WeatherTech Racing will start the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship series 53rd running of the Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona from the fifth row in GTD on Saturday.

Leh Keen (Charleston, SC) had the wheel of the black-and-white No. 22 WeatherTech Racing Porsche for the 15-minute qualifying session as teammates Cooper MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.), Davis (Athens, Ga.) and Shane van Gisbergen (Auckland, New Zealand) looked on. After three laps, the session was red flagged as the marshals retrieved the wheel of the No. 93 Viper. It was an all-out sprint as the team’s returned to the 3.56-mile modified oval Daytona circuit to battle for top honors. Keen managed to put in a lap of 1:48.220 good for 10th.

“We kind of knew the Aston was going to be really fast. It was fast the whole last half of last year,” Keen said. “We knew the Viper was going to be fast. It was a really messy session. I definitely made the best out of it, which was a challenge. Unfortunately, I didn’t get what I wanted out of it. We’re starting 10th. We know we’ve got a good car when it cools off. We struggled a little bit today with the setup because the temperatures are different than they were during the Roar test. The race is going to cool off. It’s [the race] going to be more like the Roar test was. That’s what it’s all about – just get to the race. Now that qualifying is over, we can get ready for the race and try to go win this thing.”

Team owner Alex Job is focused on the full 24 hours.

“The Aston Martin is fast,” Job said. “We knew it would be up there along with the Viper, I just didn’t think we would be a second off. The Porsche is a good car here over a full stint. Leh, Cooper, Shane and Andrew are comfortable with the way the car handles so we will focus on getting it just right to go 24 hours and see where we are on Sunday afternoon.”