Tag: Rolex24

Rolex 24 Notes

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Photo by Jake Galstad. You can’t miss this LMP2 car, driven by Indycar title contenders Colton Herta and Pato O’Ward along with rookie Devlin DeFrancesco.

Andy Blackmore has his Rolex 24 spotter’s guide. Andy does great work with these guides, and this one is one of his best. Right click the link to open it in a new tab.

Click to access SG_22_DAY_ONLINE_V1.pdf

Thursday’s Schedule

Thursday

8 AM GEICO Park West Tent & Infield Tent Camping Open

8:00 AM Parking Lot 4 Opens

8:30 AM UNOH Fanzone Gates Open

9:00 AM Parking Lot 1 Opens

9:00 AM – 8:00 PM Infield Midway Open

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM Motorsports Hall of Fame Open in DAYTONA Ticket and Tours Building

9:00 AM – 9:30 AM Mazda MX-5 Practice

9:45 AM – 10:45 AM IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Practice

11:05 AM – 12:35 PM IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Challenge Practice

12:55 PM – 1:25 PM Mazda MX-5 Qualifying

2:25 PM – 3:00 PM IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Qualifying

3:20 PM – 5:05 PM IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Challenge Practice

5:30 PM – 6:15 PM Mazda MX-5 Race #1

7:15 PM – 9:00 PM IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Challenge Practice

The highlight of tomorrow is the IMSA Weather Tech night practice. This will probably be my only chance to see race cars under the lights this year since Indycar has no night races planned.

I will also be watching the Michelin Pilot Challenge qualifying to see where Robert Wickens starts Friday’s race. Friday’s four hour race begins at 1:35 and will be on Peacock.

Weather Watch

Thursday looks like day of off and on rain, but it will be the warmest day of the weekend. Friday appears to be a dry day with a high of 64. Saturday- sunny with a high of 47, which is the usual nighttime low for the Rolex, dropping to 32 at night. Sunday-sunny with a high of 53.

If you are coming to Daytona for the first time, bring every coat you have. The ocean breeze intensifies the chill.

Get Your Daytona Tickets Now- For Next Year?

Yesterday and today, Daytona International Speedway has called me twice and emailed me about renewing my Rolex tickets for 2023. Seriously? This year’s race doesn’t begin for 68 hours and they want renewals now? A little pushy, I think.

Taylor Holds Off Westbrook for Rolex Pole

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Photo: Business as usual for Wayne Taylor Racing: winning at Daytona. IMSA image

Ricky Taylor won the qualifying race yesterday and will start the Role 24 Hour race from the pole next Saturday. Taylor’s Wayne Taylor Racing Acura took the lead after pit stops and held off persistent attacks from Richard Westbrook in the JDC -Miller Cadillac over the final 30 minutes of the race. Westbrook’s car started on the pole for the race. Felipe Albuquerque qualified the car second, but the number 10 started last in class because of a technical violation.

Taylor clinched the victory just after the start of the final lap. Westbrook saw an opening going into turn one which Taylor quickly closed. Westbrook bumped Taylor, then spun, giving the number 10 Konica- Minolta car a clear path to the checkered flag.

Traffic helped Taylor stay in front, but once the contenders were clear, Westbrook closed in quickly. It was a great half hour battle.

Ben Keating and Mikkel Jensen won in LMP2. Keating started on the pole, and he will drive the number 52 in this class and the number 5 DPi Cadillac in the race. Keating has a good shot at a double win.

Jarrett Andretti Wins LMP3 Pole

Jarrett Andretti, son of the late John Andretti, teamed with Josh Burdon to win the LMP3 class in the Andretti Autosport entry. Attrition was high in this group, and is likely to be a factor next weekend as well. The number 36 Ligier started third Sunday.

Close Finishes in GTD Classes

Both GTD Pro and GTD saw close finishes. While the DPi cars battled, the GTD classes each had duels for the lead for the final 30 minutes also. Peacock gave some coverage of the fights, but I wish they had shown more.

In GTD Pro, the Lamborghini driven by Andrea Caldarelli and Mirko Bortolotti took first place. Bortolotti passed the Porsche driven by Alessio Piccarielli with 14 minutes to go and won by 0.475 seconds.

While the GTD finish was close- Lucas Auer and Russell Ward’ Mercedes won by just 0.509 seconds over the McLaren- the team led all but three laps from their outside front row starting spot.

Some Thoughts on the Rolex 24

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Photo: Nigel Cook/News-Journal

It was an all star race and it lived up to tis billing. This was a very good 24 hour race. It seemed as if every class had battles going on, several for the entire race. 807 laps completed with 10 caution periods is a substatntial lap count.

Want to win the Rolex 24? Join Wayne Taylor Racing. Yesterday’s win was the team’s third straight and fourth in five years. Taylor switched from Cadillac to Acura, hired a new pair of drivers, and still won.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s return to IMSA fell seven minutes short. The Cadillac was strong the entire race and had little problem charging to the front after pit stops and a drive through penalty. A cut tire with seven minutes left derailed the whole race for the team. They finished fifth.

Spencer Pigot and Oliver Askew had to get a lot of satisfaction winning the LMP3 class. Both drivers lost their Indycar rides in 2020. I hope their victory enhances their opportunity for an Indianapolis 500 entry.

Disappointed for Rinus Veekay. The Dragonspeed entry dropped out of the race after just 53 laps. He didn’t even get in the car.

Zach Veach’s bid for a good showing did not go well. His GTD Lexus had a host of issues and finished 13th in class, 64 laps behind the class winner.

One of the best stories of the was the GTD winner.Winward Racing, is a new entry stepping up from the Michelin Pilot series . A tremendous effort to come into the class with the biggest car count and several long time teams and win.

It is sad to see the end of the GTLM class. The Rolex 24 probably marked the highest number of entries for the soon to be extinct group. The Corvettes are the only full time entries. Their 1-2 finish in the class is a hollow victory. This class usually is the most fun to watch at the Rolex with close racing in cars fans can identify with. I understand that economics probably forced the decision, but I will miss this group.

Indycar Drivers Have Mixed Results

Alexander rossi and Helio Castroneves drove for the winning Wayne Taylor Racing Acura. Castroneves follows his 2020 IMSA championship with his first win at the Rolex24.

Rossi and Castroneves become the 14th and 15th Indianapolis 500 winners to also win the Rolex24.

Other Indycar drivers results:

Scott Dixon, Marcus Ericsson (Ganassi DPi) 5th overall

Sebastien Bourdais (JDC Miller DPi) 7th in class

Simon Pagenaud, Jimmie Johnson (Action Express DPi) 2nd overall

Juan Pablo Monoya (Shank DPi) 4th overall

J. R. Hildebrand (Audi GTD) 15th in class

Colton Herta (BMW GTD) 6th in class

NBC Coverage- Meh

I hope race coverage on NBC doesn’t indicate the kind of coverage we can expect for Indycar this season. I thought it was not their best effort.

There were lots of interviews with Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott. To be fair, Indycar drivers were interviewed as well, but Johnson and Elliott got more screen time than all the Indycar drivers combined. I respect what Jimmie Johnson is doing after a successful NASCAR career, taking a huge leap to Indycar and sports cars, but the coverage of him was excessive. Even after the race, he was the only runner-up driver who got an interview.

I felt the extensive focus on him slighted the full time drivers in the series, who work hard for probably little reward.

I understand that the prototypes are the big stars, but a little more time could have been spent covering the other classes. There was a great story with the winners of GTD which got only passing mentions.

Rolex Race Recap and Photo Gallery

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A new driver lineup didn’t affect Wayne Taylor Racing as the team kept its Rolex 24 title Sunday. Both of Taylor’s sons have moved to other teams, leaving only Renger Van der Zende as the sole holdover. Taylor signed Ryan Briscoe from Chip Ganassi’s defunct Ford GT program. Scott Dixon and Kamui Kobayashi joined the squad for the 24 hour race. The Cadillac took the lead for good in the early morning hours and ran away from the field. It was the third victory in four years for WTR.

The number 10 car completed a record 833 laps in a race that had less than two hours of caution periods. At one point the green flag stayed out for more than seven hours.  The long green flag stretches took a lot of dram out of the race as trailing cars had little chance to close up to the leaders.

As usual, the best racing through the night was in the GTLM class. The two Porsches had a great battle with the BMW from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The BMW eventually prevailed, solidifying its lead after sunrise. Drivers in the winning car were Johm Edwards, Augusto Farfus, Chaz Mostert, and Jesse Krohn. Rahal’s other car won the Rolex 24 in 2019.

In LMP2, Dragonspeed retained its Rolex title.  Drivers Ben Hanley, Henrik Hedman, Colin Braun, and Harrison Newey. Dragonspeed is planning a six race Indycar program in addition to its sportscar plans. The team took the lead when the pole sitting Mathiasen Motorsports had an issue.

A Lamborghini was expected to win in GTD and the marque didn’t disappoint. Paul Miller Racing’s car went to Victory Circle. Drivers Madison Snow, Bryan Sellers,  Corey Lewis, and Andrew Caldarelli took home the watches.

Notes

Sebastien Bourdais finished third in his full time sports car debut. The Mustang Sampling team had reconfigured itself in the JDC-Mille stable after leaving Action Express.

Scott Dixon added to his legacy as one racing’s all time greats with his third Rolex24 overall win, tying him for second on the all time roster.

Perseverance award– The crew of the number 4 Corvette spent most of the night hours attempting to find an engine issue. The engine was in pieces in the early morning hours, and the car returned to the track after sunrise. The team spent six hours to complete the repair.

Keating Loves to Drive- Ben Keating drove the number 52 LMP2 car to the pole, then started the race. He also drove the Riley Motorsports Mercedes in GTD. Just doing the math to figure out how he could split his time between the cars and stay within driver time limits was impressive. Keating also drove in Friday’s Michelin Pilot Challenge race.

GEAR has Misfortune- The all female team of Katherine Legge, Christina Nielsen, Tatiana Calderon, and Rachel Frey had a difficult start to the season. The car slowed on the backstretch around 11:30 pm. It limped back to the pits. Early in the morning, the car caught fire with Nielsen behind the wheel. She was not injured, but their race was over.

The IMSA Weather Tech Championship Series next races at the 12 Hours of Sebring March 21. The WEC series will also be there for a 1,000 mile race on Friday.

Photo Gallery

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Rolex 24 Quick Thoughts

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It was another Rolex 24 in which current and former Indycar drivers did well. Scot Dixon and Ryan Briscoe were on the overall winning team. Ben Hanley and Dragonspeed defended their 2019 LMP2 victory. Bobby Rahal’s BMW won the GTLM class for the second consecutive year.  Sebastien Bourdais finished third in his full time IMSA debut.

Attendance at the Rolex 24 seemed to be the best of the seven events I’ve attended.

The race didn’t have a lot of drama in any of the classes. A seven hour green flag stretch kept gaps between the cars steady. As usual, the GTLM group had the best race going on for a few hours.

The drive penalty that the 55 Mazda received for its collision with the 7 Acura was quite light. It’s a penalty which has no effect in a 24 hour race. The 7 never got back into contention.

The crew of the 4 Corvette has my respect. I saw the car in the garage around midnight just before they dismantled the entire engine. Six hours later, the Corvettte returned to the track.

I wondered how the new driver lineup would affect Wayne Taylor Racing. Looks as if there was nothing to worry about.  That team has a handle on this race.

Bourdais’ Mustang Sampling team appeared to be very strong in spite of the ownership and driver changes. They were at the rear of the class early in the race, but worked up to a podium finish.

Rahal now has Rolex 24 wins for both of his cars.

As much praise as I’ve heaped on Daytona International Speedway for the improvements in the facility this weekend, the post race traffic pattern needs a lot of work. I understand  there is not a lot of room for cars to move in the infield, but if someone were directing traffic there might be a smoother flow.

833 laps is an incredible race total. I’ve never seen an endurance race with less than two hours total time under caution.

With convergence looming in 2022, I’m wondering what the car count for next year’s Rolex will be.

Thanks for following along this weekend. I was impressed by those of you who were up watching all 24 hours and took time to read my in race posts.

I’ll be back in a day or two after I run the Serta 24.

Corvette, GEAR Have Issues at Halfway Point

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The Rolex 24 just passed the mid point. There was one caution in the last six hours as the leaders continue to click off laps at a torrid pace.

The number 4 Corvette went to the garage with what appears to be an engine issue. Afew minutes later, the number 19 GTD of Grasser Racing slowed on the backstretch and li.ped back to the garage. The 19 is the all female team headed by Katherine Legge.

The current leaders as I write:

DPi.   Car 5 Cadillac Joao Barbosa

LMP2. Car 52. Nick Boule

GTLM. Car 24 BMW Chaz Mostert

GTD. Car 48 Lamborghini Bryan Sellers

Another new feature at Daytona this year is a large high definition television screen in the fan zone. Benches have been added to the area in front of the screen. The television is visible from the turn 3 grandstand.

Back after the race with a recap. So far it  has been a very predictable event.

UPDATE Mike Joachim of Pit Lane Parley sent this photo of the Corvette engine dismantled. Thanks Mike

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6 Hours In, WTR Cadillac Leads

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The first four hours of the Rolex 24 were clean and without much change in the lead. An incident involving the 55 Mazda and the 7 Acura has put the Team Penske car out there f contention for a good finish. The Mazda received a stop and go penalty, meaningless in a 24 race.

Just before the 5 hour mark s pit incident brought out a full course yellow.

The current leaders:

DPi.  10 Wayne Taylor Racing

LMP 2.  52

GTLM  24 BMW

GTD. 44 Lamborghini

Pit stops are being made so the leader board may change by the time you read this.