It is 10 pm here in Daytona and the #10 of Jordan Taylor is in the lead. I just came back in from shooting some glowing brake porn for your viewing pleasure.
Now, I’m heading back to the hotel for a drink and some shuteye.
2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona has a stressful afternoon
A little over five hours in to the inaugural race of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship and it has already been an emotional rollercoaster. The yellow flag is out for the third time at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, this time for a spinner at the entrance to the East Horseshoe.
As soon as the green flag fell, drivers were hard at it, driving as if this were a sprint race and not a 24 hour endurance event. As the sun started to sink, the #62 Ferrari, being driven by Matteo Malucelli had slowed off the pace and Malucelli was sticking to the left side of the track just past the kink. Memo Gidley, at the wheel of the #99 Gainsco Chevy was most likely blinded by the setting sun and slammed hard into the back of the #62.
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Rolex 24 at Daytona gets under way
For the second year in a row, I am fortunate to be on site for the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona. This year is more special than usual, as it is the first event of the new Tudor United SportsCar Chaampionship.
Without a specific assignment from my daily gig at Wheels.ca, I am pretty free to go where I want, when I want, so this is going to be a pretty laid back weekend. Yesterday I spent a bit of time shooting along pit lane, but spent most of my morning with Mazda’s Director of Motorsport, John Doonan, discussing the team’s decision to test their cars in public, under racing conditions. I’ll have that interview up soon. I also spent some time hanging out with my buddy, Canadian Indycar star, James Hinchcliffe. Now I know what it is like having guys like me sticking cameras in your face all the time!
Here is a bit of a gallery from my travels yesterday.
Action in the pits
Daytona was a bit weird for me, as it was the rare time that I have been at a race without photo credentials. That meant that I didn’t have my go anywhere access, but my media creds still offered unlimited access to the pits, unlike some other series. As Sunday rolled onwards and teams packed up and went home, the empty pit stalls became perfect spots to shoot the action in the pits. I decided to stitch together some stop action footage and through in a soundtrack of the on track action. I hope you like it!
The Garage at 2013 Rolex 24 at Daytona
The Winners crossing the line!
The past 12 months have been just a crazy ride for me as I have traveled around the world covering events for Wheels.ca including bucket list events like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Goodwood Festival of Speed and just this past weekend I went to Daytona Beach to cover the Rolex 24 for the first time. Just an incredible year!
To get my full report on the 24, click here to read my live blog from the race complete with tons of images. The long and the short of it is that Chip Ganassi Racing won their fifth Rolex 24 in ten years. Toronto’s AIM Autosport pulled off a great third spot on the podium in the GT class and west coast Canucks, Bullet Racing, scored second place in the new GX class.
Head past the jump to see a rather huge gallery of images from the 2013 Rolex 24 at Daytona.
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The old girl is looking a little rough around the edges
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.