Rolex 24 Tag

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (November 2, 2018) – The introduction of the LMP2 class and forthcoming changes to the GT Daytona (GTD) class in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship were the impetus for refinements to the 2019 IMSA Sporting Regulations released today. “Between the completion of a successful 2018 season last month and next week’s Michelin IMSA SportsCar Encore at Sebring, our team here at IMSA has hit another key target with the distribution of our 2019 Sporting and Technical Regulations,” said IMSA Vice President, Competition SimonRead More

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – How rare is it for a driver or drivers to win an IMSA championship without winning a race, as No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R co-drivers Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia did in the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) class? Pretty rare, as it turns out. Since the first year of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) in 1999 and including all GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and WeatherTech Championship seasons, there have been a total ofRead More

By IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The drama-filled closing hours of the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans on Oct. 13 brought a thrilling conclusion to a successful 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – and not just on the racetrack. The 2.54-mile Road Atlanta road course in Braselton, Georgia that has hosted the prestigious event run for the 21st time in 2018 was packed with race fans as perfect weather conditions combined with world-class racing brought one of the largest audiences ever for the event. And those fans wereRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer ELKHART LAKE, Wisconsin — Christian Fittipaldi announced at Road America that the 2019 Rolex 24 at Daytona will be his final competitive professional race as the 47-year-old will turn his attention outside the race car as the teams’ full time Sporting Director as they compete in the WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. Fittipaldi has had a racing career full of variety. Winning the 1991 International F3000 championship opened his world to Formula One where he raced for three years before going to the U.S. in 1995. FittipaldiRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer ELKHART LAKE, Wisconsin — On Friday, IMSA had their annual State of the Series event at Road America ahead of the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase. I found that it was a home run of an event and shows the strength that the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship now has in American motorsports. IMSA announced the WTSCC schedule and although a date or two was shifted a week, the calendar remained virtually identical to the 2018 calendar. Some championships have changed venues and others are shifting others aroundRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer The 2018 editions of the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hours were polar opposites of each other. The Rolex 24 had only four cautions and because of that, the winner of the second class of cars broke the long standing distance record set by the overall winners in 1982. The Bathurst 12 Hours had so many cautions earlier in the race that broadcasters debated on whether the race would set a record for the shortest distance covered. The Rolex 24 had twoRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The 56th edition of the Rolex 24 at Daytona was rough on those from Formula 1. Although Fernando Alonso had everyone’s attention during his stints in the No. 23 United Autosports Ligier LMP2 early on, it was Lance Stroll that put up the best result among F1 regulars. The 19-year-old Canadian finished 15th overall and 11th among prototypes in the No. 37 Jackie Chan DCR JOTA ORECA LMP2, which endured a frequent number of right rear tire failures throughout the endurance classic. Stroll, who teamed withRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Action Express Racing took the overall victory for the 56th Running of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, setting a new distance record for the event in the process. The trio of Filipe Albuquerque, Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa crossed the finish line with a total of 808 laps with their No. 5 Cadillac Dpi-V.R., which was enough to beat the current configuration’s previous record of 762 laps set in 1992. When the race began to settle in, it looked to be a contest between bothRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer A fast start and few cautions have made this one of the stranger Rolex 24 at Daytona races ever. Only one full course yellow was called after the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA LMP2 machine ran out of fuel with James French behind the wheel. This all took place before the third hour ran to completion. After the fourth hour, there was a brief 15 minute rain shower but remarkably there were no incidents. There were several themes that played themselves out over the firstRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — The 2018 Rolex 24 at Daytona is going green shortly and here we will have live updates throughout the race. 00:00- Race went green at 2:40 p.m. ET, The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi with Renger Van Der Zande leads over the No. 7 Acura Team Penske Acura DPi of Helio Castroneves. The two Ford GTs are 1-2, the No. 66 ahead of the No. 67 in GTLM. In GTD the No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari is leading over theRead More