winner has been itching to do since the program operated by the Ganassi squad was announced in 2015. The program’s goal was a successful return to 24 Hours of Le Mans and it was accomplished when fellow Verizon IndyCar Series driver Sebastien Bourdais teamed with Joey Hand and Dirk Muller to win the GTLM class last June – 50 years after a Ford GT snatched the overall win at the iconic event. Ford GTs won a total of five times in 2016 between the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
“I’ve been following this thing since Day 1 because I’m a big fan of the car and the street car,” Kanaan said before the test. “Seeing the team win Le Mans last year after I won the 24 Hours of Daytona with them (in 2015 in a Daytona Prototype) already made me want to be there. I was waiting for the right opportunity and it finally came.
“It came a couple days before Christmas so I actually said it was the best Christmas gift I had this year. I’m a part of a big tradition, I’m thrilled and I can’t wait to get there.”
Chip Ganassi Racing has scored six overall wins in the Rolex 24, with Kanaan a part of the team’s 2015 victory along with Verizon IndyCar Series teammate Scott Dixon and Ganassi NASCAR pilots Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson.
A sizable chunk of the Verizon IndyCar Series grid is on hand for the Roar test that runs today through Sunday on the 3.56-mile road course. The Prototype class features James Hinchcliffe and Spencer Pigot driving for Mazda and RC Enerson for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports. Joining Kanaan at CGR in the GTLM Ford GTs are Bourdais and Dixon. The GT Daytona class features Graham Rahal and 2012 Verizon IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay in Michael Shank Racing’s Acura NSX GT3s.
Other drivers with INDYCAR ties competing include Townsend Bell, Ryan Briscoe, Christian Fittipaldi, Jack Hawksworth, Sage Karam, Katherine Legge, Scott Pruett, Buddy Rice, Sebastian Saavedra, Scott Sharp and Tristan Vautier. IMSA also announced today that four-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion and three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti will be the grand marshal for the 55th running of the Rolex 24.
SOURCE: INDYCAR