2015 Rolex 24 Race Recap - The Canadians
Three Class Podiums - Including a Victory

by RaceCanada / Chris Jameson

January 28, 2015

The 53rd Rolex 24 at Daytona for the IMSA TUDOR United Sportscar Championship is behind us and while we all know who won and figured out the placement of the top Canadians (with congratulations to Kuno Wittmer - the #93 starting the race at the back of the field, on his first Rolex 24 victory) the following is a rundown of how each of the thirteen entries with Canadian content fared. There were twelve Canadian drivers spread over thirteen cars with Sylvain Tremblay doing double-duty in the SpeedSource Mazda Prototypes (#07 & #70)

Before we get to that though, let's have a recap of the race stats.

• Total running time: 24:00:57.667
• Number of laps by the race winner: 740
• Number of cars on lead lap at the finish: 3
• Total Cautions: 18
• Total Laps Under Caution: 77

Caution Notes:

• Longest caution period was nine (9) laps (197-205)
• Shortest was two (2) laps (280-281).
• Average number of laps under caution was 4.2.
• First caution: Lap 31 at 0054:50.756 for a total of five (5) laps
• Last Caution: Lap 732 at 23:41:06.815 for a total of four (4) laps
• Total Retirements (announced): 16 (P-7; PC-3; GTLM-3; GTD-3)

The overall and Prototype (P) class win went to the #02 Riley DP Ford Ecoboost (Ganassi) with Corvette DPs second and third. The #3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R (Corvette Racing) won GT Le Mans (GTLM) class (725 laps) with BMW and Corvette taking second and third respectively. Prototype Challenge (PC), a spec class of Oreca FLM 09s with Chevrolet power was won by the #52 (714 laps) followed by the #16 and the #54. The GT Daytona (GTD) victory went to the #93 Riley Dodge Viper SRT with a pair of Porsche 911 GT Americas coming second and third.

Canadian drivers finished on the podium in three of four classes (PC, GTLM, GTD) only missing in the P class by one position. At one point however, with less than an hour to go, the chances looked pretty good for a Canadian driver to be on the top step in three classes, but some late-race drama for two entries served to drop them off the top step – the most dramatic coming in the final eighteen minutes. Despite that, it was a good result all 'round and we congratulate the Riley Dodge SRT Viper team and Kuno Wittmer on scoring the victory in GTD.

UPDATES: As of February 3, 2015,IMSA has made two announcements reflecting changes in the overall and class standings. In both cases teams with Canadian drivers have been affected positively. First, with the penalty assessed to the #10 Corvette DP which finished in third place (driver exceeding allowable drive time limit), the #90 Corvette DP of Michael Valiante has been elevated to third overall and third in class. 

Next, the #16 Prototype Challenge car which finished second was also assessed a penalty as one of the Silver or Bronze rated drivers did not meet the minimum drive time in the car. This has elevated the #54 PC of Mark Wilkins to second place and the #85 PC of Mikhail Goikhberg to third place in class. 

While it is always great to pick up points (and some extra cash) with the move up the ranks, it's too bad that Valiante and Goikhberg did not get to celebrate during the podium festivities after the race. Maybe next year. 

Now for the rundown which we will do in order of overall result with notes added as we know things to have happened. (It was a long 30-plus hours here at RaceCanada World Headquarters in Beautiful Downtown West Hill – the home of Paul Tracy, and things got fuzzy after a while)

UPDATED 3rd Overall / P - #90 VisitFlorida.com Racing Corvette DP – Richard Westbrook, Michael Valiante, Mike Rockenfeller, Guy Cosmo (r): completed 734 laps (-6 laps). Their final pit stop was on lap 731 (of 35 total) with 00:02:12 remaining in the race. The #90 ran consistently through out the entire twenty-four hours after starting at the back and moving forward into the top ten by lap eighteen (18). The car lead for just three laps (58-60) falling back when pitting on lap 61 but only flirted with second place once after that. The best lap for the #90 was a 1:40.280 on lap 495 set by Rockenfeller.

6th Overall / 2nd GTLM - #25 BMW Team RLL Z4 GTE – Bill Auberlen, Dirk Werner, Augusto Farfus, Bruno Spengler: completed 725 laps, just 0.478 seconds back of the GTLM class winner. The BMW had been in contention for the win for many hours fighting both Corvettes and it held the lead on a few occasions. Some early morning off-tracking by Spengler cause some hearts to skip a few beats on Sunday morning but the team recovered nicely, fighting back into contention with a damaged car. With a little over forty minutes remaining, Werner took the BMW into the lead (lap704) but would lose the position to the Corvette (#3 – Garcia) one lap later. From there it was an amazing battle to the checkers. It was the closest finish of the race in any class. The best lap for the #25 was a 1:44:334 on lap 231 set by Farfus. Their final pit stop (of 29 total) was on lap 698 with 00:50.37 remaining in the race.

UPDATED 12th Overall / 2nd PC - #54 CORE Autosports Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet – Jon Bennett, Colin Braun, James Gue, Mark Wilkins: completed 704 laps, ten laps back of the PC class winner. Starting from the front row, the #54 lead approximately five hundred (or more – I am not counting them) laps of the race taking complete control early and running as high as ninth overall. The 2014 Rolex 24 victors were a model of consistency lap after lap and in the closing hours, held a one lap lead over second place. But as they say, "it ain't over 'til it's over" and a late-race incident at the 23:39:03.114 mark sent the #54 off course with Colin Braun at the controls. It took Braun a few tries to get the car turned around and back on track. At that point he clipped a curb and the back end came around to hit the wall and the car burst into flames ending the cars day and the teams run at back-to-back Rolex 24 victories. They did however have enough time on the circuit to be classified – and more importantly, enough laps on the board to finish third in PC with a three-lap advantage over fourth place. Their last pit stop (of 31 total) was on lap 685 with 00:55:59 remaining. Fastest lap for the #54 was a 1:43:518 set by Braun on lap 287.

13th Overall / 1st GTD - #93 Riley Motorsports TI Automotive Dodge Viper SRT – Ben Keating, Dominik Farnbacher, Al Carter, Kuno Witter, Cameron Lawrence: The class-winning Dodge Viper SRT completed 704 laps with a 07.588 second margin of victory over the second-place Porsche. The #93 started the race at a disadvantage losing its fastest time in qualifying for causing a red flag. With that, the team chose change tires and start from the back of the grid. They slowly worked their way forward and came into contention for the victory aroound the seventeen hour mark. From there is was a matter of taking control at the front and not looking back. This is a great start to the year for the Viper racing program which had been dropped by Chrysler following the 2014 season. Last year Farnbacher would finish the Rolex 24 third and Wittmer sixth driving the GTLM class Vipers SRTs. It was great to see the pair come back and take the victory in 2015. The #93 completed its last pit stop (of 32 total) on lap 675 with 00:55:11 remaining. Farnbacher recorded a fastest lap of 1:47:018 on lap 500.

UPDATED 17th Overall / 3rd PC - #85 JDC/Miller Motorsports Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet – Mikhail Goikhberg. Chris Miller, Stephen Simpson, Rusty Mitchell: Completed 701 laps, three laps back of third-place car in class. The #85 contended early on leading in the early hours and running top three until just after the eight hour mark when it dropped back to fifth. From there it seemed to be stuck battling to make up lost laps and get back up the charts. A strong finish nonetheless for Goikhberg in his first Rolex 24. The last pit stop (of 31 total) for the #85 occurred on lap 677 with 00:44:50 remaining. A fastest lap of 1:43:900 was set by Simpson of lap 353.

22nd Overall / 8th GTD - #009 TRG-AMR Aston Martin V12 Vantage – Derek DeBoer, Max Riddle, Kris Wilson, Eliseo Salazar: Completed 678 laps, 26 laps down in class. The #009 Aston Martin did not set a qualifying time and would start from the last row of the grid. A steady march through the field and staying out of trouble lap after lap, brought the car forward. Their last pit stop was on lap 655 with 00:45:59 remaining. Max Riddle set the fastest lap, a 1:49:885 on lap 597.

28th Overall / 6th GTLM - #98 Aston Martin Racing Gulf Aston Martin Vantage V8 – Pedro Lamy, Paul Dalla Lana, Darren Turner, Stefan Mucke, Matthias Lauda: Completed 632 laps, 83 laps back of the class leader. Starting from third on the grid, the #98 Aston Martin was running well an incident brought out the first caution of the race. A series of stops after that dropped it to next to last in class. Back on track the #98 moved forward but another incident with the car would see it go behind the wall on a flatbed where it stayed for some time. The car did get back on track but languished at the back of the GTLM class but did cross the line to take the checkers with Dalla Lana at the wheel. The last pit stop for the #98 came on lap 609 with 00:43:47 remaining. Darren Turner set fastest lap of 1:44:620 on lap 484.

35th Overall / 15th GTD - #18 Muehlner Motorsports America Porsche 911 GT America – Darryl O'Young, Matteo Baretta Marc Basseng, Conor Di Phillippi: The #18 Porsche completed 539 laps, 165 laps back of the class leader. The team completed 23 pit stops, their last on lap 519 with 00:39:00 remaining. Fast lap was set by Basseng, a 1:49:700 on lap 307.

36th Overall / 5th PC - #11 RSR Racing Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet – Chris Cumming, Bruno Junqueira, Jack Hawksworth, Gustavo Menezes: The #11 Oreca completed 535 laps, 179 laps back of the class leader. The car would finish the race shown "on pit lane" as it had not been officially retired. The car's final stop (of 27 total) was non lap 535 (it's last completed lap) with 04:14:36 remaining. Fastest lap was a 1:43:248 set by Hawksworth on lap 339.

42nd Overall / 6th PC (Retired) - #61 BAR1 Motorsports Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet – Martin Plowman, Ivo Breukers, Remo Ruscitti, Shelby Blackstock: The #61 completed 361 laps, 353 laps behind the class leader. The car had run in the top three early on and would battle for the lead going into the second hour. A lengthy pit stop on lap 85 sent the #61 practically to the back of the grid and while it did eventually recover to turn some laps, it was officially listed as retired on lap 361. The #61 Oreca completed 18 pit stops, the last on lap 350 with 09:47:01 remaining. Fastest lap was set by Plowman, a 1:44:305 on lap 52

43rd Overall / 12th P (Retired) - #07 SpeedSource Mazda Prototype – Joel Miller, Ben Devlin, Tom Long, Sylvain Tremblay: The #07 Mazda would start from the last row of the Prototype grid and work its way into the top ten. A steady pace would soon have it towards the front of the pack and, on lap 62, 02:03:36.564 into the race, become the first Mazda and first diesel-powered car to lead overall at the Rolex 24. It lead one lap falling to second on lap 63 then pitting on lap 66. At that point it had a lengthy stop and while returning to the track, would complete just 348 laps – less that half the laps of the eventual race winner. The #07 Mazda completed 14 pit stops, the last on lap 348 (its last recorded lap) with 11:57:17 remaining and listed as officially retired. The fastest lap was set by Miller on lap 295, a 1:43:647

46th Overall / 8th PC (Retired) - #38 Peformance Tech Motorsports Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet – James French, Jerome Mee, James Vance, S. Johnston. The #38 completed 238 laps, 476 laps behind the class leader. The #38 briefly ran in the top five for the class, at one point running second early in the race. At the two hour mark the car was running third in class and sixth overall. It was back battling for second spot just ahead of the four hour mark and went on to lead moments later for three laps (127-129). Pitting on lap 129, the #38 fell back positions pitting again after 138 laps, falling to 44th overall. The car would make its final stop (of 12 total) on its 234th lap with 15:10_16 remaining and retire just four laps later. Fastest lap for the #38 was a 1:44:674 by Johnston on lap 12.

49th Overall / 13th P (Retired) - #70 SpeedSource Mazda Prototype – Jonathan Bomarito, Tristan Nunez, James Hinchcliffe, Sylvain Tremblay: The #70 diesel-powered Mazda completed 198 laps after starting from 13th on the grid. Falling to the back almost immediately coming to pit lane on the third lap, the #70 recovered to run in the top 10 by lap 98 with Hinchcliffe at the wheel. Already down laps however, the car entered the pits for mechanical issues on its 198th lap eventually retiring from the race.

That wraps up the 2015 Rolex 24 at Daytona. Next up for the IMSA TUDOR United Sportscar Championship - the 12 Hours of Sebring in March!.