Grand-Am, Roar Before the Rolex 24 at Daytona– Sunday Notes
MSR Back On Top The three day test for the 51st running of the Daytona 24 Hours concluded on Sunday with a new car topping the DP times, but without any startling improvement in pace. Indeed, very few runners in any of the three classes improved their times on the final day, but of course that’s not always the objective. A 1:42.058 from Michael Valiante was enough to usurp Dane Cameron at the top of the combined results (but only by 43 thousandths of a second) in FP7 and that’s where the #6 Michael Shank Racing Riley Ford stayed; “This test is always a challenge, because you have so many drivers here," said Valiante. "I have a lot of time in these cars, so our team’s focus was to get the drivers who do not have much time in prototypes cycled through the car. It’s a brand-new car and we had no problems. It’s a bonus to have the quickest car out there. I feel everyone hasn’t shown everything they’ve got at this point, but I’m confident we’ll be strong when we come back for the Rolex 24.”  |
With his cars in first and third places after the test, there’s every reason to think that Michael Shank is with a good shout of a repeat victory later this month. However, with the test times falling short of last year’s Roar Before, we clearly aren’t going to see everyone’s hand until the Rolex 24 meeting gets underway. Having said that, Team Sahlen will be leaving Daytona happy that their new Riley BMWs performed well; “I got to drive in both cars – and they are very good,” said Bruno Junqueira, who was making his Daytona debut with the team. “I’m happy with the speed, but more important, the cars have good balance.” Valiante’s previous team, Spirit of Daytona Racing, was another to go faster during the penultimate session; the #90 Corvette DP ending up seventh quickest; “This car [using a Coyote chassis] is very different from the Corvette I drove last year [Dallara chassis],” said Ricky Taylor. “But I’m very comfortable coming to this team. They’re family based, and I have experienced teammates who are very helpful. The Corvettes are a little off the pace, but that’s not much different from last year, when we struggled at the test. I think we should be fine when we go to the shorter tracks.” Taylor will no doubt be hoping for rather better luck in a fortnight’s time than he experienced at the 2012 race, when the SunTrust Corvette expired after just 14 laps. Improvements too for the #3 8 Star Motorsports Corvette (Enzo Potolicchio plus four ex-Peugeot factory drivers) and the other new team, BTE Sport (#27 Riley Ford), who improved to a tenth-fastest 1:42.815 and a 16th-fastest 1:44.407 respectively; the latter time being just a thousandth quicker than the best lap from the #50 Highway to Help Riley BMW. It was perhaps a surprise to see the #99 Bob Stallings Corvette down in 12th after the three days, but the team was positive about the test; “I think it was a good test,” said Alex Gurney. “We are still searching for some straight line speed, but in general I think the car is comfortable and that’s what you want for a long race like this. We got through a lot of changes and found a pretty comfortable car for all of us to drive. It was good to get all of the drivers working together more. We fit in the seat well, everyone does the driver changes well and we are all communicating in a good way. I think everyone is pretty happy.” And it was a similar story in the Chip Ganassi camp after their two Riley BMWs ended the test fourth and fifth; “This has really been a great experience," said Charlie Kimball. "Chip has put together a great group of individuals from three different series and I’m learning a lot from all of them. I’ve gotten quite a bit of time in the car and I’ve had to get used to a lot of things; like getting use to a roof, driving at a new track and even driving at night. I haven’t driven at night since my go-karting days. The guys have been great in helping me and it’s a testament to the group of drivers Chip has put together. I’m really looking forward to being a part of and contributing to the Rolex 24 At Daytona.” In the GT ranks, there were remarkably few time improvements on Sunday. The AF-Waltrip Ferrari 458 was the highest climber, ending the day 13th quickest in class on the combined times on 1:49.604, while the two Dener Motorsport Porsche GT3s and their all-Brazilian crews (including Rubens Barrichello and Tony Kanaan) saw improvements in both sessions, although they still have plenty of time to find before the race begins on Jan 26th.  |
Pat Long’s time from Saturday morning (1:48.569) remained the quickest of the test at close of play on Sunday, even with the #73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche sitting out the final day; “What do you get for winning practice? Some bragging rights, and some momentum for a new team in the championship,” said the American factory driver. “But we feel confident. People were saying, ‘What’s Park Place?’ Hopefully, this will bump them up on the Google search for sports car fans. They caught my eye last year – that’s why I came knocking. They’re a group of young, hungry, motivated guys. "Being at the sharp-end of the time sheet is always nice but pace is one-fifth of the battle of the Rolex 24. We're focused on hitting all our marks and working through every single part of what it takes to win one of these watches. After you get all of that checked off you are just in the hands of the craziness of one of the biggest and coolest races in the world. We're quietly confident but realize there are a ton of variables. We're just relishing the chance and looking forward to the race itself." Six of the top ten GTs – including the top three – on the combined times were Porsches, but with 24 cars from the class within two seconds of Long’s exceptional time, there’s no guarantee that the marque will make to running in the race itself, as attested to by Magnus Racing’s Andy Lally; “Last year I said the Rolex 24 had the strongest GT field in any series – ever. But this year’s field is just as strong as last year, with the addition of multiple new manufacturers that will be vying for the win. Audi and Ferrari are both going to be very strong, Porsche will be again be very strong, along with the usual contenders from BMW, Camaro and Corvette.” The new GX class saw just three cars running over the three days, and a huge difference in fortune for the two Porsche Caymans and the sole Mazda6. “I couldn’t ask for a better test,” said Napleton Racing's Shane Lewis, whose 1:56.167 in the #16 was the quickest class time of the weekend. “We went through all kinds of weather conditions and temperature conditions. We tried a lot of different things on the race car and I think we are going to come back with a great package come race day.” However, it was a different story over at SpeedSource; “I wish it was three months to go for the race, but we’re here and dealing with it,” said Sylvain Tremblay. “We had some bad luck with our first engine, but the second one is fine. We have some new car stuff here and there, but the chassis is fine. We’ve got only minutes with this car – literally – and we still have a lot of learning to do.” At present, the gap between the two marques is some nine seconds, but it is likely to be much closer come race week. The Grand-Am circus reconvenes at the Speedway in a fortnight’s time and DSC will again be onsite to bring full coverage of the Florida classic. Session results (PDF): Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
Session 7
Session 8 | 
