Previewing the 2011 Daytona 24 Hours

For many in the world of motor racing, January represents something of a lull period.

With the silence that follows post-season testing comes an almost endless period of rolling rumours and stories. Virtually anything to keep motorsport somewhere in the news stream counts.
Christmas and the New Year become yet another distant memory – blurred in some cases – leaving January to feel like a month more akin to car unveiling’s, rather than a period that presents any kind of competitive allure. It is a month that also brings three of the finest motor racing events to the fore. Two of these have already run their particular (the Monte Carlo and Dakar Rallies) and this weekend brings the final event of the month – the 24 Hours of Daytona.

This is to be the 49th running of the sportscar endurance special, which will also open the 2011 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. Sixteen Daytona Prototypes are to run on the famed Floridian circuit come Saturday evening, as well as a large field of GT entries. Utilising the Daytona’s twelve-turn road course, the Rolex-sponsored race has become a staple event in the early part of the year and has in the past boasted a number of illustrious victors – including the likes of Dan Gurney, Phil Hill, Mario Andretti, Jacky Ickx, AJ Foyt, Al Unser (Senior and Junior), Juan-Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti amongst a whole host of others.
The race is one of the few events in the motor racing world that brings together competitors from multiple series’.

2011 sees multiple cars in the Daytona Prototype category from Chip Ganassi, Michael Shank Racing, Action Express Racing and Starworks Motorsport – all of whom are powered by a variety of Porsche, Chevrolet, BMW or Ford engines. Several other teams will be running single car entries.

Over the years, Porsche have reigned supreme at Daytona with 22 victories, but it was still quite a surprise when Jorg Bergmeister claimed the pole for the German manufacturer. The (mainly GT) team is making its Daytona Prototype début this year and with Patrick Long, Seth Neimann and Johannes van Overbeek also riding in the cockpit, it will be interesting if they can maintain their unexpected advantage over a full 24 hours. In claiming the top spot, Bergmeister broke the lap record for the Daytona road course.
Bergmeister was still able to qualify his Flying Lizard’s prepared car just 0.34 of-a-second quicker than the Chevrolet-powered Dallara piloted by SunTrust Racing’s Max Angelelli. The Italian driver was a winner of this event in 2005 and with Ryan Briscoe, Rick and Wayne Taylor alongside, he will be looking to challenge once again. Angelelli took pole in 2010; however that turned into only a 6th place finish.
Ganassi Racing’s secondary team consisting of Scott Pruett, Graham Rahal, Joey Hand and Memo Rojas will line up 3rd in their BMW-Riley, while the Ford-powered Starworks Motorsport Riley machine is next up in 4th. The primary Ganassi team (with Scott Dixon, Jamie McMurray, Montoya and Franchitti) will start 5th.
Daytona débutantes United Autosport placed their Ford-Riley in 9th place with ex-Formula 1 racer Martin Brundle at the wheel, while last year’s winning entry – the Action Express Racing Porsche driven by João Barbosa could do no better than 12th on the grid.
Andy Lally also broke the qualifying record in the GT class, claiming pole for the TRG Porsche GT3 squad. Lally took the spot by some 0.3 of-a-second ahead of the next TRG Porsche GT3 machine piloted by Dominik Farnbacher.

Green flag for the 24 Hours of Daytona is at 8.30pm (GMT) and will – of course – finish twenty-four hours later.