Grand-Am, Rolex 24 At Daytona – Friday Notes
The Calm Before The (Rainless) Storm

Another cloudless blue sky graced the Daytona International Speedway on Friday, with temperatures slightly up on the previous day.

The final two practice sessions were completed without incident, with the #01 Chip Ganassi and #99 Bob Stalling Rileys trading first and second positions. In GT, the #59 Brumos Porsche set the fastest time in the sparsely-attended (24 cars only) first session, while the Magnus Racing Porsche headed the times in the second.

The #56 Bennett Racing Ferrari was nowhere to be seen in the garages, but it transpired that it was in the nearby Holly Hill workshop of Spirit of Daytona, undergoing a rebuild. It is expected to make the race start.

The #22 Bullet Racing Porsche lost an engine during Thursday evening practice, but the replacement survived both Friday sessions unscathed.

Texan-based English driver Ryan Lewis was enjoying his debut at the ‘World Center of Racing’ in the #32 PR1 Motorsports BMW M6; “It only took two laps in the car to realise that it’s a proper bit of kit,” he said.

Had he any experience of oval racing? “I tested in Indy Lights at Phoenix, but the banking here is amazing; and I’ve got a bit more respect for the NASCAR guys now. You see them going three abreast at 200mph round here, but when you’re passing or being passed by another car on the banking you quickly realise that there’s no bloody room!

Any further outings planned? “Possibly – a lot depends on what Tom (Papadopoulos) wants to do, but I hope so.”

After a very successful season in a Mazda RX-8 in Grand-Am and a Hankook Ferrari 430 in Europe, how was Leh Keen enjoying being back in a Porsche? “Of course; it’s a Porsche!” he smiled. “You look at the Brumos car and it looks fantastic – and then you think, “Hey, I’m driving that car!” It’s pretty cool.

“GT this year is pretty serious. There are so many good cars and good drivers; it’s such a strong field that it’s a big deal.

“The Porsches are quick, the Camaros have come good and the Mazdas will come through at the end; but if I had to pick which car I wanted to be in, it’s the one I’m in now.”

Is the 2011 GT Cup a big improvement over its predecessor? “It’s a pretty nice car,” he began. “A lot of it is RSR underneath and the 3.8ltr engine has so much torque that it feels like it’s got another litre in there. And it’s got good top-end speed, which is what you need at Daytona.

“It’s a nice, well-built factory car that’s got what it takes to squeeze the laptimes. Plus – and this is important when you’re as tall as me – the seat’s slide back and the steering rack adjusts, so it’s comfortable as well.”

Does he feel the weight of history on his shoulders, driving for Brumos at the Rolex 24? 

“It’s great to be driving a really good car, with really good teammates, for a team that still really wants to win, even though they’ve won before.”

The forecast for the weekend is warm and sunny, with at worst some hazy cloud appearing on Sunday. Are those the kind of conditions he likes to race in?

“I love the rain – the first three wins of my professional career came in wet races and for a while I thought I couldn’t win if it was dry. But if it doesn’t rain then that just removes a variable from the race; and we’ve a driver line-up that won’t be relying on that variable to gain an advantage.”

The new Continental tyres? “They take a couple of laps to come in, then there’s a small peak before they drop off a bit and then plateau; which is fine. We’ll be double-stinting at night, no problem.” 

Keen will be in the #59 Porsche for the full-season with Andrew Davis, but additional outings are still on the cards. “I’m hoping to be in the Hankook Ferrari (a 458) again this year, but unfortunately there’s a clash with the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Le Mans weekend is free, however, and the plan is for me to be there.”  

Drivers were thin on the ground during the warm afternoon, with the majority of those that were there engaged in driver-change practice. There were some interesting – and unexpected – faces at the Speedway, though; not the least of which were ALMS President and CEO, Scott Atherton – “On a fact-finding mission” – and Britcar boss James Tucker, whose presence may be altogether more significant. Might we be seeing a Grand-Am race on the same bill as the Britcar 24 before too long?

The only track action of the afternoon was the Grand-Am 200 Continental Tire race, which ended in unfortunate circumstances.

The race had seen several full-course yellows over the two and a half hours, and the race went green with just two laps remaining after one of them. However, just as the leader – the #13 Rum Bum Racing BMW M3 Coupe – was about to take the white flag, the race went yellow again owing to a crash at T6; the exit from the infield onto the banking. We then had the strange sight of the leader coming to a halt at the end of a multi-car train that was slowly picking its way through the debris, before finally driving the final mile and a half to complete the win.

A more anti-climactic end to a race is hard to imagine.

MH