One team not at Daytona today and tomorrow for the major IMSA test is Paul Miller Racing.
The squad though is very much ready for 2017 with the announcement that Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow and Bryce Miller will be joined by 2016 Super GT Championship runner up Andrea Caldarelli for the Rolex 24 At Daytona next month.
Caldarelli tested with Paul Miller Racing in last month’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship session at Daytona International Speedway, a full two-day run that concluded the #48 team’s planned 2016 testing schedule.
“We are really excited to have a driver of Andrea’s talent available to join our team for the Rolex 24 At Daytona,” said Team Owner Paul Miller. “He is familiar with the Lamborghini Huracán and GT3 racing in total and proved to be quick from the beginning in his test with us even though he had never been to Daytona before. On top of that, he is genuinely nice guy who fit in right away with our team and gives us the final element of a driver lineup we believe should be very competitive.
“I am very excited and really looking forward to making my debut in the Rolex 24,” Caldarelli said. “As it is my debut in this race, it is very important to have the support of a team like Paul Miller Racing with so much experience and successes. I am sure we will do very well.”
“It will be great adding another strong driver to the lineup,” Sellers said. “We have a solid base of drivers that we used last year. We were all able to drive the same balance race car and wanted the same things from the car. Andrea came in and immediately fit the same mold. He is a great guy and very easy to work with. He brings a lot of knowledge from the manufacturer which also helps us in the long run.”
“The Rolex 24 is looking good,” Snow said. “We have good drivers in the car, everyone has good pace and is a team player. One of the challenges of the 24 is bringing in more drivers to help split the time for the endurance race. Sometimes it’s good to go with who you know, but at the same time it is always nice to be able to meet more drivers in the industry if you believe they will give you a better chance at winning the race. After the first test we had with Andrea we are very happy and excited to be able to work with him.”
The two-day November test was Caldarelli’s first experience with both Paul Miller Racing and the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course.
“I found the team very professional and with a huge know-how compared to a lot of teams I race with,” Caldarelli said. “Definitely the banking parts at Daytona were the biggest surprise. It felt really strange for me to go into the banking corners for at least the whole first day, but after that I started to enjoy it.”
