Mike Rockenfeller revealed a key technique during his pursuit for GTD Pro pole position at Daytona to combat the unusually cold temperatures.
The ambient temperature during the course of qualifying hovered around nine degrees-Celsius.
These provoked atypical track conditions for drivers tackling the first IMSA SportsCar Championship qualifying of the 2025 season.
After taking his second ever IMSA pole after last doing so in the Grand Am Series round in 2006 at Homestead, he explained his approach to the session.
“Yeah, I don’t remember that pole, to be fair,” he quipped in the post-qualifying press conference, “But yes, it’s obviously a great day.
“… It’s one thing you would like to get, but really the race on Sunday is what we all want to win.
“It doesn’t mean a whole lot for the race, but for us as a team with Ford in the second year now with the Mustang, I think it’s a great achievement.
“… We really prepared for it. The car was fantastic to drive, as you can imagine, to do those laps, yeah I could really push it.
“I think the big difference was I don’t know why nobody did it, but I did this kind of heat soak.
“So I went back in the pits right after my out-lap and I was waiting just the brake temps that they get into the tyre.
“And then it’s so cold that it gave me a lot more grip.
“You could see it to the sister car, as well, and I think that was a good decision and it worked out.
“That’s why we’re on pole.”
Ford’s second Daytona with the Mustang GT3
Ford Multimatic claimed their first GTD Pro pole position in the second season of the new Ford Mustang GT3 package.
Amidst doing so, they claimed second position thus earning the front-row start in the GTD Pro category.
The 63rd running of the 24 Hours of Daytona will take place on 25-26 January and will be the second for the new Mustang albeit after one IMSA season’s-worth of experience completed.
READ MORE: Mike Rockenfeller heads Ford front-row knockout in Daytona qualifying
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