Daytona Beach, Fla. (26 January 2014)- Action Express Racing won the 2014 Rolex 24 At Daytona with drivers Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi, and Sebastien Bourdais driving the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP to victory on Sunday. Underscoring the strong team performance, the sister No. 9 Action Express Racing/Millennium Corvette DP finished in third.
Thank you to all the team partners, fans, and sponsors for the support. A full report will follow.
WINNERS:
Joao Barbosa, No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP: “It’s an unbelievable result for the team. These guys at Action Express Racing deserve everything they are getting now. It’s really, really hard to finish on the podium at Daytona and to finish first and third is a great achievement and great work from all the team. They worked really, really hard during the winter. We went to every test we could. We did big preparation in the winter time. We knew we could do it but we didn’t know it was going to be that hard. It’s an unbelievable feeling. The end there was very intense, especially for me. The last 10 minutes was very intense. We did the job we were supposed to do and that we worked for and here we are.”
Christian Fittipaldi, No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP: “I think the only thing that could have made it a little more special would have been if we could have finished 1-2 as a team but obviously 1-3 is an awesome result. Especially considering that Fabien (Giroix) and John (Martin) didn’t have any previous experience over here. And it’s a great result for Burt (Frisselle) and Brian (Frisselle). We tried a different combination and I think it’s working for everyone. Joao and I are working very well together and Burt and Brian are working well. They definitely came alive. They were a challenge in the race; they were a threat. There’s no doubt about it. They contended for the win. Action Express prepared the cars perfectly, couldn’t be better and Chevy power was awesome behind us. Not only over the race weekend but in preparation for allowing us achieve what we did today.”
Sebastien Bourdais, No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP: “It’s one of these big, big, big races that everyone wants to win at some point. When you get a shot like we had all race long, I’ve seen it slip away but this time it was for us. It’s a heck of a feeling. Everybody worked really, really hard. We did pretty much a mistake-free race. It paid off with a fast car and we made it stick. It’s pretty sweet. I knew the team was going to have the capability of winning but there are so many variables and uncertainties in the system, you can never be sure of anything. I’m really, really happy it turned our way today. We were strong the whole time. We were running at the front in practice. We qualified up front. We raced up front the whole time. You can’t help but think, “When is this going to go wrong?” and it didn’t and it’s awesome.”
THIRD PLACE PODIUM:
Burt Frisselle, No. 9 Action Express Racing/Millennium Corvette DP: “I think especially with the affiliation we had this weekend with Delta-ADR that we definitely flew under the radar. We had two excellent co-drivers, John Martin and Fabien Giroix. John drove brilliantly during his times in the car and Fabien was very smart obviously when the big red flag happened and our thoughts and prayers go out to Memo (Gidley). But really this weekend started to come together for us on Wednesday night. We had a big team meeting with both cars and we really felt like we had the opportunity to get a 1-2 finish. Finishing third was a little bit short of our goal, but I will take it. Everyone worked so hard and so well together. Even back when we were testing back in the beginning of this month and December we felt like we had two cars capable of winning and today we did have two cars capable of winning. One did and one came home on the podium.”
Brian Frisselle, No. 9 Action Express Racing/Millennium Corvette DP: “It is just a nice thing that we are blessed to be able to have success together here as a family. Dad was on the podium here at the 24 Hours of Daytona and he won the 12 Hours of Sebring. So Sebring is up next and hopefully we can match his mark there. But I just have to tip my hat to the whole team, Action Express and Delta-ADR, for putting together two great cars. Both cars on the podium, both cars on the lead lap, one car wins, which is obviously how it is going to have to be. It was also a tough race just because it started off with a terrible accident with Memo Gidley, and our thoughts are with him, we know he is already in recovery. But it quickly puts into perspective what you are doing out there and what really matters.”
Fabien Giroix, No. 9 Action Express Racing/Millennium Corvette DP: “It was fantastic for me. This was the first time I had ever been to Daytona. I never expected when I came to the test here at the beginning of January that we could get a podium. We had a fantastic car and a great team and team members who did a very good job. The team of Action Express and Delta did a fantastic job. For me it’s an unbelievable result because I just came here to make the race and to learn. The team and car were fantastic. My team was unbelievable and we finished on the same lap of the winner.”
John Martin,” No. 9 Action Express Racing/Millennium Corvette DP: “Just to back up what everyone else has said, the Millennium Delta Motorsports guys and Action Express team have been working very hard and have done an amazing job. I’m the same as Fabien (Giroix), this was my first time here and my first time driving the car. So to come here and run up front all day was amazing. I had some great teammates, obviously Burt (Frisselle) and Brian (Frisselle) have been here a fair bit so to have them and all of their experience the whole week, I’m pretty happy.”
