DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Ben Hanley has started his second season with Dragonspeed Racing in fine form, setting fastest lap at the IMSA WeatherTech Roar Before the Rolex 24.
Hanley bested twelve teams featuring some of the world’s best drivers, including World Champion Neel Jani, who held the record through four sessions in the Rebellion Racing Oreca-Gibson. Hanley turned in a lap of 1:38.343 at 130.3, besting Jani’s quickest effort, a 138.944 at 129.4 mph, by more than half a second..
Hanley’s performance is all the more impressive because prior to the Roar, the 31-year-old Brit had never been to Daytona.
“It’s our first time here for all the drivers on the team so it’s just about getting experience, learning the passing zones, how busy the tracks going to be in the race … It’s going to be challenging,” he explained after the Roar’s final session.
“We’ve had had a great three days I think we’ve had just about every weather condition which is good preparation for the race the first day was nice and warm then we had some rain then it turned cold then we had the night session so it’s been great experience for the team and myself as well.”
