Thoughts on Rolex 24 at Daytona

"HiredHand" (ghubacek) 01/26/2014 at 23:57 • Filed to: None

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In no specific order:

1. Daytona proves basically nothing as far as car performance balance. The course at Daytona is very different from the typical tracks the USCR will visit. I have a feeling that the dominance of the Corvette DP's will be balanced out and the P2 cars will be much quicker on the average road course. Same with GT, I'm not sure if the Vipers and Porsches will dominate as much as they did as far as speed.

2. The broadcast quality was pretty hit and miss. I also hate having to chase broadcast across three different FOX networks and online. MRN network is hilariously bad. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Never thought I would miss the ESPN ALMS coverage so much. The last few hours with Tommy Kendall and Justin Bell weren't so bad, but I hope the shorter races will be easier to cover in a more consistent manner.

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3. Overall the homologation for the USCR is pretty competitive in the GT classes. GTLM is an awesome field, and GTD was insanely competitive. The prototypes need some help, but I think within a few years when they can introduce some new platforms for the P classes things will get better. The current situation is a band-aid to attempt to keep as many teams as possible in the sport with their current equipment, but this should be resolved eventually.

4. I miss P1, but it was a dying breed anyway and I don't think it's realistic to expect teams to work on that level without major factory backing, and that probably won't happen here. I guess it's better to focus on what works, and right now that's GT on all levels.

5. Good God that Gidley / Malucelli crash was horrific. Glad to hear no one lost their life, but I fear that the drivers will have some lasting injuries to recover from. Great for the sport that the technology is at the point where loss of life can be avoided in a crash that bad. I hope that's the worst we see all season.

6. Contactgate. I love seeing Flying Lizard in the Audi's. It's a little weird, but they're going to be a really good team this year when they get some experience with the new car under their belt. I was rooting for them, but the call at the end should have never been a call. That close to the end, it's a no-call unless it's egregious. Would have been horrible for the first race of the sport to end in controversy.

7. Ferrari: I don't know why, but I'd say 8/10 idiotic moves I saw on track had to do with a GTD Ferrari. Bonus points to the 72 car of SMP/ESM racing (i think) who ran Joey Hand to the wall during the final laps while he was less than a second behind the GTLM race winner.

8. Mechanical Failure: Seems like a whole lot of teams had issues with mechanical failures. Ganassi, Corvette, Viper, Aston, 911, BMW, basically everyone. I think it's natural this would happen considering the late-breaking regulations, lack of testing, and the fact that the first race of the season is a 24-hour race. However, ALMS often had 3, 4, and 5 car battles for class win towards the end of the race. I'd like to see less attrition.

Also, it was brutal out there, lots of tape strips and missing body panels at the end of the race. Mixed bag, I guess.

daender > HiredHand 01/27/2014 at 00:01

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I think the mechanical failure issue might be due to the fact that ALMS usually runs Sebring at the first event of the year and that it's 12 instead of 24 hours. But yeah, it was sad seeing the Mazdas and Deltawing fail so quickly yet again.

HiredHand > daender 01/27/2014 at 00:03

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Poor Mazda. I felt like the LeMons tow limit was about to be enforced.

daender > HiredHand 01/27/2014 at 00:04

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I think a rotary would last longer than these unreliable diesels.

Z_Stig > HiredHand 01/27/2014 at 00:12

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Hopefully the P2s close the gap at the more 'normal' road tires. But they will still be on a sub par tire :(

Enginerrrrrrrrr > HiredHand 01/27/2014 at 00:16

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I gotta give a shout-out to team SRT for getting 3rd in GTLM though!

(yes this picture is from Le Mans and not Daytona...)

ddavidn > HiredHand 01/27/2014 at 00:17

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#FOODSHOW

Autolegend86 > HiredHand 01/27/2014 at 00:23

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NASCAR's cautions for microscopic debris have returned proving real racing isn't allowed when there are TV audiences to artificially please.

Im voting for Code 60 at the Daytona 500 just to make NASCAR fans slit their wrists.

f86sabre > HiredHand 01/27/2014 at 00:29

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The pic of all the cars together looks like my son's Hotwheels collection. I'm ok with that.

I'm curious how many of the cars that started this race will start all the remainder of the races.

I'm looking forward to Petit Le Mans.

Radio Le Mams should have been there.

HiredHand > Enginerrrrrrrrr 01/27/2014 at 00:39

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The GTLM break-down game was interesting to watch between BMW, Corvette, Porsche, and SRT. I have a feeling it's going to be intense on the shorter races this year.

HiredHand > Autolegend86 01/27/2014 at 00:41

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The yellow at the end was bullshit, yes. If I recall right it didn't actually result in any podium changes, just a bit more drama at the end.

HiredHand > f86sabre 01/27/2014 at 00:42

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Radio LeMans was SORELY missed. Never found out why they weren't there. Saw some chat on their twitter that they had a fully funded solution, so I assume it was political.

promoted by the color red > HiredHand 01/27/2014 at 00:46

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8. Mechanical Failure: Seems like a whole lot of teams had issues with mechanical failures. Ganassi, Corvette, Viper, Aston, 911, BMW, basically everyone. I think it's natural this would happen considering the late-breaking regulations, lack of testing, and the fact that the first race of the season is a 24-hour race. However, ALMS often had 3, 4, and 5 car battles for class win towards the end of the race. I'd like to see less attrition.

Wow, there's so little attraction during the race! It's like a modern-day sprint race!

-MRN DOT COM

f86sabre > HiredHand 01/27/2014 at 00:51

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Funny/sad thing was that Hindy, Eve, Declan, and the Daily Sportscar guys were all there. It has been mentioned on Midweek Motorsports that they tried, but could not come to an agreement with NASCAR. They wanted to go with their in house product.

The Transporter > HiredHand 01/27/2014 at 01:05

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#4) American manufacturers just aren't accustomed to directly backing a single team like most foreign manufacturers are. And most foreign manufacturers have no interest racing in an American sports car series unless that race is part of the WEC calendar. P1 was going to go, even without the merger. While no where near as large as ALMS, the European Le Mans Series dropped their P1 class in 2012.

#7) The only thing that can be said about AF Corse is that they can ruin a race faster than NASCAR. Why they haven't been banned from sports car racing worldwide is beyond me. While Piergiuseppe Perrazini wasn't driving the #72 Ferrari at the time, he was on that team. You may remember Perrasini from one of his greatest hits:

HiredHand > The Transporter 01/27/2014 at 01:26

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At least it seems like the P1 class is seeing a big investment from european manufacturers overseas. Looking forward to watching Porsche/Audi/Toyota this year at LeMans.

HiredHand > promoted by the color red 01/27/2014 at 01:32

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I kept hearing the announcers talk about that and wondering if they were watching the same race.

Fred (FreddsterExprs) > HiredHand 01/27/2014 at 05:40

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I agree on the DP/LMP2 performance. This was probably the most DP favouring track of the whole season. It also was very interesting to see how the DPs did slide and move around in the first sector while the LMP2s were very planted. They are just very different cars concept wise.
Thank god DPs will be gone in 2016 when new LMP2 rules will be introduced. It is the right choice. Let's see how the rest of the season works out, I can't wait for Sebring.

P1 is amazing but only makes sense with at least 6 permanent cars in the series. And I can't see that happening. The only possibility would be teams like Ganassi and Penske teaming up with the manufacturers and teams like MMPR buying a private chassis/engine combination.

Ferraris are the car of choice for gentlemen drivers. Both in GT3/GTD and GTE classes around the globe. And being gentlemen drivers, they just don't have the skills and overview during battles and passing. That's why they often cause contact and accidents.

Storz > HiredHand 01/27/2014 at 07:10

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Great write up

Bad Idea Hat > HiredHand 01/27/2014 at 08:31

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1. Daytona is the Le Mans of the series. I can see teams either showing up specifically for the race with cars built specifically for the race in the future (LOOKING AT YOU AUDI). I can also see teams going the ol' Intrepid route and avoiding it like the plague. Just an oddball track. Like Le Mans.

2. BAHAHAHAHA. All I have to say is that listening to the year-old feed from RLM during the witching hours was both more entertaining and more informative.

3. I want so hard for this series to go the direction of GTP, where you can shove whatever engine you want into your car, with a corresponding weight penalty or reduction.

4. See above. I think open-tops will be welcome still, but I also get the feeling the only people who'll be running them are the teams who have Le Mans aspirations. History seems to indicate that the teams that have those aspirations tend to do their work in Europe, or in the WEC as it stands now.

5. I know a lot of people want the bad old days of racing, before the drivers were coddled. I'm the only one who probably looks at that wreck as a beautiful thing, because both drivers survived something that would have killed them both as recently as 10 years ago. Hell, I'd even say as recently as 5 years ago.

6. Flying Lizard lost the battle, but it's going to win the war with Audi. That car was much better in the infield than Ferrari, and they have more experience. If they can keep the car running, they'll win the majority of the races in GTD.

7. This is just my dumb opinion, but it's always seemed to me, since maybe the mid-aughts, that Ferrari is the "hold my beer and watch this" of car selection. Something going wrong always seems to have a Ferrari in center stage. I know they're not cheaper than the 911, and they're not easier to work on. I don't get it.

8. Forget it, Jake. It's Daytona.

I mentioned it in chat, but Mazda had a five year development before winning Le Mans with their 787, and they only won basically by default the year they finally did. Nissan slowly worked their way up back in the IMSA days, and they were going to old-fashioned route, with a pretty standard race car. Japanese cars tend to view the long game as the proper goal, and I don't expect any difference. The surprise would be to see them pull out after a few notable failures (which hasn't stopped Nissan thank god).

The other guys will get it. Like I said, Daytona does not make the rest of the season.

willkinton247 > HiredHand 01/27/2014 at 08:32

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4. I miss P1, but it was a dying breed anyway and I don't think it's realistic to expect teams to work on that level without major factory backing, and that probably won't happen here. I guess it's better to focus on what works, and right now that's GT on all levels.

Amen to this.

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JEM > HiredHand 01/27/2014 at 09:20

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I thought considering how vastly different the P2 and DP cars were, that the equalization job was pretty decent. And yeah, not surprised they were faster on this track.