GUSTAVO YACAMAN CLAIMS 3rd PLACE AT DAYTONA - ROLEX 24

Daytona Beach, FL (29 January 2012) - The Indy Lights driver and & Hours of Bogotá Champion Gustavo Yacamán claimed the third place in the 50th aniversary of 24 Hours of Daytona in his first participation in the legendary endurance race in the United States. The second endurance race in the world, showed to Yacaman like starring with his team, led by Michael Shank.

With McDowell, Goncalvez and Nasr, formed the youngest crew Yacamán in the race, but keeping pace with most experienced drivers who attended the 24 hours at Daytona. The Colombian credit followed the instructions of his team manager, finishing with a strong fourth stint, Yacaman gave his car on the lead lap in the third position.

Neither had ever competed in a 24-hour endurance race before, though Yacaman won the Six Hours of Bogota in December. Drastically different than the typical 1.5-hour Indy Lights race, the two had a lot to adjust to for the Daytona marathon.

Well, you know, it's a long race and a lot of complicated things happened.  They had a lot of problems.  We had a flawless race.  Michael Shank did an amazing job preparing, getting ready both of the cars.  We had no mechanical failures.  We had no driver mistakes. You know, I don't think I beat Juan, I think I beat the whole Ganassi team.  Juan has been a great help for me this last month.  He's been a great help for me the past four years, just guiding me through Indy Lights and giving me tips here and there, someone that has been a great help.  Ozz Negri was, as well.  He guided me through the team and everything.  I really want to thank them, too, because thanks to them, I think we had the result that we had today, especially Ozz. Obviously we had more contact and more time together, explain how the car works, explaining situations. I had probably 1,000 questions to ask Mike before the race started, and he answered them all in one email.  It was a seven page email, but he answered them all.  Everything was really clear.  I think we were all I wasn't nervous at the beginning of the race.  I knew what I had to do.  I knew in case of emergency what we needed to do.  If I had a flat tire, I knew exactly what we needed to do if I had a flat tire.
I think it's preparation and being cool headed, and also, you know, a little bit of luck.  At the end of the day, it's 24 hours, and a lot of things can happen, and you need to have some luck.

1 Allmendinger/Negri/Pew/Wilson Michael Shank Ford Riley 24h 0m 36.793s

2 Dalziel/Luhr/McNish/Popow/Potolicchio Starworks Ford Riley +5.198s

3 Goncalvez/McDowell/Nasr/Yacaman Michael Shank Ford Riley +49.439s

4 Dixon/Franchitti/McMurray/Montoya Ganassi BMW Riley +1 lap