Aitken Delivers Rolex 24 Pole as Cadillac Tops Dramatic Daytona Qualifying
Jack Aitken didn’t just win the pole for the Rolex 24 at Daytona; he snatched it from the jaws of a charging field. In a qualifying session that saw drivers pushing their prototypes to the absolute ragged edge, Aitken delivered a blistering lap of 1 minute, 33.939 seconds. That effort made him the only driver to dip into the 1:33 bracket, putting the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R exactly where the team wanted it: P1.
Aitken Digs Deep Against Fierce Competition
It wasn’t a walk in the park. The British driver admitted he was watching Renger van der Zande in the No. 93 Acura intently during the session. Seeing the Acura pull away initially, Aitken knew he had to find something extra. He described his pole-winning lap as “scrappy,” a testament to just how hard he was leaning on the machinery to extract speed. The strategy was crucial.
With tires that peak quickly and fall off just as fast, timing was everything. Aitken nailed it, managing the rubber perfectly to set his flyer right when it counted. He finished just over a tenth of a second clear of van der Zande, while Louis Deletraz put the Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac in third. The margins were razor-thin, with the top five cars separated by less than three-tenths of a second.
A Grid Packed with Talent
While Aitken stole the headlines, the rest of the field proved this year’s Rolex 24 is going to be a dogfight. In LMP2, Jeremy Clarke survived a massive scare at Turn and almost lost the rear end under braking to grab pole by a microscopic 0.008 seconds over PJ Hyett. Meanwhile, in the GTD Pro ranks, Alexander Sims laid down a flyer to put the Corvette Z06 GT3.R on top, proving Detroit muscle is ready to fight.
What This Means for the Rolex 24
Qualifying on the pole for a 24-hour race is often described as a vanity metric. After all, you can’t win the race in the first hour, but you can certainly lose it. However, this result is massive for Action Express Racing. It confirms the Cadillac has raw, one-lap pace and that Aitken is dialed in. Starting at the front allows the team to dictate the pace early and, crucially, stay out of the chaotic mid-pack mess when the green flag drops on Saturday.
What’s Next
The stage is set. The cars are fast, the grid is tight, and the tension is already palpable. If qualifying was any indication, we are in for a classic. The Rolex 24 at Daytona goes green this Saturday at 1:40 p.m. ET. Don’t miss it.
