During the closing ceremonies at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Jimin Yoo too advantage of the relative quiet in pit lane to do a bit of a walk-a-round of the Bullet Racing Porsche 911 GT3. From the beaten and torn bumper covers to the busted lights and exhaust, the poor beast is looking a little bit tired. That front bumper will look pretty cool on the shop wall though!
2010 Rolex 24 hours of Daytona is in the books
The 2010 Rolex 24 hours of Daytona is on the record books, with the #9 Riley Porsche of Action Express Racing took the overall honors while the GT class was won by the #70 Speedsource Mazda RX-8.
We’ve been working with Canadian team Bullet Racing to bring close to around the clock reports throughout the event. I’m happy to report that the Bullet Racing Porsche 911 GT3 was still running as the checkered flag flew. The team finished 13th in class and 20th overall following an excitement filled event.
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Hi tech graphics on the Bullet Racing Porsche
Our pit lane source of info, Jimin Yoo, sat down this morning with team owner Steve Paquette for a chat. They got to discussing the very Canadian graphic package on the 911 GT3.
Paquette designed and applied the graphics on the car himself. Why the italics? Well, Steve laid the red vinyl on the car and then freehanded all of the graphics with an xacto knife. It looks pretty good for freehand!
It isn’t all that unusual for a grassroots racer to apply his own stickers, but one doesn’t usually think of grassroots when one is talking about a Porsche at the Daytona 24 hours. As we’ve said before, the whole team is made up of volunteers and Paquette is footing the bill. Every penny donated is going to the BC Children’s Hospital. Still, racing a Porsche that is worth six figures isn’t cheap by any means and if a team can save money, graphics are one place they can save a bundle without affecting performance.
Hi end yes, but still grassroots. That is the Canadian way of racing!
Long night at Daytona 24
One of the realities of around the clock endurance racing is that regardless of how careful you are, anything can happen at any time. Usually, that time ends up being in the dead of night.
The Bullet Racing Porsche was up to 5th in class last night when Sean McIntosh found some oil from another car in the Bus Stop. Only minor damage was done in the ensuing off track excursion, but soon the warning lights started appearing and repairs were needed for a water leak. After repairs, the super fast Darryl O’Young was sent out to make up the lost ground. I haven’t yet heard all the details, but I know the car drove to the garage under it’s own power. The crew went to work, replacing the complete front end body work and radiators and the car went back into the battle with Darryl at the wheel in 15th place.
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Endurance drivers need ingenuity
All sorts of interesting things happen during the night at a 24 hour race. Bullet Racing driver Ross Bentley couldn’t find a hanger, so made use of the cork board to dry his nomex stuff.
Bullet Racing at the start of Daytona 24
Bullet Racing qualifying lap
If you can tear yourself away from the tv for a few minutes, check out Bullet Racing’s qualifying session on Thursday. Darryl O’Young puts the Porsche 911 GT3 through it’s paces to set a respectable, conservative 16th position starting spot.
Hurley Haywood shares some wisdom with his old friend Kees Nierop
Bullet Racing’s camera caught up with legendary endurance racer Hurley Haywood in the paddock and Haywood shared some cheerful advice with Kees.
Nut and bolt checks
As Gary Faules will tell you, the key to winning endurance races is preparation. Part of that preparation means making sure absolutely every nut and bolt is secure before the car heads out on track. The Bullet Racing crew will use some of their free time (if you can call it that) tonight making final checks to be sure the car is ready to go tomorrow.
Photo by Ross Bentley
Bullet Racing is racing for the kids
As we’ve been following Bullet Racing through the first couple of days leading up to the Rolex 24 at Daytona, we’ve been focusing on the team and the car. As the team is resting up for the start tomorrow, I thought that maybe we should talk a bit about the cause the team is racing for.
Bullet Racing is not only an all Canadian team, it is an all volunteer team, world class drivers included. Team owner Steve Paquette is footing the bills and the team is hard at work chasing down donations for the BC Children’s Hospital. Every penny donated will go to this hospital that cares for a million sick and injured kids in British Columbia and the Yukon. Not only are they the underdog privateer team, they are also working hard to support an important charity.
Visit BulletRacing.ca to donate. You’ll find the link at the top left.
Read the team’s full press release after the break and be sure to visit The Garage often over the weekend as we keep you up to date on the team’s progress during the race.
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