Photo Credit: IMSA
What seemed to be an impossible task at the Daytona International Speedway was finally achieved on Sunday afternoon, as the Scott Sharp and Ed Brown-led Tequila Patron ESM racing squad drove their Ligier JS P2-Honda coupe into Gatorade Victory Lane after taking the overall win at the 54th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The victory marks the first time a non-Daytona Prototype car has won the event since 2003.
Starting from the second position on the grid on Saturday, ESM’s lead driver Pipo Derani took the early lead and proved to be the fastest driver on the 3.56 mile combination oval and infield road course layout from the start to the eventual finish 736 laps later, or the equivalent of a cross-country trip from Daytona Beach all the way to Los Angeles. The task was far from a slam dunk however, as the dream seemed to be on the verge of collapse during the second hour of the race on Saturday, when Derani’s co-driver Johannes van Overbeek was hit from behind by Michael Shank Racing’s John Pew damaging both machines.
The No.2 Ligier-Honda coupe fell a lap behind the overall leaders and stayed in that position until gaining the lap back during a caution just after Midnight eastern time. Despite losing ground two more times on Sunday due to penalties on pit road, Derani who has been one of the top drivers on the FIA World Endurance Championship circuit, almost single-handedly rebounded to bring the team back into the overall lead three times, eventually taking the top spot for good from Wayne Taylor Racing’s Ricky Taylor with one hour and forty-five minutes left in the race.
Once in front, Derani maintained a comfortable ahead of the Konica-Minolta backed Chevrolet Corvette DP, taking the win by 26 seconds. The Taylor squad however, had other issues to deal with in the final hours than just Derani and ESM. With just over an hour to race, exhaust fumes found their way into the cockpit of the No. 10 machine. The issue forced Jordan Taylor out of the car with 45 minutes left and then also affected co-driver Max Angelelli, who pulled off the circuit at turn one after securing runner-up honors for himself, Taylor, Ricky Taylor, and Rubens Barrichello. Angelelli was helped out of the car by IMSA safety officials and then transferred to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach for observation. There were no further updates on Angelelli’s condition at the time of press.
A second Chevrolet Corvette DP belonging to Visitflorida.com Racing finished third to complete the overall podium with Ryan Dalziel, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Marc Goossens at the controls. Dalziel, who drove for ESM in the previous two Rolex 24 at Daytona events, will rejoin the squad in April for the opening round of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship.
The overall victory is the second at Daytona for team owner and driver Scott Sharp, who won the race for the first time twenty years ago. The victory is also the second in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition for both Johannes van Overbeek and Ed Brown, while Pipo Derani claims victory in both his first start at Daytona and in IMSA competition.
GT LE MANS
Drama was possibly even exceeded in the GT Le Mans division where Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Oliver Gavin dueled each other for the class victory over the final 15 minutes, in a battle that would go in favor of Gavin and his co-drivers Tommy Milner and Marcel Fassler by just 34 one-thousandths of a second, perhaps the closest finish in any division in the history of the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The scenario began in the final 35 minutes when Garcia, who along with Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller, who had held the top spot in GTLM for a majority of the event’s second half, were forced to pit for a splash of fuel to ensure making the finish. The stop vaulted Porsche North America’s Earl Bamber into the lead of the race, with Oliver Gavin right behind him. The fight for the top spot would be decided two laps later, when Gavin tapped the right rear corner of Bamber’s Porsche 911 RSR at the west horseshoe in the infield and passed the New Zealander to take the lead.
Although Garcia had fallen to third with the stop, in addition to adding fuel, he also put on four fresh Michelin tires which would prove useful in the final half hour. The veteran would chase down and pass a struggling for grip Bamber for second with twenty minutes to secure a 1-2 Corvette finish. However, with fresher rubber than his teammate Gavin as well, Garcia started to close up on the sister Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. Corvette project manager Doug Fehan surprisingly allowed the two teammates to race for the win, rather than holding their positions, setting the stage for an exciting duel to the finish.
Garcia’s best chance to complete a pass on his teammate came three laps from the finish when he out-braked Gavin entering turn one, but slid wide allowing Gavin to retake the top spot. Exiting the chicane on Daytona’s Superstretch on the last lap, Garcia had one final chance to claim the victory when he got into the slipstream of Gavin and exiting the fourth turn of the oval was able to draw up alongside him. Unfortunately for Garcia, he would run out of real estate before completing the pass.
The victory is the third in the Rolex 24 at Daytona for Corvette Racing and their second straight in this event. Bamber, along with Porsche teammates Michael Christensen and Frederic Makowiecki would finish third.
GT DAYTONA
Fuel mileage would nearly take away a victory in the GT Daytona division and yet would give it back at the end, as Magnus Racing’s Rene Rast, John Potter, Marco Seefried, and Andy Lally had just enough gas in the tank to take the win on Sunday. Taking command with just under two hours to go, Rast pitted his No. 44 Audi R8 LMS for the final time with just over one hour to go, but was forced to slow down in order to conserve fuel to finish.
The action allowed Konrad Motorsport’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3 driven by Fabio Babini to wipe out a full half-minute lead and eventually take over the top spot with under ten minutes to go. However, what appeared to be the winning move would backfire as Babini himself ran out of fuel in the infield with three minutes to go. The Konrad entry would finish fifth in GTD.
The mishap put Rast back in front, but by no means out of danger. His Audi R8 LMS appeared to bobble due to low fuel coming to two laps to go. Yet, despite losing further ground to other cars coming from behind, Rast was able to nurse the No. 44 machine to the checkered flag under power to claim the victory. The car’s tank was literally dry at the finish as the car coasted to a stop on the cool down lap and had to be towed to the winner’s circle.
Also finding the podium on Sunday in GT Daytona was the Black Swan Racing Porsche 991 GT3-R for Patrick Long, Nicky Catsburg, Andy Pilgrim, and Tim Pappas who claimed runner-up honors. The green and silver-liveried entry had taken the lead for the first time with just over two hours to run, yet lost ground due to a slow pit stop and driver change, and was unable to recover in the final minutes.
Likewise, a late charge by Damien Faulkner put Riley Motorsports’ Dodge Viper GT3-R on the podium for the second straight year at Daytona, after winning the division a year ago. The No. 93 Viper Exchange-sponsored car piloted by Faulkner, Ben Keating, Gar Robinson, Jeff Mosing, and Eric Foss overcame losing four laps early in the event to claim the top spot on a couple of occasions during regular pit stops in the final two hours, before settling for third at the finish.
PROTOTYPE CHALLENGE
In a race that saw attrition decimate the eight-car Prototype Challenge field, JDC-Miller Motorsports’ dominated in the event’s overnight hours to claim an impressive victory by a full four laps. Buoyed by a strong outing from South African veteran Stephen Simpson, the John Church-led squad only had to overcome a mechanical problem around the four hour mark and would bounce back strongly over the next several hours, eventually reclaiming the top spot for good around 3 a.m. on Sunday morning.
The victory is the first in Prototype Challenge competition for JDC-Miller, as well as for drivers Simpson, Kenton Koch, Mikhail Goikhberg, and Chris Miller.
After a wild opening to the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship, the action shifts to the rough and bumpy confines of Sebring Raceway in March for the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring.
Stay tuned to OnPitRoad.com for continued coverage from the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
