Action Express score 1-2 in Daytona qualifying

Joao Barbosa celebrates pole position at the Daytona 24 Hours

Action Express produced an impressive display to claim a front row lockout in qualifying for the annual Daytona 24 Hours.

Joao Barbosa clocked a 1:36.90s to shoot to the top of the times in the new Cadillac prototype which he shares with Christian Fittipaldi and Filipe Albuquerque.

The entry proved to be 0.07s faster than the sister car of Dane Cameron, Mike Conway, Seb Morris and Eric Curran.

Rebellion Racing claimed third ahead of the Konica Minolta Cadillac squad.

New Zealander Brendon Hartley will start from fifth on the grid apart of the Exterme Speed Motorsport Nissan squad.

Joey Hand has led Ganassi’s Ford GT squad to a one-two-three sweep of the grid in GTLM.

Hand, who is sharing the with Sebastien Bourdais and Dirk Muller recorded 1:43.47s to pip the #67 Ford qualified by Richard Westbrook.

Joining Westbrook for the race is Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon while Olivier Pla qualified the #68 third in the class.

“It’s fun to be part of Ford Chip Ganassi Racing,” Hand said.

“They really know how to do this race, so you always come in with a big smile on your face. When you’re a driver with this program, you know you have a chance to win.”

The result was a drastic change from one year ago, when Ford GT was beset with teething issues on debut at Daytona.

In GTD, reigning Supercars Champion Shane van Gisbergen will start from 51st on the grid and 24th in class on the WeatherTech Racing Mercedes.

Cooper MacNeil qualified the #50 car he will share with the Kiwi, Thomas Jaeger and Gunnar Jeanette.

Meanwhile, Australians Paul Morris and Kenny Habul will line up in 45th position in the SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 they will pilot alongside Maro Engel, Tristan Vautier and Boris Said.

The Daytona 24 Hours is set to begin at 06:30 AEDT on Sunday.

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