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- JMarine25
For the first time ever on GTPlanet, I'd like to host a discussion on this year's Rolex24 at Daytona. I want to try to talk about more endurances this year. Later in the year, I'll want to talk about the 24 Hours at the Nürburgring in addition to the Le Mans endurance on the same weekend. No matter what you think about the Rolex24 as of late, it still remains the only bigtime 24-hour race in America. This is usually the first bigtime sportscar racing event in the world.
(all statistical data courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_Hours_of_Daytona )
The Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona takes place in the spiritual home of NASCAR country (the REAL home is Charlotte). This was a track in which its roots date all the way back to 1962. It used to be a 3-hour race known as the Daytona Continental. This was a key race for teams competiting in the presitigous World Sportscar Championship. The first winner of this event was Dan Gurney in a Lotus 19 powered by a Ford engine. Two years later, the event was 2000km of pure Daytona excitement. This was twice as long as the 1000km races at the Nürburgring (before the current Grand Prix course, I presume), the awesome Spa-Francorchamps circuit, and the Monza 1000km. The 24-hour goodness didn't really kick off until 1966. Unlike the Le Mans endurance, Daytona's race didn't use city streets much like the earlier Daytona 500 races in NASCAR. Also unlike the Le Mans endurance, this race features the longest nights of racing. Ferrari were upset by Ford at Le Mans and Daytona in 1966. They returned to glory in 1967 with a win. Make that a 1-2-3 win. Porsche would win the year after. There was an energy crisis in 1972 that shortened the race to six hours and would be cancelled for 1974. In a cost-cutting measure in 1982, the race was dropped from the World Sportscar Championship as the track became a playground for the IMSA GT cars. The initial plan was to cut costs by shortening the race and force teams from Europe to ship their equipment across the Atlantic Ocean to America. My first Daytona 24 was in 2000 when I seen the awesome Team Oreca team outright against other prototypes from Ferrari and Cadillac among others. The current model of this series is under the wing of the Grand American Road Racing Association (GARRA) founded in the same year I saw my first Daytona 24. The American-based technology and NASCAR closeness led to sort of an all-American or mostly American focus. Then in 2002 came a new package to get people into bigtime sportscar racing without having to spend as much as Audi Sport Team Joest or Dyson Racing- the Daytona Prototypes. The chunky looks of Daytona Prototypes have been specially designed to regulate speed and aerodynamics around race courses. Some say it's the biggest travesty in racing. Some say it's the most disappointing moment. But in 2003, the ailing Daytona Prototypes saw a Porsche 996 GT3-RS win overall. This race is getting a little more attention as more racers who compete in American racing series are taking this challenge to compete in the Rolex24 at Daytona. Such recent names include Jeff Gordon, Sebastien Bourdais, Danica Patrick, Terry LaBonte, (unretired) Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt Sr. (I would have loved to see him race more of these events had he still been alive), Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, and Kurt Busch among many others. The king of Le Mans is Tom Kristensen. The king of Daytona is Hurley Haywood. Who will join the list of winners (read the top link to see all the past winners) of this event for 2007? Find out January 27th and January 28th!
And with that, you are free to take a look at this year's race or set me straight about any facts I goofed up on.
(all statistical data courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_Hours_of_Daytona )
The Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona takes place in the spiritual home of NASCAR country (the REAL home is Charlotte). This was a track in which its roots date all the way back to 1962. It used to be a 3-hour race known as the Daytona Continental. This was a key race for teams competiting in the presitigous World Sportscar Championship. The first winner of this event was Dan Gurney in a Lotus 19 powered by a Ford engine. Two years later, the event was 2000km of pure Daytona excitement. This was twice as long as the 1000km races at the Nürburgring (before the current Grand Prix course, I presume), the awesome Spa-Francorchamps circuit, and the Monza 1000km. The 24-hour goodness didn't really kick off until 1966. Unlike the Le Mans endurance, Daytona's race didn't use city streets much like the earlier Daytona 500 races in NASCAR. Also unlike the Le Mans endurance, this race features the longest nights of racing. Ferrari were upset by Ford at Le Mans and Daytona in 1966. They returned to glory in 1967 with a win. Make that a 1-2-3 win. Porsche would win the year after. There was an energy crisis in 1972 that shortened the race to six hours and would be cancelled for 1974. In a cost-cutting measure in 1982, the race was dropped from the World Sportscar Championship as the track became a playground for the IMSA GT cars. The initial plan was to cut costs by shortening the race and force teams from Europe to ship their equipment across the Atlantic Ocean to America. My first Daytona 24 was in 2000 when I seen the awesome Team Oreca team outright against other prototypes from Ferrari and Cadillac among others. The current model of this series is under the wing of the Grand American Road Racing Association (GARRA) founded in the same year I saw my first Daytona 24. The American-based technology and NASCAR closeness led to sort of an all-American or mostly American focus. Then in 2002 came a new package to get people into bigtime sportscar racing without having to spend as much as Audi Sport Team Joest or Dyson Racing- the Daytona Prototypes. The chunky looks of Daytona Prototypes have been specially designed to regulate speed and aerodynamics around race courses. Some say it's the biggest travesty in racing. Some say it's the most disappointing moment. But in 2003, the ailing Daytona Prototypes saw a Porsche 996 GT3-RS win overall. This race is getting a little more attention as more racers who compete in American racing series are taking this challenge to compete in the Rolex24 at Daytona. Such recent names include Jeff Gordon, Sebastien Bourdais, Danica Patrick, Terry LaBonte, (unretired) Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt Sr. (I would have loved to see him race more of these events had he still been alive), Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, and Kurt Busch among many others. The king of Le Mans is Tom Kristensen. The king of Daytona is Hurley Haywood. Who will join the list of winners (read the top link to see all the past winners) of this event for 2007? Find out January 27th and January 28th!
And with that, you are free to take a look at this year's race or set me straight about any facts I goofed up on.
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