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2018 Daytona Rolex 24 articles

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Old 01-29-2018, 12:15 AM
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[h=2]Cadillac basks in glow of back-to-back Rolex 24 wins[/h] Sunday, 28 January 2018


RACER staff / Image by Galstad/LAT



For the second straight year, Cadillac's DPi-V.R reigned supreme in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, as Action Express Racing's 1-2 finish in the 56th running of the grand Florida enduro followed last year's triumph by Wayne Taylor Racing.

In the fastest Rolex 24 ever run, thanks to just four full course caution periods, the Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R driven by Filipe Albuquerque, Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi covered 2,876 miles on its way to victory lane at the 'World Center of Racing.'
"After a triumphant return last year to endurance racing, Cadillac came into the 2018 season looking to build upon our 2017 Manufacturer's Championship. We expected formidable opposition from the world-class competitive field, and this was precisely what the season opener at Daytona has delivered," declared Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen. "Victory at this renowned race requires speed, reliability and hard work, and the professionalism of all our teams who competed in this year's Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona was on display this weekend. "
Mark Reuss, Executive Vice President Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain, added: "After a memorable 2017 season, it is great to have the Cadillac DPI-V.R. win the Rolex 24 At Daytona for the second consecutive year. Congratulations to Joao, Filipe and Christian on their outstanding drive.
"Action Express demonstrated strong race strategy and great teamwork. It was good to see the team deliver a 1-2 finish at one of the most challenging races of the year. "I am really proud of the team work between the Cadillac Racing engineers, ECR and the Action Express staff. What an exciting way to start the 2018 IMSA Prototype season."
















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Old 01-29-2018, 12:18 AM
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Ganassi hits 200-win milestone with GTLM victory

Sunday, 28 January 2018


By Marshall Pruett / Images by Pruett, Scott LePage/LAT


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Of all the racing teams owned by Chip Ganassi, it was the factory Ford FIA World Endurance GTE-Pro program to deliver his 199th race win, and on Sunday at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans team finally got the Chipster to his long-awaited 200 mark.
There was nothing remotely close to steady opposition in GTLM as the class-winning No.67 Ford GT driven by Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook and Scott Dixon, and the second-place No.66 piloted by Sebastien Bourdais, Joey Hand and Dirk Muller owned the race from green to checkered flag. Carrying tribute stickers to the late Dan Gurney, who scored Ford's first Le Mans win in 1967 with A.J. Foyt, the result carried extra meaning.


"It's an amazing feeling to get Chip's 200th win, with Dan Gurney on our car, it's ever so sweet," said Westbrook, who finally won Daytona on his 12th try. "No team orders, 24 hours of intense racing; we earned that. And we made a race of it. It was cool."
Barring three laps lead by the No.4 Corvette C7.R and seven by the No.911 Porsche RSR, the Ford GT tandem were in command for 771 of 781 laps completed by the GTLM class – 98.7 percent of the contest. It was a fitting performance to bookend Ganassi's first victory, which came in 1994 at the Surfers Paradise CART IndyCar race with Michael Andretti in a Ford/Cosworth-powered Reynard chassis (below).

The No.66 held the point for most of the race, but a brief problem in the pits when the twin-turbo V6-powered coupe refused to engage first gear opened the door for the sister No.67 and the two entries worked a variety of race strategy scenarios to jockey for the top step of the podium.
"It's always fantastic to win here," said Dixon, who took his third Rolex 24 win. "I don't think we had one single problem, which is something for Ford and the entire program to be proud of."
Ganassi's 200th win encompasses his Verizon IndyCar Series, IMSA, WEC and NASCAR programs. The Rolex 24 victory is CGR's eighth from 15 attempts, and follows its 2017 Rolex 24 win with the No.66 entry.
Among his peers, Ganassi stands alone as the only team owner in motor racing history to have won the biggest open-wheel race in the world, the Indy 500, the two biggest stock car races with the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400, and all three of the world's greatest sports car endurance events at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring.
"It's been a great weekend. I don't know what to say," Ganassi offered. "For me, it was one of the most nerve-wracking wins. After a certain amount of hours go around the clock, it's your race to lose and those are the worst races, because everything's out of my control."

On Sunday, taking a trip down memory lane on 200 wins was of little interest to Ganassi.
"We were a one-car team then," he added. "That was a big race when I look back on it. In terms of the 200 wins, there's a time and a place to talk about that. We just focus on what we're trying to do today. Today's win is about today at the Rolex."














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Old 01-29-2018, 12:20 AM
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Rolex 24 Hour 24: Action Express, Ford Chip Ganassi 1-2

Sunday, 28 January 2018


JJ O'Malley / Image by Marshall Pruett


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Filipe Albuquerque and Stuart Middleton managed to nurse their overheating Cadillacs home to give Action Express Racing a dominant 1-2 finish in a record-breaking Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa joined Albuquerque in the No.5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R, while Eric Curran, Felipe Nasr and Mike Conway shared the No.31 Whelen Engineering entry.


Ford Chip Ganassi finished 1-2 in GTLM, giving the team its 200th victory in racing. Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook and Scott Dixon were in the winning No.67 Ford, while Sebastien Bourdais, Joey Hand and Dirk Muller were in the No.66.
In GTD, Mirko Borkolotti, Franck Perera, Rolf Ineichen and Rik Breukers took the checkered flag in the No.11 GRT Lamborghini.
The event had only four caution periods, contributing to both new lap and race distance records.


















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Old 01-29-2018, 12:26 AM
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CORE podiums on Prototype debut

Sunday, 28 January 2018


By Marshall Pruett / Image by Scott LePage/LAT


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CORE autosport might not have won on its IMSA Prototype debut, but with a third-place result and the distinction of being the first non-factory DPi team to cross the finish line, owner/driver Jon Bennett and team manager Morgan Brady can be proud of their fine performance.


Bennett, team veteran Colin Braun and the Le Mans-winning French duo of Romain Dumas and Loic Duval were the class of the privateers in their No.54 ORECA 07-Gibson, coming home one lap behind the Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R tandem after 24 hours of unpredictable racing.


After debating whether to move up to Prototype after years of leading the pro-am PC category, Bennett says he's pleased with making the big step up – for himself as a gentleman driver and for the CORE organization.
"You could look at it like a kid, and everyone wants to have the fastest car," he told RACER. "The category is clearly not for kids; it's only for professionals. Do you really want to jump in after spending a lot of years starting and running businesses or do you want to jump into the ring with a bunch of full-blooded professionals.
"You eventually get to a point where the calendar is not necessarily your friend and it's time to go; it's time for us to go and we went. That's how we're here."
For Dumas, who has represented Audi and Porsche as a factory driver in their former LMP1 programs, CORE proved to be a comfortable setting that felt like a smaller version of those factory efforts.
"Straight away when I drove here the first laps with them, I was very surprised," he said. "They are small, but they have what they need. They have amazing engineering with Jeff Braun, amazing mechanics – many I race against when they were in LMP1 with different teams – and I felt good with them. At the end, this was the right opportunity with Jon and CORE and we did very well."


















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Old 01-29-2018, 12:29 AM
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Lamborghini gets first 24-hour win in GTD

Sunday, 28 January 2018


By Chris Medland / Image by Jake Galstad/LAT


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GRT Grasser Racing gave Lamborghini its first victory in the Rolex 24 in a closely-contested GTD class race at Daytona.
Mirko Bortolotti was behind the wheel of the No.11 Huracan GT3 for the final stint and held off the close attentions of Jeroen Bleekemolen in the No.33 Team Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 before Bleekemolen needed a late short stop for fuel and dropped to fourth place. From there, Bortolotti was able to ease home in the final few laps to hand Lamborghini its first endurance victory in the United States.

In the hands of Bortolotti, Rolf Ineichen, Rik Breukers and Franck Perera, the No.11 came through to win from the back of the field, having been relegated to last place after failing a stall test following qualifying on Thursday. With Action Express taking Prototype honors and Chip Ganassi victorious in the GTLM class, GRT – the 2017 Blancpain GT Series champions – were the only European winners at Daytona this year.
An emotional Bortolotti says it took "a massive job" to be able to pull off the victory – Lamborghini's first in a 24-hour race – having started from last place.
"If you saw the pictures it's quite clear, it's a big day," Bortolotti said. "A big win. One of those races everybody wants to win. We came from last position to win this race, just super proud and super happy. It has been a massive job by the whole team. Lamborghini, first 24-hour race win for us. I hope there's some more coming but for now I just want to enjoy this one, I'm super, super happy.
"It's just such a beautiful atmosphere here in Daytona, and to take the win here from the back of the field is just unreal."
Ineichen added: "It's amazing, unbelievable.

"When we had to start at the back we said 'OK, we can still win, we just have to get in front by taking it place-by-place' and that's what we did! The first win for Lamborghini in a 24-hour race, I'm really, really proud of that."














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Old 01-29-2018, 12:32 AM
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[h=2]Rolex 24 Hour 23: Distance record broken entering final hour[/h] Sunday, 28 January 2018


By J.J. O'Malley / Image by Jake Galstad/LAT


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Action Express Racing continued to run 1-2 as the clock struck the 23rd hour of the Rolex 24.

Filipe Albuquerque completed 774 laps with an hour remaining in the No.5 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R. – breaking the all-time mark for laps run (762 in 1992) – and was within two circuits of also breaking the 1982 all-time mileage record.

Mike Conway ran second in the No.31 Action Express team car – two laps down – pressured by Colin Braun in the No. 54 CORE autosport ORECA. Complicating matters is a drive time issue for Stuart Middleton, who is just minutes shy of meeting the requirement, forcing the team to make a driver change in the final hour.
Bruno Senna was fourth in the No.32 United Autosports Ligier, followed by Antonio Felix da Costa in the No.78 Jackie Chan DCR ORECA.
"It's been a difficult one," said David Cheng, who manages the DCR team. "Not just us, but up and down the grid a lot of punctures, a lot of ripped up bodywork. We're looking good right now. Not much has happened since the night – something to do with the temperatures. But we're on our last tail, last nose.
"We've had a difficult race. But we have one car fighting between third and fifth, and a bit unfortunate for the other car – it suffered a lot of damage coming in from one of the punctures. Otherwise, it was running quite good. Now, it's coming down to sprinting time – while still trying to protect the car."
In GTLM, the Ford team is looking to give Chip Ganassi his 200th victory. The Ford GTs continue to run 1-2, with Ryan Briscoe in the No.67 leading Joey Hand in the No.66 by 4.269 seconds.
The No. 11 GRT Lamborghini Huracan GT3 continues to run up front in GTD with Mirko Bortolotti at the wheel. Second, 38.618 seconds back, was Jeroen Bleekemolen in the No.33 Mercedes, followed by Alvaro Parente in the No.86 Acura and Andrea Caldarelli in the No.48 Lamborghini.


















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Old 01-29-2018, 09:46 AM
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[h=1]Post Race Garage 2018 Rolex 24[/h]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lqSJkxDYSI

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Old 01-29-2018, 04:29 PM
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Action Express, Ganassi Racing dominate 56th Rolex 24 At Daytona

Sunday, 28 January 2018


JJ O'Malley / Images by LePage, Galstad/LAT


Action Express Racing's Joao Barbosa, Filipe Albuquerque and Christian Fittipaldi combined in a record-breaking performance to give Action Express Racing its third triumph in the Rolex 24 At Daytona – and its first in the No.5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R in the opening event of the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Barbosa took the lead under caution following a pit stop by Acura Team Penske driver Helio Castroneves on lap 516. The No.5 led the rest of the way, giving both Barbosa and Fittipaldi three overall victories in the event (Barbosa also holds a class triumph), while new regular season driver Albuquerque won for the first time.
But while the No.5 never relinquished the lead, the team struggled with overheating down the stretch – at one point making a brief visit to the garage under caution to take on water.
"I was looking all the time to the water temperature and oil temperature and it is flashing on and off at the same time, lighting up like a Christmas tree," admitted Albuquerque, who lost the 2017 Rolex 24 overall victory on the final lap. "I was seeing the 31 and the 54 gaining laps and laps and I had to overtake the GT cars at the same time. It was really hard to manage. But in the end the Cadillac engine behaved very well and was able to handle the high temperatures for the win."
Barbosa was part of the line-up when Action Express won its debut race in 2010, and joined Fittipaldi in winning the 2014 event – both in Corvette DPs.
"It was not just the last hour, but the last six hours that we had to manage a lot of things inside the car," Barbosa said. "The team did a tremendous job to manage things outside of the car. It is easier to really push than to drive slow and manage your pace. The Cadillac ran well and we made it to the finish. The team did a flawless job. With last year's disappointment, we finally got one."
The trio covered 808 laps/2,876.48 miles on the 3.56-mile circuit, shattering both the 1992 mark for laps completed (762) and the 1982 record for miles completed (2,760.96).
Eric Curran, Felipe Nasr, Mike Conway and Stuart Middleton combined to give Action Express Racing a 1-2 finish, placing 1m10.544s back in the No.31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac. That car was also struggling with overheating issues, falling off the lead lap when it also went to the garage for a water charge under the green flag.
"We were behind our team cars for hours at a time, but we couldn't seem to make up the time," Curran said. "You can't complain about a second-place finish in the Rolex 24, but it would be nice to go home with a watch."
It was the second straight triumph for the Cadillac DPi-V.R, after Ricky and Jordan Taylor, Jeff Gordon and Max Angelelli won last year in the No.10 Konica Minolta entry.
Third, one lap behind, were Colin Braun, Jon Bennett, Spencer Pigot and Loic Duval in the No.54 CORE autosport ORECA 07-Gibson.
Will Owen, Hugo de Sadeleer, Paul Di Resta and Bruno Senna were fourth in the No.32 United Autosports Ligier JSP217-Gibson, followed by the No.78 Jackie Chan DCR JOTA ORECA of Ho-Pin Tung, Alex Brundle, Ferdinand Habsburg-Lothringen and Antonio Felix da Costa.
Two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso's sports car debut was promising but problematic. While he led the event in the early going, a series of mechanical issues relegated the No.23 United Autosports Ligier JSP217 co-driven by Lando Norris and Phil Hanson to 13th place in the Prototype class.
"It was a positive feeling despite the issues and reliability," Alonso said. "It was a very nice experience, the whole event. The test, the qualifying, the restarts, the stints, the fatigue at night and then the transition from night today – that was one of my stints and it was very nice being on track at that time. I really enjoyed the traffic management and the car itself. And maybe the nicest thing was how competitive we felt; we entered the race without high hopes because we were never competitive and suddenly we picked up the pace and everyone was smiling in the garage. So that was a nice feeling."
The race was slowed for caution only four times for minor incidents for 1h16m40s, contributing to the record pace. While the forecast heavy rain failed to arrive during the final hours of the race, there was a brief and surprise downpour during the early evening. The final six hours were run under the green flag.
The torrid pace also contributed to a number of tire punctures, with many occurring during the nighttime hours. Car owner Wayne Taylor withdrew the defending winning No.10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R after pole winner Ranger van der Zande suffered a number of punctured tires.
"We had a lot of tire failures, and we don't know why, so it was not safe to do it anymore and keep going," Taylor explained following his decision in the early morning hours. "Our pace was good, but the only thing that was holding us back was the tires. We'll figure out why."
Acura Team Penske had both of its Acura ARX-05s lead the race before falling back with problems. Juan Pablo Montoya, Dane Cameron and Simon Pagenaud led four times for 20 laps in the No.6, eventually finishing ninth, 15 laps down. Taking 10th, another 5.964 seconds back, was the No.7 of Castroneves, Ricky Taylor and Graham, which had a long stop after nighttime contact. The team led 19 times for 105 laps.
Other DPi teams experiencing difficulties leading to retirements were the two-car efforts by ESM Tequila Patron Nissan Onroak DPi and the debut of Mazda Team Joest RT-24P. The No.90 Spirit of Daytona Cadillac led twice in the early going before retiring with an engine misfire.



In GTLM, Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook and Scott Dixon gave car owner and event grand marshal Chip Ganassi his 200th career triumph, with the team Ford GTs running 1-2 for much of the race.
The winning trio completed 783 laps in the winning No.67 Ford GT, while Joey Hand, Dirk Muller and Sebastien Bourdais placed second in the No.67, 11.18 seconds behind. The team led all but 10 laps, and ran 1-2 for the final 18 hours, 47 minutes.
"It was 24 hours of intense racing, and I'm proud to be part of it," said Westbrook following his first Daytona victory in his 13th start. "It seemed like ages that we were one second apart. We made a race of it – it was cool."
Corvette Racing took the next two positions. Pole winner Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Mike Rockenfeller were third in the No.3 Corvette C7.R, two laps down. Another lap back was the No.4 of Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Marcel Fassler.
Grasser Team Racing took the GTD victory, with Mirko Bortolotti, Franck Perera, Rolf Ineichen and Rik Breukers driving the No.11 Biocircle/Orange 1 Lamborghini Huracan GT3. Bortolotti took the checkered flag one lap ahead of AJ Allmendinger, Katherine Legge, Alvaro Parente and Trent Hindman in the No.86 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura NSX GT3. Completing the podium was the No.48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow, Andrea Caldarelli and Bryce Miller.
Next up for the WeatherTech Championship will be the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, set for Saturday, March 17.















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Old 01-29-2018, 04:34 PM
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[h=2]Penske Acura can contend for title - Cameron[/h] Monday, 29 January 2018


RACER staff / Image by LePage/LAT


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Acura Team Penske driver Dane Cameron is confident that the ARX-05 Daytona Prototype international's performance at the Rolex 24 At Daytona proved that the car is capable of fighting for this year's 2018 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship.

The two new Acuras were fighting at the front during the opening half of the race before both were beset by problems. The No.7 entry shared by Helio Castroneves, Ricky Taylor and Graham Rahal and its sister No.6 car driven by Cameron, Juan Pablo Montoya and Simon Pagenaud were running 1-2 after 10 hours, but the No.6 fell out of contention after developing alternator problems, while the No.7 lost time to repairs after contact with a Cadillac during the night.

Despite the result, Cameron said that the Acura had demonstrated its potential.


"It's been amazing, a dream come true, to drive for Roger, for Acura, for Team Penske," he said. "It was really enjoyable. But then, also, disappointing, because I think we had great pace. We had one issue, and that was it. It would have been nice to be there in a fight for the win at the end. Still, not a bad way to kick off the year. We know we have a strong Acura ARX-05, and we're good enough to make a push for the championship."
Castroneves, for whom the race marked the beginning of his first season as a full-time sports car driver, said that he is proud of the result despite losing a shot at victory.
"We qualified up front, ran strong the whole day and finished the race," he said. "There is something to be said about finishing a 24-hour race. It's too bad that both of our cars were running one-two into the early hours of the morning and we both ran into problems. First, the other car had alternator problems, and then we got run into by another car while running second. I feel like we had a legitimate shot to win this race, which tells you how prepared we were coming into today. Overall, we have nothing to hang our heads about."


















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Old 02-01-2018, 03:35 PM
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IMSA Regulars Stay Busy with More Racing on Weekend After Rolex 24 At Daytona


Thursday, February 1, 2018


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There’s no rest for the weary among several IMSA regulars who will be participating in a pair of high-profile international racing events just one weekend after the 56th Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Full-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya will join a handful of other 2018 Rolex 24 participants this weekend in the Race of Champions, which will be held in the Middle East for the first time in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia. The Race of Champions features drivers from a variety of motorsports disciplines competing in identical race cars typically on racetracks constructed inside stadiums.
This year’s race will be held at King Fahad International Stadium. Other stadiums to host the event in recent years include Marlins Stadium in Miami last year, the “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium in Beijing, London’s Wembley Stadium and the Stade de France in Paris, among several others.
Montoya, the 2017 winner of Race of Champions, is returning for his second consecutive appearance in the event. Castroneves also is participating in his second consecutive Race of Champions this year. Last weekend, Castroneves finished ninth in the Rolex 24 At Daytona alongside co-drivers Ricky Taylor and Graham Rahal in the No. 7 Acura Team Penske Acura ARX-05 DPi, one spot ahead of Montoya and his No. 6 Acura DPi co-drivers Dane Cameron and Simon Pagenaud.
This weekend in Riyadh, they’ll be joined by a few other drivers they competed against last weekend.
Lando Norris, who made his Rolex 24 At Daytona debut last weekend in the No. 23 United Autosports Ligier LMP2 car with co-drivers Phil Hanson and two-time Formula 1 World Champion Fernando Alonso, will participate in his first Race of Champions this weekend. Norris and the No. 23 team finished 13th in class last weekend.
Ryan Hunter-Reay, the IndyCar Series regular who co-drove the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R with Jordan Taylor and Renger van der Zande to a 15th-place Prototype class result in the Rolex 24, will participate in his fifth Race of Champions.
Rene Rast, who will contest the four Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup rounds in 2018 aboard the No. 77 Mazda Team Joest Mazda RT24-P DPi car and finished 17th in the Prototype class in the Rolex 24 with co-drivers Oliver Jarvis and Tristan Nunez, is partaking in his first Race of Champions this weekend as well.
Additionally, more than 20 drivers who competed in the Rolex 24 At Daytona – and two who raced in last weekend’s four-hour BMW Endurance Challenge, the 2018 season-opener for the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge – have made their way “down under” for this weekend’s Bathurst 12 Hour endurance race held on the famed Mount Panorama circuit.
Among them are six full-time WeatherTech Championship competitors. Australian Kenny Habul, who regularly races the No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the WeatherTech Championship, will share a similar Mercedes race car this weekend in Bathurst with Jamie Whincup, Raffaele Marciello and fellow WeatherTech Championship regular, Tristan Vautier.
Last year, Habul and Vautier co-drove together in the WeatherTech Championship GTD class. This year, the Frenchman is one of the full-time drivers of the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Cadillac DPi-V.R alongside American Matt McMurry. Vautier and the No. 90 team – which also included Edward Cheever – finished 20th in the Prototype class in the Rolex 24, while Habul and teammates Thomas Jaeger, Maro Engel and Mikael Grenier finished eighth in GTD.
It also was announced this week that – in addition to competing in the full Prototype season – Vautier will reunite with Habul in the No. 75 Mercedes for the two GT-only rounds of the 2018 WeatherTech Championship, at Lime Rock Park on July 21 and VIRginia International Raceway on Aug. 19.
Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor – who are season-long co-drivers of the No. 912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR in the WeatherTech Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) class – are teamed up again this weekend in Bathurst. They’ll share the No. 991 Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R with Kevin Estre.
Bamber and Vanthoor finished sixth in the GTLM class in the Rolex 24 alongside co-driver Gimmi Bruni. Habul, Vautier, Bamber and Vanthoor all will compete in the PRO class.
A couple of GTD class regulars, Patrick Long and Jeroen Bleekemolen, also appear on the Bathurst entry list in the PRO-AM class. Long will co-drive the No. 12 Competition Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R with David Calvert-Jones, Matt Campbell and Alex Davison. Bleekemolen is teamed with Marc Lieb, as well as Tim Pappas and Luca Stolz – who both competed in the Rolex 24 as well – in the No. 540 Black Swan Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R.
Long will contest the full 2018 WeatherTech Championship season in the No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R alongside two-time defending GTD champion Christina Nielsen. They finished 19th in class last weekend with co-drivers Robert Renauer and Mathieu Jaminet.
Bleekemolen has returned for another WeatherTech Championship season with co-driver Ben Keating in the No. 33 Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3. They finished fourth in GTD in the Rolex 24 with Adam Christodoulou and Stolz as their teammates in the No. 33 machine.
The Race of Champions “Nations Cup” race is on Friday, Feb. 2 starting at 8 p.m. local time – 12 p.m. ET in the U.S, with the “Race of Champions” on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 4 p.m. local time – 8 a.m. ET in the U.S. The Bathurst 12 Hour starts at 5:15 a.m. local time on Sunday, Feb. 4, which is 1:15 p.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 3 in the U.S.
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Tampa Racing.com covers the Tampa car scene and supports many fund raisers, worthy causes and events that enrich our community. We hope you enjoy them all.
What do I do? ---- on-site *Aftermarket* spring/suspension installations --- on-site impact wrenching---street lowering with your own stock springs...........True Bi-xenon HID projector headlight conversions........ Much more at Bob's Garage!
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