No. 3 Corvette Racing (GTLM), No. 93 Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper (GTD) Lead In GT
CORE autosport Scores Maximum Five Points By Leading In PC
Daytona Beach, Florida – Joey Hand held the lead at the one-quarter mark of the Rolex 24 At Daytona to score the maximum five points for the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Ford EcoBoost/Riley team in the opening segment of the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup.
The Patrón Endurance Cup is a 52-hour endurance competition that encompasses the four marquee endurance races on the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship schedule: the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida, Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and the Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda. Points are awarded at specific intervals throughout each race – every six hours in the Rolex 24 – with the leader at the end of each segment scoring five points, four points for second, three points for third and fourth-place on back receiving two points.
Other teams scoring the maximum five points at the conclusion of the opening segment: No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R (GTLM), No. 54 CORE autosport (PC) and No. 93 Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R (GTD).
A caution for the stopped No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT America of Andy Lally with roughly 30 minutes remaining in the opening segment prompted a number of lead-lap pit stops. Among them was the race-leading No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP which handed the lead over to the No. 01 Ganassi entry. Hand was able to hold off teammate Tony Kanaan’s No. 02 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford EcoBoost/Riley to score the five points in the Prototype class.
While Jan Magnussen and Mark Wilkins restarted in the lead and later held on to score the maximum five points in the GTLM and PC classes, respectively, defending GTLM champion Kuno Wittmer drove around the Ferrari 458 Italia of Jeff Segal shortly before the six-hour mark to lead the segment in the No. 93 Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R in the GTD class.
The race is currently being aired on FOX Sports 1 and will shift to IMSA.com for the overnight hours beginning at 10 p.m. ET.
NEWS AND NOTES
· Tom Long made history at the end of his opening stint early in the race when he took the lead in the No. 07 SpeedSource Mazda SKYACTIV-D Smart Diesel, becoming the first diesel-powered car to lead overall in the Rolex 24. It also was the first time Mazda has led the Rolex 24 overall, although the manufacturer has 22 class victories in the event, second behind only Porsche (68).
· Two drivers in search of career milestones are in good position at the one-quarter mark. Scott Pruett – looking to win a record sixth Rolex 24 overall – leads in the Prototype class while teammate Jamie McMurray is second as he tries to join A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti as the only drivers to win both the Daytona 500 and Rolex 24.
· The No. 912 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR, in a quest to defend its inaugural Patrón Endurance Cup championship in GTLM, fell victim to a gearbox issue three minutes into the 24-hour race, losing six laps. The car has since run flawlessly and now sits four laps down in ninth.
· Attrition was one of the main storylines in the opening six hours of the event with a number of competitive cars running into early trouble. Among those, the No. 97 BMW Z4 of defending TUDOR Championship GTD champion Turner Motorsport suffered a pair of gearbox related issues relegating the team to 97 laps down in class at the six-hour mark. The No. 0 DeltaWing Racing Cars DWC-13 – which ran solidly in the top-five for much of the early part of the race put fell victim to a transmission issue – and the No. 2 Tequila Patrón ESM Honda HPD ARX (systems failure) were forced to retire. Also retiring right before the six-hour mark was the No. 57 Krohn Racing Ligier JS P2/Judd which reportedly suffered an engine problem.
· One year after nearly sweeping the four Patrón Endurance Cup events, CORE autosport is off to a strong start in a quest to return to victory lane in the Rolex 24 in 2015. The car co-driven by Colin Braun, Jon Bennett, James Gue and Mark Wilkins has a 68-second lead over the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport ORECA FLM09.
QUOTEBOARD
Scott Pruett, Driver - No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing w/ Felix Sabates Ford EcoBoost/Riley:
“For me, I always approach this race being over-cautious at the start. I’ve done this race so many times. I’ve seen so many drivers who really want to make a statement in the first couple of hours, really trying to work their way up to the front, driving up over curbs and other cars. It is going to be interesting to see how everything unfolds.”
Andy Meyrick, Driver - No. 0 DeltaWing Racing Cars with Claro/TracFone DWC-13:
“I’ve become accustomed to how resilient and hardworking this team is. With a brand new component in the car and not much room to maneuver, they’ve gone above and beyond. To qualify so well and to run so well shows that they’re the real heroes. The season looks really strong as soon as we get over these teething issues. We’re very disappointed, but there are lots of positives to take away.”
Johannes van Overbeek, Driver – No. 2 Tequila Patrón ESM Honda HPD ARX
“This is an unfortunate end to our Rolex 24. It is a beautiful day for racing. There’s a great field of drivers and great crowd at Daytona. Ed (Brown), Jon (Fogarty) and I were looking forward to a nice long race. Sadly, we lost power in the Honda. We’re not sure what happened yet. We’ll dig into and figure it out. The No. 1 car is running well and that’s great. We need to regroup and get some more work done before Sebring.”
Memo Gidley, Driver Injured in 2014 Rolex 24 At Daytona
“I’m very hungry [to drive again]. It’s been a year and I’m watching the race on TV now. It’s really such a great memory. We all know when we’re doing things you have higher chance of an injury. That’s part of it. I definitely want to get back out there, but No. 1 is to get back to 100 percent strong, or nearly 100 percent strong, before I can make that happen.”
Canadian drivers, Canadian owned teams or teams with Canadian drivers in BOLD