Rolex 24 – First Hour
Daytona Cluster Start
© Janos Wimpffen The rain eased before the start, but the race had already been declared “wet”. This made for more confusion. Teams had originally opted for wets but the drying conditions prompted many to switch back to slicks on the grid. GA declared that to do so would require cars to be held at pit exit until the DP grid passed. Ten of the DP cars had done so (01, 91, 61, 11, 99, 2, 77, 03, 09, 02) and they took to the track just as the GT grid arrived on the scene. Three GT cars also opted to go to slick—namely the Black Forest Fords, and the No. 40 Mazda. Despite this the drivers did reasonably well. Only the No. 14 and No. 29 Porsches managed to collide, with Anthony Lazzaro spinning off towards NASCAR 1 and Scooter Gabel having a cut rear tire. Gabel had side-swiped the innocent Lazzaro. Negri has dropped down a tad at the start with the other Shank Riley (Allmendinger) in the lead. Matt Plumb has quickly risen to third with the Fortune-Sigal BMW powered DP. Angelelli is holding second with the SunTrust Riley. GT is running in grid order, Tremblay-Montanari-Pumpelly. Two of the Racer’s Group Porsches are dragging pieces under their car, Bryce Miller’s No. 66 and John Mayes’ No. 68 For those of you with problems getting GA live timing—same here. The site has gone down as the green flag was waved. The organizers have provided some sort of a link which, believe it or not, has the word “cluster” in the address—appropriate. Here’s the spin after 10 laps—three different engine manufacturers in the top three spots; Ford-Pontiac-BMW. A Porsche is 5th (Joey Hand, AJR Crawford No. 23), but one needs to go down to 13th to find the best Lexus (Scott Pruett No. 01). Lap 11, and Angelelli has taken the lead from Allmendinger and begins to pull away, but once they get onto the banking the No. 6 Shank Riley closes right back up. The leading DPs are now lapping the GTs. In GT, Pumpelly has taken second place from the Ferrari, while the fast Belgian, Jan Heylen, is up to fourth in the No. 80 Synergy Porsche. Will Nonnamaker has taken over from his brother in the lone Corvette in the race. It’s started to rain and we’ve gone full-course caution. It’s less for the wet than it is for Helio Castroneves. The No. 9 Penske Riley had a puncture at the right front corner and there is considerable debris on the front straight. Castroneves came in with a badly shredded corner and returned to the track sans front bodywork. The new yellow flag rules have kicked in—pits are closed, then open for DP, and later open for GT. Meanwhile, all the DP cars were held up at pit exit while the safety car gets to a particular position—down a lap for these guys?—stay tuned. One of the byproducts of all this is that Tracy Krohn is now in 3rd. Matt Plumb leads while Alex Gurney is second. On the green, Angelelli and David Donohue (No. 58 Crawford) have slipped past the green Riley. As Gary notes, the Brumos team has been quietly impressive all week long—stay tuned. GT has flipped around to a Porsche 1-2-3. Dirk Werner (Fanbacher Loles No. 87) is now ahead of Patrick Huisman (No. 81 Synergy) and David Murry (No. 74 Autometrics). Tim Bergmeister has slowed in the No. 83 Farnbacher Porsche. With 50 minutes down, Matt Plumb has been holding an impressive lead for over 10 laps. Gurney was closing on him ever so slightly, but the first place is holding its own. Meanwhile, Huisman is on a tear and has taken the top spot in GT. Gabel and the unfortunate Lazzaro are stuck at the tail... but at least the innocent Porsche driver is racing. One hour is gone and there is a moment of calm. Note the three best laps in GT, below - from three cars dotted throughout the field. Hour 1 Positions
1 7 DP 1 Matt Plumb 29 1:43.746 123.532 24 14 Sigalsport BMW / Riley
2 99 DP 2 Alex Gurney 29 2.383 2.383 1:43.577 123.734 26 0 GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac / Riley
3 10 DP 3 Max Angelelli 29 3.684 1.301 1:43.232 124.147 26 5 SunTrust Racing Pontiac / Riley
4 58 DP 4 David Donohue 29 4.598 0.914 1:43.481 123.848 27 0 Brumos Racing Porsche / Riley
5 61 DP 5 Mark Wilkins 29 8.548 3.950 1:43.339 124.019 10 0 AIM Autosport Ford / Riley
6 60 DP 6 Oswaldo Negri Jr 29 9.074 0.526 1:43.155 124.240 25 0 Michael Shank Racing Ford / Riley
7 91 DP 7 Marc Goossens 29 11.195 2.121 1:43.425 123.915 25 0 Bob Stallings/ Riley-Matthews Pontiac / Riley
8 01 DP 8 Scott Pruett 29 11.447 0.252 1:43.540 123.778 25 0 Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Lexus / Riley
9 02 DP 9 Scott Dixon 29 11.830 0.383 1:43.430 123.909 22 0 Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Lexus / Riley
10 23 DP 10 Bill Auberlen 29 17.176 5.346 1:43.504 123.821 26 0 Alex Job Racing Porsche / Crawford
11 2 DP 11 Mike Rockenfeller 29 18.014 0.838 1:43.335 124.023 9 0 SAMAX Pontiac / Riley
12 6 DP 12 AJ Allmendinger 29 19.218 1.204 1:43.167 124.225 26 10 Michael Shank Racing Ford / Riley
13 77 DP 13 Memo Gidley 29 23.542 4.324 1:43.762 123.513 25 0 Doran Racing Ford / Doran
14 59 DP 14 Hurley Haywood 29 26.161 2.619 1:43.814 123.451 25 0 Brumos Racing Porsche / Riley
15 76 DP 15 Nic Jonsson 29 26.374 0.213 1:44.374 122.789 27 0 Krohn Racing Pontiac / Riley
16 12 DP 16 Tonis Kasemets 29 33.499 7.125 1:44.587 122.539 6 0 RVO Motorsports Pontiac / Riley
17 03 DP 17 Vitor Meira 29 47.644 14.145 1:46.543 120.289 26 0 Vision Racing Porsche / Crawford
18 09 DP 18 Guy Cosmo 29 48.835 1.191 1:46.866 119.925 7 0 Spirit of Daytona Racing Porsche / FABCAR
19 3 DP 19 Shane Lewis 29 49.989 1.154 1:44.932 122.136 25 0 Southard Motorsports
20 16 DP 20 Antonio Garcia 29 1 LAP 1.071 1:44.758 122.339 27 0 Cheever Racing Pontiac / FABCAR
21 75 DP 21 Tracy Krohn 29 1 LAP 0.612 1:47.207 119.544 28 0 Krohn Racing Pontiac / Riley
22 9 DP 22 Helio Castroneves 28 2 LAPS 1 LAP 1:43.625 123.676 24 0 Penske-Taylor Racing Pontiac / Riley
23 31 DP 23 Seth Ingham 28 2 LAPS 5.342 1:48.813 117.780 23 0 Matt Connolly Motorsports Pontiac / Chase
24 11 DP 24 Ryan Dalziel 28 2 LAPS 16.554 1:44.593 122.532 25 0 SAMAX Pontiac / Riley
25 51 DP 25 Mike Newton 28 2 LAPS 30.172 1:50.478 116.004 28 0 Cheever Racing Pontiac / FABCAR
26 81 GT 1 Patrick Huisman 28 2 LAPS 7.225 1:52.027 114.400 23 0 Synergy Racing Porsche GT3 Cup
27 74 GT 2 David Murry 28 2 LAPS 3.641 1:52.251 114.172 21 0 Autometrics Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup
28 27 GT 3 Kevin Roush 28 2 LAPS 1.498 1:52.062 114.365 25 0 O'Connell Racing Porsche GT3 Cup
29 70 GT 4 Sylvain Tremblay 28 2 LAPS 2.634 1:52.186 114.238 10 0 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8
30 67 GT 5 Spencer Pumpelly 28 2 LAPS 0.692 1:52.277 114.146 27 0 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
31 89 GT 6 Jorg Hardt 28 2 LAPS 1.778 1:52.208 114.216 10 0 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
32 64 GT 7 Johannes van Overbeek 28 2 LAPS 1.863 1:52.496 113.924 6 0 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
33 07 GT 8 Paul Edwards 28 2 LAPS 0.337 1:52.467 113.953 24 0 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R
34 62 GT 9 Martin Ragginger 28 2 LAPS 0.642 1:51.803 114.630 22 0 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
35 65 GT 10 Tommy Archer 28 2 LAPS 0.566 1:52.672 113.746 24 0 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
36 66 GT 11 Miller/ Ballou/ Lally/ Westbrook 28 2 LAPS 6.506 1:52.597 113.821 24 0 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
37 34 GT 12 Johnny Mowlem 28 2 LAPS 0.486 1:52.714 113.703 9 0 Orbit Porsche GT3 Cup
38 15 GT 13 David Empringham 28 2 LAPS 0.764 1:53.168 113.247 24 0 Blackforest Motorsports Ford Mustang
39 86 GT 14 Wolf Henzler 28 2 LAPS 0.211 1:51.904 114.526 23 0 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
40 06 GT 15 Andy Pilgrim 28 2 LAPS 0.423 1:52.883 113.533 23 0 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R
41 69 GT 16 Jeff Segal 28 2 LAPS 0.637 1:52.885 113.531 25 0 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8
42 30 GT 17 Robert Thorne 28 2 LAPS 2.377 1:51.796 114.637 7 0 Racers Edge Motorsports Mazda RX-8
43 88 GT 18 Frank Stippler 28 2 LAPS 0.416 1:52.293 114.129 7 0 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
44 56 GT 19 Christian Montanari 28 2 LAPS 2.427 1:52.853 113.563 4 0 Mastercar Ferrari 430 Challenge
45 22 GT 20 Marc Basseng 27 3 LAPS 1 LAP 1:52.277 114.146 6 0 Alegra Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup
46 57 GT 21 Robin Liddell 27 3 LAPS 0.187 1:52.322 114.100 24 0 Stevenson Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R
47 40 GT 22 Charles Espenlaub 27 3 LAPS 3.019 1:53.276 113.139 8 0 Hyper Sport Mazda RX-8
48 17 GT 23 Ron Zitza 27 3 LAPS 9.351 1:54.285 112.140 22 0 Terra Firma Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup
49 72 GT 24 Lawson Aschenbach 27 3 LAPS 3.158 1:53.596 112.820 24 0 Autohaus Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R
50 84 GT 25 Chris Bingham 27 3 LAPS 1.821 1:54.843 111.595 22 0 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
51 44 GT 26 Glenn Nixon 27 3 LAPS 15.266 1:56.959 109.576 21 0 Bullet Racing Porsche GT3 Cup
52 43 GT 27 Sahlen/ Nonnamaker/ Nonnamaker/ Nonnamaker 27 3 LAPS 0.720 1:56.363 110.138 25 0 Team Sahlen Corvette
53 85 GT 28 Ross Bentley 27 3 LAPS 3.452 1:53.552 112.864 7 0 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
54 26 GT 29 Joe Jacalone 27 3 LAPS 12.151 1:57.090 109.454 22 0 Gotham Competition Porsche GT3 Cup
55 21 GT 30 Diego Alessi 27 3 LAPS 6.379 1:52.484 113.936 7 0 Matt Connolly Motorsports Pontiac GTO.R
56 63 GT 31 Hima Maher 27 3 LAPS 6.267 1:54.065 112.356 6 0 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
57 90 GT 32 David Russell 27 3 LAPS 12.797 1:52.818 113.598 22 0 Automatic Racing BMW M6 / Riley
58 52 GT 33 Constantino Bertuzzi 27 3 LAPS 23.119 1:53.095 113.320 25 0 Mastercar Ferrari 430 Challenge
59 87 GT 34 Dirk Werner 26 4 LAPS 1 LAP 1:51.791 114.642 7 0 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
60 80 GT 35 Jan Heylen 26 4 LAPS 2:21.572 1:52.194 114.230 7 0 Synergy Racing Porsche GT3 Cup
61 50 GT 36 John Farano 26 4 LAPS 51.989 1:53.796 112.622 5 0 Blackforest Motorsports Ford Mustang
62 08 GT 37 Keith Goldin 25 5 LAPS 1 LAP 1:59.850 106.933 21 0 Goldin Brothers Racing Mazda RX-8
63 83 GT 38 Tim Bergmeister 22 8 LAPS 3 LAPS 1:54.334 112.092 21 0 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 Cup
64 68 GT 39 John Mayes 16 14 LAPS 6 LAPS 1:54.599 111.833 4 0 TRG Porsche GT3 Cup
65 14 GT 40 Anthony Lazzaro 11 19 LAPS 5 LAPS 1:53.325 113.090 10 0 Autometrics Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup
66 29 GT 41 Scooter Gabel 0 0.000 00.000 0 0 Alegra Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup | 
