2012 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona Preview
"The Roar Before the 24" Test Days
By: Kevin Sims
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Daytona, FL – January 8th, 2012 – Grueling, tedious, and competitive are words that described the tension felt at this year’s Roar Before the 24 – the three-day ‘dress rehearsal’ test day that leads up to the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona. Two factors are causing the extra 2012 tension. Firstly, this year’s Rolex 24 is expected to be the most watched in its history because the 2012 event marks the 50th Anniversary of the Florida endurance classic. Perhaps most significantly, this year’s Grand Am playing field has changed the most since the DP-era in 2003. And change brings pressure.
GT Class Changes
In the GT Class, the winds of change have blown in new competition. The Ferrari 458, Audi R8, and Viper will be joining the existing ranks. The resulting GT atmosphere is one of intensity. As was announced at last year’s Rolex 24, Scuderia Ferrari has been working on a return to Daytona. They are fielding five Grand Am specially prepared 458 Italias with four different teams. Lessons learned from last year’s Ferrari 458 participation in the ALMS has been brought into Grand Am. The prancing ponies are allowed to weigh 2800 lbs and use a Grand Am approved FIA GT3 homologated 458 engine built by Michelotto Ferrari. Traction control, under car aero tunneling, and ABS are not permitted by Grand Am rules along with carbon fiber brakes. Similar to the Ferraris, Audi is limited to a weight of 2,825 lbs, must run a FIA GT3 homologated engine built by Audi Sport, and is not allowed traction control, under car tunneling, ABS and carbon-fiber brakes. Both cars are allowed GT3 approved rear diffusers with block panels, but must have flat under bodies. Maximum front splitter dimensions are also mandated, but specifics defer between the two machines. Tire sizes are the same at 305/650R18 in front and 325/710R19 out back.
The Porsche GT3 Cup is allowed a running weight of 2600 lbs along with a Porsche Motorsport built 3.8 liter engine. Teams can choose between 2009, 2010, 2011, or 2012 prepared GT3 Cups, but must run 2009 splitters. The 2009 and 2010 cars must run 2009 front fenders with vents closed while the newer cars are allowed 2011 bodies with open vents. All 911 GT3’s must have a max body width of 75 inches and a two inch ground clearance all round. All GT3’s must have production steel brake calipers, no ABS or Traction control. All must use the updated rear spoiler made by Porsche with the new rear deck lid and wing support. Tires are limited to 285/645R18 in front and 325/710R18 out back.
In addition, fuel capacity for GT cars has been reduced to 17. 5 gallons in an effort to tighten competition out on the track, Afterall, cars running less fuel means more pit stops. Since the RX-8's rotary engine consumes gas at a much higher rate, Grand AM is allowing Mazda to run an extra 2 gallons compared to the rest of the field. Central locking hubs are replacing the GT class's previously used five-bolt hubs to speed up pits stops.
GT Class at the Roar
It seems Ferrari’s year-long Grand Am 458 preparation efforts paid off. All five Ferrari cars and four teams were in the class’s top 10 best event lap times. The #63 Risi Competizione, the Texas based Ferrari ALMS team, grabbed the gold medal with 1:49.239 at an average speed of 177.32 mph while the silver went to another Maranello-built car, #3 Extreme Speed Motorsports, with 1:49.337 at 177.215 mph.
“I’ve won Le Mans twice in a Dodge, won the Rolex 24 in a Dodge and won two FIA GT championships, but if I can win this race in a Ferrari it would be fantastic. When I was seven to nine years old - even before my karting days - my uncle had a Ferrari Daytona GP and that gave me my first feeling for speed,” celebrated Olivier Beretta, No. 63 Risi Competizione.
Despite the Italian domination, Porsche displayed its time-tested experience at Daytona by also having five GT3 Cup cars in the top 10. The #23 Alex Job Racing’s GT3 blazed the Zuffenhausen thrust by ticking off an impressive time of 1:49.423 at an average speed of 117.123. The time was the fourth best time of the test days, but unfortunately behind three Ferraris. On a bright note, the time was better than the fastest 2011 Roar Before 24 Porsche GT Class time of 1:49.868 at 116.649 mph by Brumos Racing. Improvement is improvement. Other Porsche top 10 times included #18 Muehlner Motorsports America’s time of 1:49.465 at 170.078 mph and #66 TRG’s 1:49.581 at 116.954 mph. TRG, the winner of last year’s Rolex 24 GT class, is campaigning an armada of five GT3s for the 50th Anniversary year. TRG Driver Ben Keating is not only racing the No. 66, but the No. 68 as well.
“The test went great, I was driving two cars, moving in-between both. The cars are different, but both were fast. Kevin has put together a great group of drivers and I love all of my teammates. I think this is the most competitive that I’ve ever seen this race in the GT field but we’ve got a great chance in both cars. I really feel TRG has an advantage heading into the 24,” expounded Ben Keating of TRG.
Brumos Racing, the 2011 Rolex GT Series Champion, is proud to host the return of Hurley Haywood to mark his 40th running in the 24 Hours of Daytona. He will be accompanied by Leh Keen, Andrew Davis, and Marc Lieb. The team’s best time took place toward the end of the last day as they did a time of 1:49.865 at an average speed of 116.652 mph.
In his previous 39 Rolex 24 starts, Haywood has seen it all, but goes into 2012 with added confidence. “We have a great car, a great crew, and a strong driver line-up,” he said. “There are a record number of entries this year and any one of those entries has a chance of winning this race. It’s not necessarily the track speed, but it’s running a smooth, trouble-free race that will put you in Victory Lane. I am really looking forward to 2012. Last year we were a brand new GT team and it took us a while to find our feet. This year, everything has come together and we are going to hit the season running full tilt.”
Flying Lizard will be entering the team’s fourth Rolex 24. Last year they ran a Porsche Motorsport powered Riley DP with mixed success even though they started the race from pole position. For the 50th Anniversary, the Lizards plan to run in the GT class in a Porsche GT3 Cup car in conjunction with Wright Motorsports. Over the three-day test, drivers Joerg Bergmeister, Patrick Long, Mike Rockenfeller, and Seth Neiman took the Porsche through its paces and achieved a best lap time of 1:49.815 at an average speed of 116.705 on the end of the second day.
“The driver objective for Daytona test days is two-fold: get a balance with the Porsche and get comfortable with the car. By the time we get to race week, we need to have completely sorted through ergomomics issues and be 100 percent with the car. This week, everything came together seamlessly: with Flying Lizard and John Wright’s team we worked through all of our objectives,” highlighted Patrick Long.
DP Class Changes
The DP class has under gone a considerable refreshing of the rules. Gone are the days when DP cars look like foul engineering exercises and have no resemblance to actual production cars. Grand Am has decided to give teams the flexibility of incorporating styling cues from street cars. This has been achieved in three ways; 1) letting frontal cross-sections be sloped slightly more upright, 2) providing more flexibility to side bodywork guidelines, and 3) a one inch zone throughout the greenhouse surface - such as the windshield and window outlines - to allow for unique styling cues. The basic chassis, suspension, engine, bellhousing, gearbox, electronics and fueling rules remain the same as last year. The goal of these changes is to better market the DP class to automotive manufacturers interested in racing. Fuel capacities have also been reduced to 20 gallons.
As a result of these changes, the mix of DP class teams has evolved. Team loyalties have shifted to follow the inclusion of new manufacturer dollars into the sport. Action Express, the spin-off of the Brumos Racing DP team, will no longer be utilizing Porsche power. They have signed-up with the new Corvette DP program under GM. With the allowance of the new rules, the Corvette DP body has a striking likeness to the street Corvette, but is not a production body. Rather, a Grand Am DP interpretation of a mid-engined Corvette. Action Express will be sourcing their V8 engine from the Earnhardt Childress Racing Chevrolet team and mating it to a new Coyote frame. So, it fact, Action Express has entirely new race cars. They are retaining the driving talents of David Donohue and Darren Law for car #5 and Joao Barbosa, Terry Borcheller, and JC France for car #9. For the Rolex 24, Action Express will employ Christian Fittipaldi on car #5 and Max Papis on car #9. Other Corvette DP teams include SunTrust Racing using a Dallara frame/Earnhardt Childress V8, Spirit of Daytona with a Coyote frame/Earnhardt Childress V8, and GAINSCO via a Riley frame/Earnhardt Childress V8.
Four-time Rolex 24 Hours winning team Chip Ganassi Racing will be continuing their two-car relationship with Dinan BMW while still using Riley frames. The team’s body work has changed to be more influenced by BMW road cars. Ford teams include Michael Shank Racing and Starworks Motorsports. Both teams are utilizing new Ford-derived bodywork, Ford V8s and Riley frames. Two teams, Krohn Racing and Doran Racing have ignored the 2012 rules and remained with their previous year’s configurations.
DP Class at the Roar
Judging from the results of the Roar Before the 24 the Corvette DPs have the edge. In the top 40 event lap times the Corvette DP earned 30 of those spots. The top gun was Max Angelelli in his #10 Sun Trust Racing Corvette DP that did an impressive 1:41.142 at an average speed of 126.712 mph on the third day.
“Speed is not really important in this test. We wanted to have everything ready to make sure it was prepared for the race. We did go out for one fast run. We trimmed the car down, took away downforce, put on new tires and then I was able to run an absolutely clean lap. It was like a qualifying lap - we put everything we had on the table. I’m not sure if anyone is going to go faster, certainly not me. If it’s cooler, that time can be beaten, but if it’s hotter – no,” explained Max Angelelli.
The fastest non-Vette DP machine was the #1 Chip Ganassi BMW-Riley driven by Scott Pruett. He achieved it on the second day and did a smokin’ 1:41.762 at an average 125.94 mph. Despite the quick driving, the Ganassi team did have their problems.
“I had just passed a GT car. He hit me in the rear and I spun. That put me into the guardrail and tires. It’s definitely a little setback. Normally, we’d just throw new parts back on it and get back out there, but since this is a new car, we’re going to take the car back to the shop and take our time getting a good look at everything. We will take advantage of a bad situation and learn from it,” clarified Scott Pruett.
Action Express posted their fastest time early on the second day with Darren Law driving #5. He posted a 1:41.338 at an average speed of 126.467. The time was speedy enough to be the second fastest of the test event. Nevertheless, during the Daytona winter testing in December Felipe Nasr, the Formula 3 star, took out last year’s Action Express LBP Porsche V8 powered Riley machine and did a time of 1:41.286 besting all the Action Express Corvette DP times during the Roar. Umm, maybe it’s not too late to sign him and the Porsche powered car up! AA
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