Daytona 24-Hour Race

[woodym3]

Not that qualifying position is important in a 24-Hour race, but David Donohue qualified on the pole in a Brumos Porsche-Riley. He was followed by a Penske Porsche-Riley and a Shank Racing Ford Riley. The Alegra Motorsports BMW-Riley was 5th, LevelFive BMW-Riley 10th and the Orbit Racing BMW-Riley18th.

In the GT Class and RX-8 was fastest, followed by two Porsches.

[woodym3]

No spoiler here. So after 2,616 miles of racing (well, not counting all the full-course caution periods), the top four cars finsihed withing 1/2 second of each other. Amazing.

The three BMW-powered Daytona Prototypes did not have a steller race, athough each recorded a fastest lap within a second or so of the best in the race. The #45 Orbit Racing car retired in the 9th hour with a broken piston. The #22 Alegra Motorports Riley-BMW hit the wall and was retired in the 14th hour. Although still running at the finish, the #55 LevelFive BMW was 19th overall, 9th in class and 70-laps behind the winner. In fact they were 37 laps out of 8th place among the DPs. All this despite replacing a transmission on one stop, and replacing a broken rear control arm bushing on another occasion.

Remember the next Rolex Grand-Am race is at VIR April 25-26. You should make a point to attend.
Woody

[Scany]

Of course my TiVo had cut out the last 18 minutes of the race. Grrr! So annoying after watching for hours. But still great racing.

Might make the trip to VIR in April, or New Jersey again. The series is great fun to watch.

[tenfifteen]

It was a great race, but it seemed like the coverage was weighted overwhelmingly in favor of the Daytona cars (much like ALMS coverage focuses on P-cars). This makes attending in person a much better experience for me. Not sure I'll be able to make it for VIR however.

[woodym3]

Well, if you can't make it to VIR, the following weekend (May 1-2) the Grand-Am AND the Koni Challenge will be a Thunderbolt in New Jersey, which is a lot closer to you than VIR.

[getfast]

No spoiler here. So after 2,616 miles of racing (well, not counting all the full-course caution periods), the top four cars finsihed withing 1/2 second of each other. Amazing.

What a great race. Especially the last few hours!

A few of my pics:

http://www.get-fast.net/gallery/09rolex24/

Jon

[woodym3]

Great pictures Jon. Thanks for sharing. I especially liked the ins and outs of the Pirelli Girls. It looks like you didn't spend all of your time doing Timing and Scoring.