The season-beginning sports car race at Daytona, in January each year, has grown in stature and popularity around the world. This post will look at some interesting aspects of the four-day event but will not attempt to describe the race. The above image has two BMW's, a Ferrari, a Ford GT, a Corvette, and a Mercedez negotiating turn 1, entering the infield section of the track from the NASCAR trioval.
How does a 24 hour race last four days? Well, there are many activities taking place in addition to the race itself on Saturday and Sunday. On Friday, there is a 4-hour endurance race for GT3 and TCR classes known as the BMW Challenge. (Yes, sponsors get their name in play at every opportunity.) In this image, a Porsche (yellow), Mercedez, Mustang, and McLaren race around the International Horseshoe corner. There were 19 automobile manufacturers represented in the races at Daytona, an indication of the broad interest in sports car racing.
Paint Jobs
An old-school term, maybe, as the currently used racing term describing the color and graphics on a race car is "livery," British for special uniform. Since it was the 50th year that IMSA had sanctioned sports car races, one theme was graphics which paid tribute to earlier cars. Wynn's Friction Proofing is an old product that began a company, which has expanded into many automotive products. This Mercedez's livery pays tribute to a Porsche 962 which ran the 24 hours in 1987.
At a distance, the two factory Porsche entries in white with red and blue stripes, looked similar to the paint scheme of the most successful race team at the 24 Hours, Jacksonville-based Brumos Porsche. Peter Gregg and Hurley Heywood won many races at Daytona racing with Brumos. On closer inspection, the stripes are multiple number 59's closely grouped. Peter Gregg's car was always #59 and the team car #58.
Then there was the Porsche team from Canada who did not want to have the often used red Maple Leaf on the side of the car. To commemorate their home country of Canada, they selected a "Lumberman's Plaid" for the paint scheme. Well, it is actually not painted. Plastic wraps have enhanced the ability of the car graphics designer in making more intricate creations. One of the drivers of this car has had a long-standing attire selection of always wearing a lumberjack plaid shirt.
Then, there was a Mercedez in the BMW Challenge race known as the Chameleon. Looking at the car from the front, it appears to be painted black. But, from the side, it is more of a green.
Or, more like a shade of bluish-purple.
Or, maybe part bronze with a reddish-purple? It is easy to see why the announcers gave up on selecting a color to describe this car and used the term "Chameleon."
History
History is on display at the race track. An exhibit of cars that raced in the 24 Hours is in the garage area of the infield. This is one of the two Brumos Porsche 911's from the 1970 race.
There is much to do and keep the fan at the races entertained in addition to the action on the race track.
Porsche's all-out racing prototype car, the 962, was dominant for many years at Daytona and races around the world. This Porsche 962 raced in the 1984 race.
The exhibit in the garage area is static . . . for most of the weekend. For a few minutes, the exhibit becomes very active as the historic cars take some laps on the race track. In this image, three Porsche 962's lead the group out of the International Horseshoe corner.
Speaking of Porsche race cars, this image is a view of the rear of one of current year's factory 911 race cars as it undergoes final tuning after a practice session on the track. Something is missing. The engine. All Porsche 911's have the engine in the rear, since the very first 911 in 1964. All . . . except for the two factory race cars. The IMSA rule that allows the engine to be mounted a "small distance" from the original location somehow provided Porsche the leeway to move the engine in front of the rear axle, converting a rear-engined car to a mid-engined car. Handling is greatly improved if the greatest mass is located between the front and rear wheels near the middle of the car. All, but two 911's are rear engine.
The car manufacturers want to use the race to promote their road cars, on the track in the races and in the infield. Auto manufacturers set up displays along the infield road. AMG Mercedez built a large building with glass walls for their exhibit. It is quite a feat to assemble and then disassemble a large building for a four-day display.
The displays are not all static. AMG provided rides to fans to demonstrate the capabilities of their off-road-capable SUV.
Quite a ride!
Inside the AMG building, there were many things to keep the fan engaged. A large slot car track had Mercedez cars racing in miniture. An AMG Mercedez GT, like the ones in both the BMW Challenge and 24 Hour races, was a big draw. If a wild design is not enough to draw attention to your ride, this green paint job should.
The specifics of this GT were on announced on the sign next to the car. The price specification should be noted as "Starting Price." That paint job is surely an upcharge.
Parking Lot
Just walking through the infleld looking at the cars parked can be entertaining. After Jill debated about which of two of the cars on the race track would best fit in the home garage - Lamborghini or McLaren - the two cars in question were seen parked next to each other. While Jill had never before seen a sports car in white to be attractive, the white Lambo was judged as most appropriate for the Moore garage than the black McLaren. More research will be needed. Both manufacturers offer test rides at the Amelia Island Concours. It will be a fun ride.
Drivers
Racing is a contest of person and machine. (Yes, that used to be man and machine. More on that later.) Before the race start. the prototype cars are paraded out onto the grid with the drivers leading each car and the home country flags carried along side of the cars. It is an international event. The driver on the left (with drink bottle) is Jordan Taylor from Orlando. Next to him is Fernando Alonso, a Spaniard who has won two Formula 1 championships, the Monaco Grand Prix, and the LeMans 24 hours. A day later, he added a win at the Rolex Daytona 24 Hours to his resume.
Easily the fan favorite at the 2019 Rolex was the Italian driver Alex Zanardi. He won two championships in Indianapolis open-wheel cars. In 2001, he had a huge crash that resulted in the loss of both his legs. He moved on to other challenges and other athletic endeavors. Iron Man Triathlons, run in a wheelchair, are where he earns his most awards these days. Next year he will not be autoracing, devoting his efforts full-time to preparing for the Olympics. BMW offered Zanardi the opportunity to drive one of their cars in a 24 Hour endurance race - LeMans, France, or Daytona, Florida. Zanardi immediately chose Daytona.
Zanardi is humble, gracious, and giving. This image captures him signing his autograph on the back of a fans t-shirt. His race did not bring the success everyone hoped for, with a number of delays in the pits for repairs putting this #24 BMW back in the field of finishers, but he had a great time driving a race track for the first time which he has held high regard.
In the Friday BMW Challenge race, one of the Turner BMW cars was piloted by a father/daughter team. From our view, the daughter provided the better drive as an overly aggressive move by the father late in the race resulted in a spin and many lost positions on the race track.
The Catapillar sponsored Audi racing in the 24 Hours was driven by Katherine Legge, Bia Figuerido, Simona De Silvestro, Christina Nielsen - an all femle driving team. It is no longer a contest of man and machine, It was an interanational team also, with drivers from 4 different countires, none U.S. born.
There are many ways to select a favorite car to root for and follow closely on the track. There is a large area in the infield with tent kitchen and chef-prepared meals rented for the Corvette Club. When one of the Corvettes makes a move on drfthe track, you can hear the Corvette fans cheer. For the Moore Classic and Fast Cars group, the Bardahl Audi car was an obvious choice for the team that entered the car - MooreSpeed.
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| Daytona News Journal Photo |
One story about the race itself: Around 5:00 am the rain started and became so heavy that the race was stopped at 7:22 am. The cars sat on the grid for over two hours before a decision was made to restart the race. A bad decision probably driven by the need to have action on the TV coverage. Water was deep causing cars to aquaplane. At times, no car actually made the first corner on the track, all slid off into the runoff area, finally slowing down enough to make the car turn. The spray behind the cars made it impossible to see. A number of cars were destroyed in accidents. Cars that had held the lead for most of the first 20 hours were punted off the track by other cars resulting in finish positions far down. After much chaos, the red flag flew again and the remaining cars returned to the grid along the front straight. The race finished under the red flag with the cars never turning a wheel again. It was a sad situation.
Still, it was an amazing race event.
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