Grand-Am, Rolex 24 at Daytona - Corvette vs. Riley
Déjà Vu All Over Again

Last year, all of the hype entering the race here at Daytona centered on the Corvette DP debut – that hype went away very quickly, as it was the Riley bodied cars that dominated the 2012 Rolex.  First it was the Starworks Ford-Riley that shocked everyone by taking pole and then in the race it was that same car that battled with the MSR Ford-Riley race long for the win.

It was at that race that the dangers of “controlled” racing first reared its head, as immediately the Corvette teams started complaining about the disadvantage they were in.  Regulation changes followed throughout the season, making the competition rather lopsided at points during the season.

Entering 2013, it appears as if we may be seeing history repeats itself, as it is the Riley bodied cars dominating the sessions thus far.  Jon Fogarty, driving again the Gainsco Corvette, stated, “We’ve made good progress in the off season and really expected to be right there, but it appears as if the others made good progress too. 

"Just like last year, it appears as if the Riley cars have an advantage here over the Corvettes.  Is it aero or is it motor?  I don’t know, but so far it’s evident that the Rileys have a big advantage in speed – much greater than we’d expected.  Motor wise, it’s difficult to tell where the Chevy motor is, regulation wise, as the Chevy is only in the Corvettes.  They dyno test all of them and they are equal there, but on the track, it’s a different thing.  The Ford really puts the power down well – much better than the others.”

Thankfully, for the sake of competition, this is a long race.  Last year, the Corvettes suffered the double whammy of being slightly off the pace and also somewhat fragile.  This year, the reliability should be there, but can they show the pace necessary to be there at the end of 24 hours?  We’ll see…

GH