Rolex 24Hrs of Daytona Review
In most endurance races like this one, we see the field stringing out, finding their place in the pecking order, and we keep entertained by the constant flurry of pitstops, and strategies that take place, with the odd bit of close wheel to wheel action. However, no one seemed to tell the 49 teams who took to the infamous American racecourse that, as we saw intense battles throughout the race in 3 of the 5 classes, which made it feel more like a sprint race, than a 24 hour race.
This meant that we were treated to one of the best Rolex 24’s in a long time, with a showdown for the win to cap it off, but I will get into how each class did in a second, first I do need to address some of the issues with the race. Although you could argue they helped the racing to be so good, it took away some of the fairness and integrity of the racing in my view. This mostly centres around the caution procedure, which I talked about in the preview article as well, the way in which different classes are allowed to pit at different times, and then before the restart the pack is sorted into class order, just removes some of the strategic element from the race of being stuck in traffic, and the excitement of faster cars trying to get through slower ones, but most of all it just makes the race feel scripted and increases caution time, instead of letting it play out by itself. The different pit laps for Prototypes and GT cars kind of makes sense, in terms of safety, but sorting the pack does not in my view. On the other hand, I will praise the IMSA officials for their calls, both on when to bring out the caution, but even more so on penalty decisions, I don’t think I heard a questionable one being given, which is much better than other racing series do!
Let’s start with the bottom class, GTD and work forwards, this was expected to be the most exciting class, with so many varied cars taking part, and it did not disappoint for most of the race. To begin with there were 4 different manufacturers in the top 4 places, then gradually we saw the Mercedes pair of 75 and 57 come to the fore, they did not dominate the class, and were frequently under attack from Aston Martin’s, Porsche’s and BMW’s, as well as the 21 Ferrari, which got pinned onto the grass and spun around. Yet in the end no one could stop them from taking home a 1-2, with the 57 leading home the 75, as this class grows to encompass the entire GT field next year, I am sure we will continue to enjoy the action they give us.
With there being only 6 cars in the GTLM field, as the class gets disbanded soon, we did not expect too much from them, as there shouldn’t been a lot of competition, how wrong we were! Seemingly the entire field was in the battle for the win, even the Weathertech Porsche who was spun just before the race started. Much like the Mercedes in GTD, the two Corvette’s established their position at the front of the race early on, however many times through the race we cut to them being attacked by the Ferrari and BMW’s. Much like the GTD class though, they also could not be entirely usurped, as every time another car got the lead, the GM cars just worked away and brought it back to them, to complete a brilliant 1-2 for the team, a great way to sign off the class, even if the winning No. 3 car had a small crash on the parade lap.
LMP3 was not nearly as bad as expected, yes they did cause some of the cautions, and there was not really any in class battles, however they were not ruining the race for other classes that much, even if they could not match the GTLM’s for pace, which I am sure made restarts annoying, but otherwise they stayed on the whole out of trouble. The Riley Motorsports No. 74 took the win by 3 laps, which shows how spread out the field was. In my opinion, it is not worth having the class in the main race, unless they find some way to improve the racing, and reduce the crashes and spins, I do feel like they were mostly there to boost the car count, and whilst it was not a farce as we feared, it wasn’t great either.
For the LMP2’s, a class which is normally super competitive, they were surprisingly spread out, the pace difference throughout the race for the lead cars, meant that gaps slowly appeared and became laps before long. Once again, the Dallara which had shown pace last weekend, climbed through the field, only to be struck with more issues, this time a damaged gearbox, believed to be broken teeth on one of the gears. The No. 18 Era Motorsport car benefited from the wave arounds, which you can argue either way about how the affect the racing, to get back on the lead lap with the No.8 Tower Motorsport car, which had led so much of the race. It was looking so good for that team, until a strategy mix up at the end, caused them to do one more pitstop than the 18 car, gifting them the win in class. It will hurt for the 8 team so much, but they will learn from this, and come back stronger next time.
Now for the top class, which turned a good race, into a brilliant one. It became clear early on, that the similar pace of all the DPi’s, regular cautions and the pack bunching together under yellow, would keep them all close together and provide us with amazing action. It was quiet early on, but from Sunday morning, things did start to heat up. However, during the night, both the 55 Mazda and the 5 Cadillac had issues and dropped many laps back, it seemed as though Mazda had lost another chance at the win due to reliability, yet it was not over for them just yet. At the front, it was the 10, 31 and 01, before the 48 came on strong overnight, leading a good portion of the race. The 60 was just about hanging on, but clearly could not fight for the win. Kobayashi was incredible on restarts in the 48, going around the outside of other DPi’s who were being cautious on cold tyres, however one time we was too brave, and was forced on to the grass going into Turn 1, causing him to spin whilst battling for the lead, he would come back from it, but I am sure he got a talking to about it.
The 31 car, which had looked the fastest car all week, or on par with the 01, had started to have some issues early in the morning, as the floor was damaged and the exhaust sounded broken, in the end a seemingly unrelated issue cropped up when the car got stuck in 3rd gear, it got fixed but they were unable to catch the DPi’s again. Meanwhile, the Mazda had used good pace and wave rounds to get back on the lead lap, and was up to 2nd as the race entered the last few hours. Then crucially the top 4 split strategies, the 01 and 48 did an undercut to get fresh tyres and pass the two leaders on track, whilst the 10 and 55 ran the full stint, which would allow them to short fill on the last stop. The 01 and 48 were able to get ahead, and hold off the two behind, yet when the final stops came, it swapped back around with the 10 now having an 8 second lead on the 01 who just beat the 55 out of the pits.
The 01 showed it was one of the fastest cars as it closed down the leader, and had many strong attempts to take the lead, but it could not complete the move. Meanwhile the 55 Mazda just lacked the pace to stay with the 01, it did slowly catch the 10, however was never able to challenge it, then a storming Kobayashi in the 48 blew past Tincknell’s Mazda with a few laps to go. Up front the 01 had settled in right behind the 10, unable to get past, but possibly saving up for a last ditch chance. We would never see if it could have taken the win, as a second puncture for the CGR team ruined their race and dropped them to 5th. This allowed the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura, to come home for their third Rolex 24 win in a row, their first in the Acura, and also possibly their best yet given the many battles they had to endure to keep the lead.
It was a brilliant race to watch, with battles up and down the field keeping you glued to the screen, and the tension in the last few hours was unrivalled. This was a perfect way to start another season of racing, and I am sure has given many people including myself, the craving for so much more!
-M
