NEWS
Grand Am: Rolex 24 Preview
The SunTrust Corvette should be a top contender in this weekend’s race.
The Gainsco Corvette in the background will also be a top contender.
On 28 January 2012 the green flag will fall to start the 46th running of the 24 Hours of Daytona Sports Car race. This race will celebrate it 60th anniversary that honors the first sports car race that was held at the Speedway in 1962. The race was won by Dan Gurney driving a Cosworth powered Lola. The finish was very controversial because near the end of the three-hour race Gurney had a one-lap lead over the field. Gurney felt his engine expiring so he parked his car near the start finish line and waited for the finish. He crossed the finish line on his starter motor 40+ seconds ahead of the second place finisher. The first 24-Hour race was held in 1966 and was won by Ford GT’s.
Corvettes were always a favorite in the GT category and usually finished well in their class. Roger Penske entered a red prototype L-88 Corvette into the race. After a late night crash the team was able to bring the badly battered Corvette home 10th overall and first in class. Owens Corning finished fourth overall in 1971 in another L-88 Corvette. The Rebel Corvette team finished third overall in the 1973 24 Hour race in another L-88. A factory C5-R finished an amazing second overall in 2000 only 30 seconds behind the winning Viper GT. Finally in 2001 a factory C5-R took the overall victory.
It has been eleven years since a Corvette has been capable of winning the 24-Hours of Daytona. This year five special Corvette Daytona Prototypes will attempt to break that record. In early testing the Corvettes were the class of the field. Corvette Motorsport will be live at Daytona, covering the race with the Spirit of Daytona team. This team had the first prototype and will be driven by Corvette Racing’s C6-R drivers. It should be an exciting 24 Hours and hopefully we will see a Corvette first across the line at this historic race. Stay tuned.
Driver Quotes:
Oliver Gavin- Spirit of Daytona nr90:
“I’m pretty happy with how things have gone as we’ve shown ourselves to be competitive, we have a great driver line up, and the Spirit of Daytona team is getting to grips with a car which is still very new to them. We’re heading into the race reasonably confident but, as always with 24 hour races, we know that while pace is important, success often comes down to how smart you are.”
“We’ve really got to be on top of what we’re doing on the track, the calls we make and how we deal with 45 GT cars which include a lot of very strong and professional teams. As a DP driver, you’re going to come across big groups of GTs racing together and the speed differential between the top GTs and the DPs isn’t that great on the banking and on the straight. You’re only looking at maybe 8 or 9 miles an hour difference, which isn’t that much, so you’ve really got to plan tactically on how to pass and get round them. You will have to pick your spots carefully and take great care to protect your car and position.”
Darren Law- Action Express nr5:
"We had a great three-day test," he said. "Some things that we thought would work, didn't, and some things that we didn't think would work, did. That goes with a new car. But we were really happy.
"The biggest question-mark for all of us is the brand-new car," Law noted. "We don't know what issues we may run into. The Chevrolet motor has been around for a couple of years now, so I don't foresee any problems there. It's all the new stuff that's unfamiliar to us that we hope doesn't bite us. But I'm confident in our team. We've won this race before and it's the same group of guys we won with in 2009. And I'm confident with our driver lineup – David and I also won it together in '09. Christian Fittipaldi is with us, and so far we're all really equal on lap times. We've all done this many times and we know how to win it. From that aspect, I'm very confident."
Jan Magnussen- Spirit of Daytona nr90:
"I must admit that after the first laps in the car, I was somewhat surprised. Unfortunately early in testing, it was really difficult to drive. But once we started to work on the car setup, we had a really fast and stable race car and I have no doubt that there is more time to find more in the car. On the last test day, we were not running as much as planned, then second gear smoke and when it was repaired, was discovered a crack in the gearbox. so even though we missed some time on the track, we're all optimistic and agree that we have a well placed to ride on the overall victory this weekend."
The Spirit of Daytona entry will be driven by the factory Corvette drivers.
The around the clock event will test the speed and durability of the top entries. The infield is usually packed with spectators during the long race. Here the Spirit of Daytona entry exits the final turn of the infield part of the Speedway before entering the banking.
