The 50th Anniversary of the Rolex 24 at Daytona officially got underway on Thursday, January 26, 2012. The day featured a single 15-minute qualifying session following the three practice sessions, which included a two-hour night session. The #42 Team Sahlen RX-8 took the highest position among the Mazda family of entries in qualifying with sixth on the grid in the hotly-contested GT class.

The long-established Brumos Racing team saw their Porsche GT3 take pole position ahead of a newcomer to Grand-Am's GT class, a Ferrari 458 scoring second on the grid for the 24-hour event. They were followed by a pair of Porsche GT3 entries 3rd and 4th, and another Ferrari 458 5th. Next quickest was the #42 RX-8 GT in 6th place, just 0.65 seconds away from the pole-winning time.

Meanwhile, one of the best bets for the title, the #70 SpeedSouce RX-8 GT ran lap after lap with Sylvain Tremblay and the other three drivers behind the wheel. The #70 ended qualifying in 25th, 1.7 seconds from Pole. Patrick Dempsey's #40 Dempsey Racing RX-8 GT took 27th.