Intro... Matt & I headed to Daytona Beach for the biggest IMSA race of the season, the Rolex 24, the kickoff race of the season. We flew to Orlando in one stop and rented a manual Mazda Miata via Turo for the runabout driving... it was fun, but tiny. Here we were caught on TV for the opening of the Rolex 24 as we chose the best seats in the facility right at the end of the front straight and at the heavy breaking zone into Turn 1. We saw the entire technical infield from here. Matt & I met up with our friend David and Matt's work mate and iRacing buddy MattR and his friend Jeff.
MX-5 Cup... But I'm getting ahead of myself above... Matt & I started with a keen Miata in Orlando and drove down to Daytona Beach. We did decide the top down is not nearly as comfy as in the FlyBox. Then Fri AM we caught a decent breakfast out. Then we saw the MX-5 Cup Race. Daytona is huge and IMSA fans didn't make a dent in seating on Fri. It was a hoot with drivers going 4 wide into corners and the Miatas all belching and whining like mad. It was a gorgeous day in FL while Colorado began to suffer.
Target Run... After the MX-5 Race we headed to the car for a moment to drop coats and hit Target and the liquor store for some supplies. Rather than $8-$10 beers at the track we acquired some cooler-backpack tech and brought our own beers into Daytona! The local peeps at Total Wine were not too hep on FL craft brewers so I self-served. Matt carried it full of ice & brews, not light, so I was fine with saving money. I did find a DDH from Tipping Animals; tasty.
Garage Walk... Back at the track we went to the infield and walked the garage lanes. We saw almost every one of the cool sports cars for the Rolex 24 here... there are 4 classes of cars that will be on the track at the same time... top class is GTP (grand touring prototype), LMP2 (Le Mans Prototype 2), GTD (grand touring Daytona ~ really just GT3 cars) Pro, and GTD. No wonder the IMSA's tag line is ~MOVE OVER~; everyone is passing all the time... though classes tend to jumble together until a class of cars needs to pass another class ~ then it's mayhem. We're Porsche supporters so we rooted for them and were more interested in them, for the most part but the Caddy rolled by close as a GTP, and the Aston Martin V12 Valkyrie is sure to make some sound. The GTD Pro Mustang is formidable here and the McLaren is, well, McLaren; the only LMP2 I show is AO - they all chose the same chassis and engine. I showed the Lexus for Kala; the design and car is the same 3 years running. The safety cars are Porsche GT3RS machines, as is Rexy and the yellow Manthey GT3. Some were heading out for tech assessment.
The Rolex 24 Hrs... Soon enough we were ushered off the infield; we made our way to our prime real estate in Turn 1. Air was electric, cars were hybrids, grid was set, Daytona fans were ready. And so it begins ~ great start... Porsche #6 leading into Turn 1. He and Porsche #7 would remain up front for a lot of the race... the Cadillac challenged on occasion; there are >50 pit stops over 2400 miles for tires and lots of cans of gas after all.
Porsche Leaders... Ultimately this day, the yellow Manthey Porsche took the lead in GTD Pro for a while, and the Porsche GTP #7 led in GTP for a good bit. There are stills and movies for both. For #7, the fastest car on the circuit, the gangway attendant at the start-finish line flashed "faster car behind" yellow stripe on blue flag, often. In fact this race official was very busy at the Rolex 24. We headed down to the start-finish line for a bit, to observe the obscene speeds on the straights, ~200mph; that's a GT3 in the still but don't blink watching the movie.
Night Running... We went for nosh and returned after replenishing the cooler-backpack for the youngsters. Long after sunset we weren't even halfway in the 24 hour race but cars kept rolling fast. It is very cool and presents a whole new set of challenges for racers here and at Le Mans. I left early after an already long day but Matt & Dave stayed till midnight ~ troopers. Wicked racing with lights continued until soup-thick fog enveloped the facility at 1am, after which 6 hours of safety car running ensued. Good we weren't there to endure both the cold and the stacked up, no passing, racing; just miles. Slept well that night.
The Finish... I dined on the odd foods in the Comfort Inn till TK brought me an egg McMuffin from his run for a Red Bull. I drove the MX5 to a close parking spot to the gate proximate to our prime seating; Matt joined DaveV for the Uber to the track; we met up at the gate for the last several hours of the race. The Porsche-Penske 963 #7 won it's 3rd straight Rolex 24 with 705 laps! Brazillian Fellipe Nasr piloted the 963 across the finish line. Check the tire debris scrapes.
In LMP2, the Crowdstrike ORECA #4 won with 686 laps.
Despite the top qualification of the Miller BMW M4 GT3 in GTD Pro they started last in the class after post-quali tech revealed they exceeded camber wear. This didn't stop them though as they went last to first over the 24 hour and finish with 662 laps. It was an exciting 2 sec lead finish over Mercedes-AMG GT3! The Manthey Porsche 911 GT3RS finished 5th in class on the same lap as winner. The Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG won the GTD class with 661 laps ~ these cars are the same GTD vehicles but require some non-pro drivers on the team.
The Daytona Rolex 24 was an awesome outing in racing and I've been to Indy and Indy car races, and dirt tracks, and watch F1... endurance racing is sports cars is the best racing for sure. It was especially fun to be with TK in his element in sports car racing. Dang, it's too cold with snow on the roadsides to roll the FlyBox on the Front Range right now.
