Rolex 24 Rewind part 1

Friday, 03 February 2017

Marshall Pruett / Images by Pruett & LAT
A look back at the 55th Rolex 24 at Daytona, some of its major themes, and points of interest as seen by RACER's Marshall Pruett:

PERFECT CALL
We'll get this one out of the way early: IMSA made the perfect non-call to close the race.
There was no reason for a penalty to be assessed in the contact between Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque as they fought for the overall win. Taylor did nothing wrong, which resulted in IMSA race director Beaux Barfield leaving the situation alone.
Once I saw the replay of the incident, it took a matter of seconds to review and dismiss, but for some, it raged on as contact that actually warranted extended debate. Although some have suggested Taylor hit and knocked Albuquerque out of the lead with minutes left on the clock, the reality of the situation is fairly simple.


Race leader Albuquerque, in his No. 5 Action Express Racing Cadillac, left the inside lane open on entry to Turn 1, Taylor went to fill it and make a pass for the lead in his No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac, Albuquerque was late in realizing it – after the pass had started – and turned hard left in an ill-fated attempt to defend. As the front of Taylor's car was already occupying that lane, Albuquerque's car hit Taylor, bounced out of the lead, and surrendered the win.
Unlike some other incidents, this one doesn't require an exhaustive investigation, slow-motion replays or deep testimonials from the drivers involved. Albuquerque, whose talent and decision-making skills are beyond reproach, made a simple mistake and unknowingly admitted as such in the post-race press conference.


"I closed the door, but then I got spun," he said.
Had Taylor turned right and barged the No. 5 out of the way, we'd be having a different conversation about how Albuquerque and the AXR team was robbed. But that isn't what took place.
With the door open and a car moving to take the position from the inside, action A: closing the door, led to action B: spinning. In the same post-race press conference, moments after the No. 5 team left, Albuquerque's self-induced problem had Taylor asking why the contact took place.


"If you get enough alongside, you can make it work, and I think he saw me coming, he saw me committing, and like he said, I guess, he closed the door," Taylor added. "But I think Beaux always talked about shared responsibility, and if he knew I was committing, why would you close the door and make us crash?"
A retaliatory hit from the No. 5 on the cool-down lap added to the damage incurred by the No. 10. In the moment, IMSA also left that exchange alone.


To reflect, the Taylor/Albuquerque incident seems like the kind of thing that would have received less attention and scrutiny a few years ago. With the hyper focus placed on any and everything today, we've gotten to a place in racing where almost any form of contact is treated like an episode of "The First 48." Two cars collide, a detective pool is mobilized, seeks to identify the victim and the attacker, and then we wait until the end of the show to learn the sentence. That kind of thinking is a far cry from my own.


Forget 48 hours; this non-issue didn't require 48 seconds to resolve. In fact, my pal David Hobbs only needed seven words to reach an instant verdict:

TAKEAWAYS
Between the prolonged bouts of rain and ice-cold temperatures, furious racing took place at the Rolex 24. Even during the chilling hours that spanned the long stretch from sundown to daybreak, a track full of incredible driving performances were produced. Rarely have so many drivers been asked to maintain such a high level of concentration in gripless conditions and made so few costly errors.
As a whole, the Rolex 24 in 2017 was about surviving – the true nature of endurance racing. It wasn't the fastest Rolex 24, but it also wasn't boring or formulaic.

Some pre-race predictions were realized; only four of the 12 brand-new cars in Prototype made it to the finish line without blowing up, shorting out, hitting something or losing significant time in the garage. GTLM was the best race of the event and deserves to have a 24-hour film of its relentless action commissioned by IMSA. PC, with only five cars on the entry list, was a rolling calamity for all but one car, and GTD, IMSA's biggest class, was turned upside down by a one-off entry made on a dare. Complex and nuanced, the WeatherTech Championship's grand opener was filled with surprises.