Monday
Jan062014
THE LINE - JANUARY 8, 2014
Monday, January 6, 2014 at 10:41AM 
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.011)
After a year of anticipation, IMSA’s new TUDOR United SportsCar Championship kicked off a new era of sports car racing in North America last weekend at Daytona International Speedway. The pretest for the race - "The Roar before the 24" - saw the former Grand-Am and American Le Mans Series teams on the track together for the first time. The long-awaited merger of the two series became an on-track reality with 66 cars testing on the high banks for the inaugural race, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, January 25-26. John Thawley, photographer extraordinare, will be with us once again this year and has put together a gallery of scintillating images for our readers to enjoy here. Check it out.
After a year of anticipation, IMSA’s new TUDOR United SportsCar Championship kicked off a new era of sports car racing in North America last weekend at Daytona International Speedway. The pretest for the race - "The Roar before the 24" - saw the former Grand-Am and American Le Mans Series teams on the track together for the first time. The long-awaited merger of the two series became an on-track reality with 66 cars testing on the high banks for the inaugural race, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, January 25-26. John Thawley, photographer extraordinare, will be with us once again this year and has put together a gallery of scintillating images for our readers to enjoy here. Check it out.
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.011)
Christian Fittipaldi turned in the fastest lap of the three-day test in cold conditions on Friday (with a wind chill of 32 degrees), when he turned a 1:38.630 (129.940 mph) in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP (co-driven by Joao Barbosa and Sebastien Bourdais). Sunday’s test was held under sunny skies and nearly 40 degrees warmer.
Christian Fittipaldi turned in the fastest lap of the three-day test in cold conditions on Friday (with a wind chill of 32 degrees), when he turned a 1:38.630 (129.940 mph) in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP (co-driven by Joao Barbosa and Sebastien Bourdais). Sunday’s test was held under sunny skies and nearly 40 degrees warmer.
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.011)
The No. 1 Tequila Patrón Honda Performance Development ARX-03b was the quickest of the LMP2-spec cars in the prototype class during the three-day test, turning a 1:39.750/128.481mph, with drivers Scott Sharp, Ryan Dalziel and David Brabham.
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.011)
Porsche came out on top in GTLM at the end of the three-day test with Nick Tandy running a 1:45.564 (121.405 mph) in the No. 911 Porsche North America 911 RSR. Patrick Long (above) turned a 1:46.779 (120.024 mph) in his No. 912 Porsche North America 911 RSR car. “It’s an honor to be amongst this group,” Long said. “This is an opportunity that I’ve hoped to be part of for the past 10 years – an all-factory GT team here in the states. Corvette has been setting the bar the last few seasons, and SRT has progressed faster than many people expected. We’re not sure where the Porsche is going to fit in. Fortunately, Daytona is usually very good for the Porsches. We’re cautious, because this team is so new. We’ll race the race and hope we’re still there with two hours to go, and then race who’s left.”
Porsche came out on top in GTLM at the end of the three-day test with Nick Tandy running a 1:45.564 (121.405 mph) in the No. 911 Porsche North America 911 RSR. Patrick Long (above) turned a 1:46.779 (120.024 mph) in his No. 912 Porsche North America 911 RSR car. “It’s an honor to be amongst this group,” Long said. “This is an opportunity that I’ve hoped to be part of for the past 10 years – an all-factory GT team here in the states. Corvette has been setting the bar the last few seasons, and SRT has progressed faster than many people expected. We’re not sure where the Porsche is going to fit in. Fortunately, Daytona is usually very good for the Porsches. We’re cautious, because this team is so new. We’ll race the race and hope we’re still there with two hours to go, and then race who’s left.”
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.011)
The No. 4 Corvette C7.R of Oliver Gavin was second-quick in GTLM with a 1:45.743 (121.200 mph), followed by Jan Magnussen in the No. 3 Corvette with a 1:45.792 (121.143 mph). The top seven cars in the class were separated by less than six-tenths of a second.
The No. 4 Corvette C7.R of Oliver Gavin was second-quick in GTLM with a 1:45.743 (121.200 mph), followed by Jan Magnussen in the No. 3 Corvette with a 1:45.792 (121.143 mph). The top seven cars in the class were separated by less than six-tenths of a second.
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.011)
Audi was fastest of the 28 cars participating in the GT Daytona class throughout the weekend, with Spencer Pumpelly turning 1:47.981 in the No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Audi R8 LMS in the Friday afternoon session. Pumpelly's co-drivers are Markus Winkelhock and Nelson Canache Jr.
Audi was fastest of the 28 cars participating in the GT Daytona class throughout the weekend, with Spencer Pumpelly turning 1:47.981 in the No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Audi R8 LMS in the Friday afternoon session. Pumpelly's co-drivers are Markus Winkelhock and Nelson Canache Jr.
(Laguna Seca - aka Mazda Raceway)
The machines from the fabled Can-Am series - 1963 to 1974 - and the historic Trans-Am cars from the pony war era of 1966-1972 are two of the featured groups that will compete at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion August 14-17, 2014. Entry requests for the limited 550 spots in the 15 race groups are arriving daily, with a January 31 deadline looming ahead. The Governing Committee meets in February to review each entry to determine the car’s authenticity, provenance and period-correctness. Cars are accepted based on how they ran in their professional day and not on modern enhancements.
