Grand-Am, Rolex 24 At Daytona – Preview
Part 2 – The GTs

Almost twice as many GTs as DPs head to Florida this week, with the class breaking down as follows:

14 x Porsche GT3
  9 x Mazda RX-8
  3 x Ferrari 430 Challenge
  3 x Camaro GT.R
  1 x Ford Mustang
  1 x BMW M3
  1 x BMW M6

A good, varied field then; and one which, like the senior class, has quality throughout.

The recent test would suggest strongly that the winner is likely to come from the numerically strongest marque, Porsche, after its cars took nine of the top-ten places in the overall timings. Certainly, it would appear that the latest version of the GT3 Cup is an improvement over its predecessor, and several teams have made the required investment.

One of those teams – and, somehow fittingly, one that emerged as a keen favourite for GT honours after the test – is Brumos Racing; and if anyone knows Porsche in America, it is Brumos.

A new class, a new car, a stellar line-up and a strong history certainly tick all the boxes. 2009 GT Champion Leh Keen set the fastest class time at the test and is joined in the #59 (what else?) by Marc Lieb, Andrew Davis and Hurley Haywood; the latter perhaps having failed to look up the proper definition of ‘retired’ after the 2010 race.

But with names like TRG and Mühlner in the race also – all 24 hour specialists – there are no certainties.

Kevin Buckler’s outfit is having a quiet year this year, with only the five cars entered, but it stands every chance of improving on – or at least emulating – the second and third places achieved last year.

Three of the five cars certainly look like potential winners. The #53 TRG/Black Swan Racing Porsche boasts Bleekemolen, Curtis, Pappas, Pilet & Sofronas; the #66 has Farnbacher, George Jr, Keating and Luhr; and the #67 has Bertheau, Gaughan, Henzler, Lally and Pumpelly. Any one of those is surely up to the job.

Mühlner’s line-up may not be at the same level as some of the TRG cars, but Bernard Mühlner and his crew know how to win at this level. The team is, however, making its Grand-Am debut and it will be interesting to see how quickly it gets to grips with the unique demands of the DIS and the Continental tyres; the Florida circuit being somewhat different to Mühlner's home-circuit of Spa-Francorchamps.

Of the remaining Porsche teams, probably the two strongest are the #44 Magnus Racing and #48 Paul Miller Racing GT3s. With a line-up comprising Holzer, Lietz, Potter and Stanton, Magnus Racing could very well improve on its fifth place last year; while Bell, Miller, Sellers and Sugden are more than capable of doing the job, if the Miller car’s rebuild has been a success.

One prominent GT driver suggested that the Mazda RX-8s were somewhat slower than expected at the Roar Before test, and certainly the cars were a long way down the timing screens. Were they sandbagging, or was this simply the effect of the 100 lb weight-penalty imposed after last year’s race? Whatever the reason, the cars have been given a small RPM-limit boost and a weight-reduction of 35 lb for the Rolex 24.

SpeedSource is again the team most likely to get amongst the Porsches, and it is almost inconceivable that the team’s two cars will be as anonymous in the race as they were at the test.

Jonathan Bomarito and Sylvain Tremblay reunite in the 2010-winning #70 RX-8, where they will be joined by Adam Christodoulou and John Edwards; a most interesting combination of youth, speed and experience. If the car can indeed keep up with the Porsches, then this will again be in with a shout.

Team Sahlen and Dempsey Racing both field a brace of Mazdas and actually outpaced SpeedSource at the official test, but it would be a surprise if they stayed with the numbers 69 and 70 cars. This is endurance racing, though, and anything is possible.

And welcome back to Jim Downing; back behind the wheel of the Team Spencer Motorsport Mazda at the age of 68.

The Camaro challenge should be an interesting one as each of the three GT.Rs boast either a current or former Corvette factory driver – Ollie Gavin in the #07 Banner Racing car, Jan Magnussen in the #57 Stevenson Motorsports version and Johnny O’Connell in the #88 of Autohaus Motorsports. Expect fireworks when all three are on track together.

Of the three cars, the Stevenson car has arguably the strongest line-up and Robin Liddell was happy with the test earlier in the month. The car ran a strong fourth last year and will feature prominently again.

The most consistent GT car at the test was the #94 Turner Motorsport BMW M3 and if it can repeat that form then it could well be in with a shout of a top result. Bill Auberlen again teams up with Paul Dalla Lana and Boris said, while Matt Plumb takes the place of Joey Hand.

The M6 is fielded by PR1 Motorsports and will benefit greatly from the presence in the driver’s seat of Ryan Lewis – quick in whatever he’s racing.

Of the three Ferraris, the #00 Aten Motorsports has the strongest driver line-up, although it is no longer an all-French affair; Pascal Gibon and Christophe Bourret having made way for former Rolex and Le Mans 24 winner Davy Jones and John McCutchen after the test. Manu Collard and Xavier Pompidou will form the backbone of the team, while Gabriel Abergel and the two Americans should provide able support. The big unknown, however, is the durability of the car itself, after an engine fire ended the test on the second day.

So will GT be a Porsche party, or can the other marques get in amongst them and break up the fun? We should get the first indication of how things will pan out when practice finishes on Thursday evening.

MH