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INDYCAR: Another Strong Open-Wheel Presence At The Rolex 24
There’s no need to wait for the IZOD IndyCar Series season opener on March 24th at St. Petersburg to see some of your favorite drivers in action.
Marshall Pruett  |  Posted January 02, 2013  
Nearly half of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series grid could be represented at the 51st edition of the Rolex 24 At Daytona. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)
Once again, there’s no need to wait for the IZOD IndyCar Series season opener on March 24th at St. Petersburg to see some of your favorite drivers in action as a growing list of open-wheel’s finest are scheduled to take part in this month’s Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Round 1 of GRAND-AM’s Rolex Series championship, which kicks off the final season of sports car racing before the American Le Mans Series and GRAND-AM unite in 2014, has nine confirmed IndyCar drivers on its entry list, and could see that number grow to 10 or more before the 24-hour race starts on January 26th (Live on SPEED at 3 p.m. ET).

Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates will have two of its regulars from the Target stable back for the 51st edition of the race as former race winners Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti are set to share the No. 02 Riley-BMW. Charlie Kimball will take the place of former Ganassi driver Graham Rahal as he makes his race debut in the team’s No. 01 Daytona Prototype.
Andretti Autosport's James Hinchcliffe, left, is back with the Mazda factory and the same co-drivers from 2012. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)

Dragon Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais is returning to Starworks Motorsports entry in the No. 2 Riley-Ford he raced to victory at the inaugural Rolex Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports’ 2012 IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year Simon Pagenaud will make his Rolex 24 debut in the No. 42 Team Sahlen Riley-BMW.

Those five confirmed DP drivers will surely have fun harassing their three rivals that have signed up to compete in the slower Rolex GT and GX classes, starting with former KV Racing teammates Tony Kanaan and Rubens Barrichello.

The two will share the all-Brazilian No. 21 Dener Motorsport Porsche GT3 Cup car as Kanaan makes his return to the event and Barrichello, after years of coming close to inking a Rolex 24 deal, will make his event and endurance racing debut alongside his best friend.

Andretti Autosport’s James Hinchcliffe will be the sole IndyCar representative in the brand-new GX class, driving once again for the factory Mazda team in the No. 70 Mazda6.
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