The much coveted Pirelli P Zero Bonus Points fell into the kitty of the winners of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car series’ season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, held on January 30^th-31^st Action Express and Speedsource for winning the 48^th running of America’s premier endurance race. The No.9 Action Express, after winning the overall race and the Daytona Prototype Class registered itself for the Pirelli P Zero Bonus Points, while the No. 70 Castrol Syntec/Speedsource Mazda RX-8 team got its way by being victorious in the GT Class. Both the teams marked the beginning of the new Pirelli P Zero Club Bonus Program. This program will apparently award with $120,000 in cash during the 2010 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No.16.

One has to be a part of the Pirelli P Zero Club which comprises of the race teams that finished inside the top 10 in final 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype and GT points standings, so as to earn the eligibility to enter this newly introduced program. Any member team of Pirelli Club which wins its first victory in either Daytona Prototype or GT Class, earn a $5,000 Pirelli P Zero Bonus. If Action Express or Speedsource is victorious in any more race during the rest of Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series season, the bonus $ 5,000 will get rolled over and will continue to get built until some other member team from the Pirelli Club marks its first 2010 victory.

The team members will get another chance to lay their claims over the Pirelli P Zero Bonus during 2010 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series season finale which is scheduled to be held at Miller Motorsports Park on September 11^th. All member of the club will be eligible for the bonus regardless of the fact as to whether they have won earlier or not. The victorious teams Action Express and Speedsource thanked Pirelli Tire North America for introducing the brand new surprise factor to the race and making it all the more eventful. The winning drivers also gave the credit for their win to the series standard Pirelli P Zero Racing slicks.

Speaking about his experience, Terry Brocheller who was a part of the 2004’s Rolex 24 At Daytona as well as 2003’s Grand-Am Rolex Series Daytona Prototype Championship, said that he was mighty impressed with the Pirelli slicks and that they made it fairly consistent to drive in the damp and cold conditions. Adding to the praise, his teammate Ryan Dalziel won his second career Daytona Prototype following his first one at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2008, said that the Pirellis helped them stay in control and make double-stint whenever they needed to. After a contact incident which forced the team to take a long trip to garage, the GT winning Speedsource No. 70 lost pace and lagged behind by as many as six laps. In spite of setbacks the determined team got back to the tracks only to win by nearly four laps. The winners have also bagged the very impressive the Rolex Daytona Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph watches.

Tags: Action Express, Daytona Prototype Class, Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, Pirelli Tire North America, rolex, Rolex Daytona Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph, Speedsource

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 at 5:21 am and is filed under Rolex Culture, Rolex Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.