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Qualifying report

Competition Motorsports replaces Faieta with Andrew Davis for Petit Le Mans

#24 Competition Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: Bob Faieta, Michael Avenatti, David Calvert-Jones

#24 Competition Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: Bob Faieta, Michael Avenatti, David Calvert-Jones

Eric Gilbert

GRAND-AM Champion Joins Calvert-Jones, Avenatti Due in Place of Faieta

BRASELTON, Ga. (October 19, 2012) - Andrew Davis, the 2011 GRAND-AM Rolex Series GT champion, has joined the driver lineup for the No. 24 Norton by Symantec Porsche alongside co-drivers David Calvert-Jones and Michael Avenatti for Saturday's Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

#24 Competition Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: Andrew Davis, Michael Avenatti, David Calvert-Jones
#24 Competition Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: Andrew Davis, Michael Avenatti, David Calvert-Jones

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

Davis replaces Competition Motorsports owner/driver Bob Faieta, who stepped out of the cockpit. Davis turned his first laps in the No. 24 machine in qualifying on Friday afternoon and turned the seventh-quickest lap at 1:25.456 (107.002 mph). However, the car will start from the rear of the grid as Davis did not drive in any practice sessions prior to qualifying.

"It's a very interesting day for me," Davis said. "I'm here coaching with my Kelly-Moss GT3 team and then got the phone call to jump into the big show in the Norton by Symantec Porsche. This morning I just got the phone call and it didn't look like it was going to happen, actually, and then it came together right before qualifying. I had about 30 minutes to go get my gear and come over and hop in the car. The Porsche GT3 Cup car is really my day-to-day office. I'm in it all the time so I know the car very well.

"Qualifying went OK and we were able to learn a little bit. We're going to make the car a little bit better for the race and more drivable for the race. This is a grueling event. The big thing is I'll speak with CJ and Michael is just about managing traffic. The prototypes are relentless at this track. We just need to put our heads down and race a clean race, stay out of the pits and not make mistakes. If we do that, I think you'll have myself, CJ and Michael up there spraying champagne at the event, because I've done it before here a couple times. It's all come from running smart races. You don't have to be the quickest here, you have to be the smartest."

Calvert-Jones, who goes by "CJ," will start the race in the No. 24 Porsche. It will be his ALMS debut after a successful rookie year in IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama competition. CJ finished second in both races of a GT3 Cup doubleheader at Road Atlanta, which were his eighth and ninth podium results from 12 starts en route to second in the Gold Cup championship.

"We're very fortunate to have a driver the caliber of Andrew available on short notice to step in," CJ said. "It has already been an eventful first weekend for me in the ALMS GTC class, but I'm learning quickly and Andrew's extensive coaching background will benefit all of us in the race tomorrow."

As owner of Competition Motorsports, Faieta's focus will now shift to calling the shots from atop the pit box on Saturday.

"It's good for the team," Faieta said. "Andrew is one of the top Cup drivers in the world. I think the obvious choice in that situation was to have Andrew take over and drive. I'll be definitely looking forward to doing a lot of driving this year, but under the circumstances, as big of a race as this is for Competition Motorsports and Norton, having Andrew drive the car is a really good thing."

Source: Competition Motorsports

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