50th Anniversary Of First 24-Hour Race Showcases 5 Manufacturers In Premier GTLM Production Class
Story and Photos By:IMSA Series Media
Daytona Beach Fla…. Daytona International Speedway turns back the clock while looking ahead to the future for Saturday’s 54th Rolex 24 At Daytona, the opening event on the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup.
Back in 1966, Speedway founder Bill France Jr. increased the distance of the Daytona Continental from 2,000 kilometers to 24 hours, in response to the international interest in sports car racing spearheaded by the battle between Ford and Ferrari. The move was a resounding success, leading to the event now known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
This weekend, new or upgraded production-based cars from Ford, Ferrari, Corvette, BMW and Porsche in the prestigious GT Le Mans (GTLM) class are in the spotlight as Daytona celebrates the 50th anniversary of its first 24-hour race with the opening of its reimagined $400 million motorsports stadium.
Ford, Ferrari and BMW will debut new cars, while defending class winner Corvette and 2015 class champion Porsche will have updated cars for the event. “Winning the Rolex 24 last year was very special,” said Jan Magnussen, who joined Antonio García in the No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R in 2015. “Going into this race we know the challenge will be even more difficult.
There are new cars throughout GTLM, and we know everyone will be watching our race. You have to stay focused and not let up at any point because the competition is so strong. Whoever wins this race will have earned it. I hope it is one of our Corvettes.” Corvette Racing swept the world’s premier endurance races in 2015. García and Magnussen return in the No. 3 Corvette – which they also drove to victory in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida – and will be joined by 2010 Rolex 24 overall winner Mike Rockenfeller. Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner – GTE Pro winners of the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans – share the No. 4 Corvette C7.R with Marcel Fassler.
Ford won the 1966 Rolex 24 with a Ford GT Mk II. This weekend, Ford Chip Ganassi Racing debuts a pair of brand-new Ford GTs with all-star lineups. Joey Hand, Dirk Muller and Sebastien Bourdais share the No. 66 Ford GT, with Briscoe, Richard Westbrook and Stefan Mucke in the No. 67 entry. Hand and Bourdais are both previous overall winners of the Rolex 24.
Three teams will tackle the Rolex 24 with the new Ferrari 488 GTE. International stars Giancarlo Fisichella, Toni Vilander, Davide Rigon and 2001 Rolex 24 overall winner Olivier Beretta will pilot the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE. Scuderia Corsa – the defending GT Daytona (GTD) championship-winning team – also will compete in GTLM with the No. 68 entry for Alessandro Pier Guidi, Alexandre Premat, Daniel Serra and three-time Rolex 24 overall winner Memo Rojas. Completing the Ferrari entry is Russian-based SMP Racing with Andrea Bertolini, Viktor Shaytar, Gianmaria Bruni and James Calado.
BMW debuts its new M6 GTLM with a two-car lineup fielded by BMW Team RLL that both ran very competitive speeds in the recent Roar Before the Rolex 24 official test. Bill Auberlen, Dirk Werner, Augusto Farfus and Bruno Spengler co-drive the No. 25 IHG Rewards Club BMW M6 GTLM, with Lucas Luhr, John Edwards, Kuno Wittmer and 2011 Rolex 24 overall winner Graham Rahal are in the No. 100 IHG Rewards Club-sponsored entry.
Porsche brings a two-car lineup that includes defending GTLM champion Patrick Pilet and 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans overall winners Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber. Pilet and Tandy are joined by Kevin Estre in the No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR, with Bamber co-driving the No. 912 entry with Frédéric Makowiecki and Michael Christensen.
Lamborghini Debut, New GT3 Cars Highlight GT Daytona Class IMSA rules opening GT Daytona (GTD) to cars built to international GT3 technical specifications resulted in a 22-car entry with new or updated cars from seven manufacturers – including Lamborghini’s debut in the Rolex 24. Four teams will field a total of five Lamborghini Huracán GT3s, led by defending GTD class champions Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler, joined by Edoardo Piscopo and Richard Antinucci in the No. 11 O’Gara Motorsport Lamborghini.
Paul Miller Racing switches to Lamborghini with the No. 48 Castrol/Universal Industrial Sales entry for Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow, Bryce Miller and factory driver Mirko Bortolotti. Change Racing joins the WeatherTech Championship with the No. 16 Pertamina/Monster Energy entry for regulars Spencer Pumpelly and Corey Lewis, joined at the Rolex 24 by Justin Marks and Kaz Grala. Franz Konrad – a class winner in the 1998 Rolex 24 – marks his 17th appearance in the event with two Huracáns entered by his Konrad Motorsport team.
Porsche also has a five-car entry among four teams. Alex Job Racing’s No. 22 WeatherTech Porsche 911 GT3 R features the father-son team of David and Cooper MacNeil, joined by Leh Keen, Shane van Gisbergen and Gunnar Jeannette. The team also fields the No. 23 Team Seattle/Heart of Racing Porsche for Ian James, Mario Farnbacher, Alex Riberas and Wolf Henzler.
Park Place Motorsports has added three-time Rolex 24 winner Jörg Bergmeister to the lineup of its No. 73 Jet Edge Porsche 911 GT3 R, joining Patrick Lindsey, Matthew McMurry and Norbert Siedler. Andy Pilgrim – another three-time Rolex 24 class winner – joins Patrick Long, Timothy Pappas and Nicky Catsburg in the No. 540 Black Swan Racing Papent.com/Fine Arts Enterprises/Boston Athletic Club/Champion Porsche entry. Also fielding a new Porsche is Frikadelli Racing, with a lineup of Sabine Schmitz, Frank Stippler, Patrick Huisman, Klaus Abbelen and Sven Müller.
Three teams switched to Audi for the debut of the R8 LMS GT3. Stevenson Motorsports will field a pair of Audis: the No. 6 for Robin Liddell, Andrew Davis, Lawson Aschenbach and Matt Bell; and the No. 9 for Boris Said, Dion von Moltke, Tristan Vautier and Kenny Habul. Magnus Racing joins Audi with Andy Lally, John Potter and Rene Rast from its 2012 Rolex 24 class-winning lineup in the No. 44 Audi. Also fielding an Audi is Flying Lizard Motorsports, with the No. 45 Krohn Aviation Audi R8 for Nic Jonsson, Tracy Krohn, Christopher Haase and Pierre Kaffer.
Turner Motorsport doubled its Rolex 24 entry with a pair of new BMW M6 GT3s, the No. 96 Spectra Resources/United Steel/Valspar Paint/IHG Rewards Club entry for Ashley Freiberg, Jens Klingmann, Bret Curtis and Marco Wittman, and the No. 97 for Michael Marsal, Maxime Martin, Markus Palttala and Jesse Krohn. Scuderia Corsa, the 2015 GTD team champion, has a new lineup with Christina Nielsen, Alessandro Balzan, Jeff Segal and Robert Renauer driving the No. 63 Ferrari 458 GT3. They are joined by Spirit of Race, with the No. 51 Hublot/Global Jet entry. Riley Motorsports returns with the Dodge Viper that captured GTD honors in the 2015 Rolex 24.
Defending winner Ben Keating has new teammates in the No. 93 ViperExchange.com Dodge Viper GT3-R, Gar Robinson, Jeff Mosing, Eric Foss and Damien Faulkner. Keating will also co-drive the No. 33 ViperExchange.com/Gas Monkey Garage Dodge Viper with Dominik Farnbacher, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Marc Miller. Four-time Rolex 24 class winner (and 2003 overall winner) TRG-AMR has entered the No. 007 Telcel/Inter/Unifin/Angela Estate/Gainesway/LaSalle Solutions Aston Martin Vantage for Antonio Perez, Santiago Creel, Ricardo Perez de Lara and Lars Viljoen. Aston Martin Racing is also fielding the No. 98 Vantage GT3 for Paul Dalla Lana, Mathias Lauda, Petro Lamy and Richie Stanaway.
The Rolex 24 At Daytona weekend also includes the BMW Performance 200, the opening round of the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, on Friday at 1:45 p.m.
Television coverage of the Rolex 24 begins on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET on FS1.
