50 Years of Endurance Racing: THE ROLEX 24 AT

DAYTONAY ARL EYFERT B K S The race cars have gotten faster and the technology an order of magnitude more advanced, but after half a century of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, two things haven’t changed: Today’s drivers are just as tough and the

race is as grueling as ever. Take it from us. Bobbitt Kevin Photo:

ndianapolis celebrated the 100th signal from the flagman indicating that chicane in the second half of the back anniversary of the 500 last year. the three-hour race was about to end, straight further slows the cars before the This year it was time for Day- he employed gravity to allow the crip- Turn 12 banking and completes the mod- tona to mark the 50th anniver- pled car to coast across the finish line ifications to the basic tri-oval design. The sary of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, for the win. Gurney’s son Alex compet- added road course curves and chicane ex- and MOTOR was lucky enough to ed this year and was the sentimental fa- tend the lap distance to 3.81 miles. attend the event. While this year’s race vorite to win the race. While the 24 Hours of LeMans is held Ifeatured just two classes, the inaugural The race was lengthened to 2000 near the summer solstice, the winter 1962 version (called the Daytona Conti- kilometers two years after the 1962 date of the Daytona endurance race nental) had 10, with ’s Lo- event. Although we’re marking its 50th means a larger percentage of the race is tus-Climax 19B taking the overall win. anniversary, the race wasn’t extended to run at night. The track’s lighting system The other nine classes were won by two the full 24 hours until the 1966 event. is reduced from its maximum output to , three , a Jaguar, an Al- Fierce battles among Ford, , force the drivers to rely on their head- fa-Romeo, a Corvette and Jim and the Chevrolet-powered lights. Each driver must be able to make Hall’s Chaparral. Fifty cars lined up for Chaparrals characterized the latter part hundreds of laps around the track with- the start of that race, with several other of the first 10 years of the race. Many of out mistakes, under constantly changing well-known names such as , Stir- the same manufacturers, plus several conditions—daylight or darkness, heat or ling Moss, , Innes Ireland, Jo others, competed in this year’s golden cold and clean or dirty track conditions, Bonnier, , Roger anniversary race. as well as a mix of nearly 60 different cars Penske, A.J. Foyt and “Fireball” Roberts The 24-hour race utilizes nearly all of of vastly different capabilities. Jr. also in the field. Daytona’s iconic 2.5-mile tri-oval, al- Although this is an endurance race, it Gurney’s engine threw a rod while he ready very familiar to NASCAR fans. A probably would be impossible for one held a substantial lead near the end of sharp left turn near the end of the front driver to complete the entire 24 hours the race. He made the canny decision straight transfers the cars to an infield without assistance. In practice, each car to park the car at the top of front road course before the banking, where has several different drivers (most use straight’s banking, just short of the they must negotiate several turns before four). This helps to mitigate driver fa- start/finish line. When he received the returning to the banking. A “bus stop” tigue, but makes for some interesting

26 March 2012 8 the track and vastly faster prototypes in- 9 to the mix and things can get very inter- esting for the drivers (and race fans). Bus Stop 5 Contest Winner 7 Last year, MOTOR partnered with 4 LIQUI MOLY to conduct the LIQUI International 3 MOLY Pit Crew Sweepstakes. One Horseshoe MOTOR reader was selected at random 2 6 to attend this year’s Rolex 24 at Day- 1 tona. As we announced in our Decem- ber 2011 issue, Rod Reisdorf, owner of Mr. Best Wrench in Grand Island, NY, was selected to join the LIQUI MOLY- sponsored pit crew in Daytona. Illustration: Creative Commons & Harold A. Perry Creative Illustration: The Daytona tri-oval is reconfigured for the 24-hour race, with an infield road Rod is an avid race fan and partici- course and chicane section added. This slows the overall speed of the cars con- pant, with memberships in the SCCA, siderably and greatly increases the complexity of the course. The infield section BMWCCA and Corvettes of Buffalo car features several additional viewing areas for fans. clubs. He autocrosses an ’83 Camaro and takes to the Watkins Glen and Mosport challenges on the track. Teams may ate a pass on any of the other cars on circuits for high-performance track driv - substitute drivers at their discretion, so the track. About the time a driver be- ing events. He also has been a part own- competitors often are not certain who comes comfortable with the other driv- er of a late-model stock car that was they’re interacting with out on the track. ers in his vicinity, driver changes may campaigned at local short tracks, so he Different drivers negotiate the track in take place and the whole process begins has lots of hands-on racecar experience. slightly different ways, so it may take again. Throw a darkened track, a grow- He arrived in Daytona eager to help the several laps to determine how to negoti- ing accumulation of rubber debris on LIQUI MOLY pit crew any way he could.

March 2012 27 THE ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA Photos: Karl Seyfert Karl Photos: When Rod Reisdorf and I arrived in the LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler/Mitchum Motorsports garage area (left photo), the en- tire front bodywork, the wheels and some of the rear bodywork still needed to be reinstalled. The team was completing some last-minute adjustments and seemed relatively unconcerned about the amount of time that remained before the start of the race. At right, Rod works on the Porsche’s rear bumper cover prior to the race, with a backup ready close by.

LIQUI MOLY is the chief sponsor of number of top teams over the past 15 Rileys. One Ford and one Ford Team Engstler in Germany. Team En- years. Franz Engstler was partnered in Lola also were entered in the DP class. gstler, headed by team owner and driver the LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler/Mit- Daytona Prototypes have competed Franz Engstler, competes with a BMW chum Motorsports Porsche GT3 with at Daytona since 2003. in the World Touring Car Championship experienced sports car drivers David Association, the organizing (WTCC), and the original plan was for Murry and Gunter Schaldach, and body, decided at that time that it was the team to bring its car to the States to young phenom Jade Buford. Unlike En- necessary to lower the overall cost of compete at Daytona. However, the gstler, all three had previous experience competition (and possibly the speed) in Team Engstler car in its WTCC configu- in the Daytona 24-hour race. the top class. To do this, DP cars were ration did not meet the GT class require- restricted to closed-cockpit chassis con- ments for Daytona, and would have had The Cars structed with tube frames, instead of to undergo significant modifications to Just two classes competed in the 2012 higher cost composites. To further re- comply. The decision was made to join race— (DP) and GT. strict costs, the series regulated which forces with an American team and enter The DP class was dominated by cars companies could provide chassis and a Porsche 911 GT3 instead. LIQUI manufactured by chassis builder Riley. which manufacturers could provide MOLY had previously sponsored a These included Ford Rileys and BMW engines. Engines had to be based on Porsche 935 Turbo to an road-legal production units overall win of the 1980 Day- from a major manufacturer. tona 24-hour race, so the At the same time, major man- switch from BMW to Porsche ufacturers were not allowed was interpreted as a good to run Daytona Prototype omen rather than a setback. teams. LIQUI MOLY and Team Many fans Engstler partnered with have expressed disdain for Mitchum Motorsports for the the too-similar appearance Rolex 24 at Daytona effort. of the DP cars that resulted Mitchum was already a com- from these rule changes. petitor in the Grand Ameri- Only a limited number of can Road Racing Association manufacturers are allowed (Grand-Am) series and team to pro vide chassis for the principal Chris Mitchum class and one chassis manu- brings experience from both The team kept a stockpile of key replacement parts in the facturer (Riley) has domi- sides of the pit wall as a for- garage area, several of which were needed during the nated, with teams selecting mer professional driver, course of the race. Radiator assemblies are visible in the different engine suppliers. coach, crew chief, team man- foreground and a complete set of front bodywork sits on From the outside, it’s diffi- ager and consultant for a the ground near team owner Chris Mitchum. cult for a race fan to tell the

28 March 2012 THE ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA difference between a Ford Riley and a BMW Riley, for example. The only exterior cues are paint schemes and decals. A keen ear might be able to detect a difference in the sounds of the engines. Perhaps in response to fan criticism, rule changes were made prior to this year’s race. These changes allowed chassis manufacturers to incorporate design cues with links to production cars. The first new DP car to take ad- vantage of these rule changes is the Corvette DP, which made its debut at this year’s race. The Corvette DP made its debut at Daytona this year. Its bodywork was designed “The initiative started a couple of to evoke the production model Corvette, and it looks like they’ve done a pretty years back when [Grand good job. Rules were changed prior to this season to promote this type of thing, American Road Racing Association but to keep costs under control, the body panels must be designed to fit on any founder] came to Detroit,” said GM of three chassis currently permitted under DP regulations. Racing Director Mark Kent. “He met with our leadership and pulled out a cars, with fuel cells, full roll cages and air Daytona, as well as the company’s long photo of the Hendrick Corvette GTP jack systems, they’re more closely related involvement and support of car from the 1980s and expressed an in- to the street cars they’re derived from certainly contributed as well. terest in moving the look of the Day- than the purpose-built DP cars. Daytona Prototypes are much faster tona Prototype class more toward a clas- On paper, it would seem that such a than the GT-class cars, and can pass sic prototype look. He asked if Chevro- diverse group of GT cars would result them at will at just about any point on let had an interest in supporting that in some rather lopsided competition, the track, which makes for some inter- initiative, and we were immediately ex- but this did not prove to be the case. esting racing. The GT drivers must do cited by the opportunity.” While cars with a displacement advan- their best to stay out of the way of the So although the Corvette DP is a tage appeared to do well on the high- much faster prototypes and avoid un- purpose-built, midengine race car, its speed, banked sections of the course, predictable maneuvers while prototypes sheet metal carries at least a passing re- the smaller, lighter cars fared better on are in the area. semblance to a current production the tighter turns of the infield road The prototypes have clear headlight Corvette. Perhaps Chevrolet hopes the course section of the track. lenses, while GT cars have colored lens- new car will allow it to take advantage of Some have stated that the track lay- es. This helps the drivers identify slower the old “win on Sunday, sell on Mon- out favors the Porsches, which might or faster cars on the track during the day” marketing strategy. explain why so many teams opted to en- long night driving portion of the race. It The Corvettes experienced problems ter cars from that manufacturer. was not unusual to see prototype drivers during the race, with one suffering an Porsche’s many years of participation at begin frantically flashing their head- engine failure during the very early go- ing. The best Corvette DP finisher was fifth overall for the #14 of , and . David Donohue, a Daytona winner in 2009, is the son of , who was perhaps one of auto racing’s greatest all-around drivers. The senior Donohue also won at Daytona in 1969, in a -Chevrolet. The GT class was dominated by Porsches, with the 911 GT3 model mak- ing up about half of the entries in that class. Also contending in GT were an as- sortment of Ferrari 458s, Ford Mustangs, Race fans are allowed to mingle with the cars and drivers just prior to the start Chevy Camaros, Mazda RX-8s, BMW of the 24-hour race. Gates in the grandstand fencing are opened, allowing free M3s, R8s and even a . access to the track surface and pit road. The asphalt where some fans grabbed Although these are certainly serious race a temporary seat would soon be several degrees hotter.

30 March 2012 THE ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA lights when they were attempting to pass a slower GT car. Track workers also wave a blue flag to signal a slower car that a faster (usually prototype) car is approaching. The unspoken message is clear: “Get out of the way!” Race Day Rod Reisdorf and I arrived in the garage area early on Saturday morning and found the LIQUI MOLY Team En- gstler/Mitchum Motorsports team al- ready hard at work on the #20 Porsche. The car was raised high off the ground on its air jack extensions, all four wheels The four LIQUI MOLY team drivers line up for a photo in front of the car with Pit were removed and the entire front and Crew Sweepstakes winner Rod Reisdorf (far right). Drivers (from left) are Jade rear sections of the car (hood, fenders Buford, David Murry, Franz Engstler and Gunter Schaldach. and front and rear bumper covers) had been removed. With about seven hours garage area, ready to be installed in the three air jacks, bringing the car to a to go before the start of the race, much event of mechanical failure or crash more comfortable working height and work remained to be done. damage. The rear-engine Porsche fea- allowing undercar access. The car had sustained damage to the tures radiators behind the front bumper Compressed nitrogen in large cylin- left rear during a practice session. The cover, so spares of those assemblies, ders is used for the jacking system as team spent the second practice session along with a complete set of front body- well as the team’s air tools. Lugging the repairing the damage to the body and work, were arranged on the floor or on large nitrogen cylinders around the suspension, leaving precious little time to stands. No one expects to have an acci- garage and pit areas might seem cum- prepare for Friday’s qualifying session. dent on the track, but in such a long bersome, but it means the team can The strategy after the accident was to get race, provisions must be made to repair count on a reliable source of com- the car qualified as well as possible, then the car and get it back out there if dam- pressed gas, without needing electricity attempt to improve its position during age occurs. to run a compressor. Nitrogen is also the long race. The car would start the The team reinstalled all of the body- used to fill the tires, as the dry nitrogen’s race from the 33rd position on the grid. work and the wheels, then lowered the response to changes in tire temperature The organization in the Mitchum car to the ground. All of the cars in both is more predictable than ordinary com- Motorsports garage area was impressive. the DP and GT classes use integrated pressed air. Tools and equipment were arranged in jacking systems, so no floor jacks are re- A final check of the car’s alignment an orderly fashion and all team mem- quired. A set of extensions allowed the was made with a set of fixtures attached bers had assigned tasks. The clock was team to increase the height of the car’s to the front and rear of the car, com- ticking, but no one seemed rushed or harried. Preparation for the race is much like running a shop. The team owner or manager must make sure everything runs smoothly. Each team member must know what’s expected of him and what to do when things change due to accidents or mechanical prob- lems. Everyone must remain calm un- der pressure. When we arrived, Mitchum Motor- sports team owner Chris Mitchum stopped long enough to assign Rod to work on the car’s rear bumper cover. The primary cover had been slightly Photo: Kevin Bobbitt Kevin Photo: damaged during the accident. Rod’s The LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler/Mitchum Motorsports Porsche GT3 leads two job was to clean its surface, while a other GT cars (another Porsche and a Mazda RX-8) around the International backup cover was prepared for possible Horseshoe in the early going. The Mazdas were particularly entertaining to use in the race. watch during the night racing, with flames shooting out of their rotary engine Many spare parts were arrayed in the exhaust systems during downshifts and deceleration at the entry to Turn 1.

32 March 2012 500, it was considered quite strong for the 50th anniversary of the 24-hour race. A tradition at this race allows fans with the inclination to do so to take one last walk around the cars and mingle with the teams before the start of the race. Lad- ders placed at the bottom of the main grandstand allowed fans to climb down onto the track, then walk across it to the pit lane and walk amongst the cars. It was quite a sight to see fans actually sitting on Daytona’s fabled main straight, which is Photo: Kevin Bobbitt Kevin Photo: The GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Corvette DP negotiates the International banked even at the start/finish line. Horseshoe. Much was expected of the striking new Corvette prototypes and many As 3:30 approached, race officials be- hoped that co-driver and the rest of his team (or another Corvette gan signaling the crowd that it was time DP team) could deliver a win. Although the car exhibited great potential, early to clear the pit lane and begin the race. problems hampered its chances and the team had to settle for a 33rd. Next year? Race fans were herded off the track and Rod and I headed for the team’s pit bined with fishing line running between the seats that’s normally covered by fans area. There were 58 cars qualified for them. The apparatus looked slightly less during the other winter race held each the race and the Mitchum Motorsports sophisticated than a wheel alignment year at the famous track. pit was located near the end of Day- machine one might find in a well- The diversity of racing machinery was tona’s long pit lane, quite a distance equipped shop but, once again, the setup impressive as well. Most of the teams from the team’s garage area. offers the advantage of portability. The had already pushed their cars into posi- After the race began, work in the pits team also travels with a portable scale tion, so the stewards directed the #20 fell into a familiar routine. Fuel con- platform. Placing the car on the platform team to its spot in the preliminary start- sumption and fuel cell size dictated fuel allows the team to measure the precise ing grid. Immediately to our left was a stops at approximately 45-minute inter- amount of weight that’s distributed on Corvette DP, which looked quite seri- vals. Caution periods extended these each of the car’s wheels. The final align- ous. In front was another Porsche and intervals, of course. Tires were normal- ment check confirmed that the repairs to behind a Mazda. Many of the team ly changed every other fuel stop. Fuel the left rear had been successful, and the members and drivers are well-acquaint- was dispensed from an overhead refu- car was pronounced ready for the race. ed with each other and exchanged eling rig, using gravity only. The over- The time had passed quickly. It was greetings and well-wishes as they stood head rig held only enough fuel for now less than two hours before the start near their cars. about two refuelings, and had to be re- of the race, and race stewards started to Attendance for the race was approxi- filled from a wheeled gas truck. The arrive in the garage area with instruc- mately 75,000. Although this is a fraction gas truck in turn had to be refilled at tions to the teams to begin forming up of the crowd that attends the Daytona intervals as well, which meant periodic and pushing their cars into position trips to the track’s main gas station for along pit road. At the last minute, some- more racing fuel. All team members one noticed that with the car at its nor- displayed admirable discipline and the mal ride height, the bodywork at the left ability to quickly complete the same rear looked dangerously close to the tire, tasks without making mistakes. perhaps due to the prior damage. The Continental is the tire sponsor for the car was returned to the garage, lifted on race and provides all of the tires used by the jacks, the wheel removed and some all of the teams. With tires being emergency surgery performed on the changed by the Mitchum team approxi- rear bumper cover with an air grinder. mately every hour and a half and at simi- When the steward returned for a second lar intervals by other teams, Continental time, the car was really ready to go. must have brought hundreds, if not Daytona is a very big place and per- thousands, of tires to the event. Although haps nowhere is its size more evident there was no shortage of fresh rubber, than when standing on pit lane facing Chris Mitchum (facing camera) con- each team has a limited number of the main grandstand. The grandstands fers with Franz Engstler prior to a dri- wheel sets to work with in the pit area. are several stories high and stretch the ver change. Team Engstler crew mem- This meant the crew also had to periodi- entire length of Daytona’s main straight. ber Andreas Klinger joins the conver- cally shuttle sets of worn wheel/tire com- The stands were mostly empty that day, sation, perhaps to assist with any binations to the Continental garage to revealing the checkerboard pattern on English-to-German translation issues. swap them for fresh sets. Once they

March 2012 33 THE ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA were back at the pits, crew members over-the-wall team members prepare for an accidental fire. During driver changes, worked on the fresh tires to make sure and execute the frequent pit stops. Dur- a team member assists the drivers as they their pressures were properly set, as dic- ing the stops, only a specified number of exit and enter the car, and makes certain tated by the team engineer. team members are allowed over the wall that all safety equipment is properly se- Even when things are going smoothly, and must be wearing protective clothing. cured before the car leaves the pits. there’s plenty of work to keep the team Those who are in direct contact with the During several pit stops, the team busy. While one group keeps the team fuel wear fireproof hoods, goggles and called upon Rod to operate the “dead supplied with fuel and fresh tires, the helmets to protect them in the event of man’s handle” that turns the refueling rig’s fuel supply on and off during refu- eling. He was positioned inside the pit wall, so a fire suit was not required. He also assisted the team with fuel and tire duties, making frequent trips to the garage area on the team’s pit vehicle. He lasted several hours longer than this reporter, finally retiring to the team ho- tel in the wee hours of the morning. Speaking after the race, Rod stated that “You can watch a race on television or seated in the stands across from the pits, but you haven’t truly experienced a great race like Daytona until you’ve had Circle #21 the opportunity to work in the pits with the team. Things look very different from that side of the wall.” The team’s strategy seemed to be working and they had moved up several positions in the standings. In such a long race, establishing a consistently quick but sustainable pace is perhaps more impor- tant than posting a few fast laps. The car and drivers continued to perform well, but several hours after darkness fell, the Circle #22 Circle #23 car made contact with another car on the track. Damage to the front of the car was severe enough to necessitate a return to the garage area for repairs. Once in the bay, the front bodywork was replaced, along with the radiator assemblies men- tioned earlier. The spare parts that no one had hoped they’d need proved es- sential to allow the car to continue. Damage repaired, the car returned to the night racing. Several cars had al- ready retired at this point, but there was still plenty of traffic spread over the 3.81-mile course. Adversity struck once again when the car developed a transmission problem. The Porsche is equipped with a trans- Circle #24 mission that’s shifted sequentially, so it lacks the familiar gated pattern used to select a gear on a conventional manual transmission. If the driver wants to shift up a gear, he pulls the shift lever back once. Downshifts are accomplished by pushing the lever forward. One forward

34 March 2012 push, one gear downshift. Two pushes third. This was the team’s first DP win at and Rene Rast completed and the transmission executes two Daytona, which has long been dominat- 727 laps at an average speed of 107.7 downshifts. As might be expected, a cer- ed by better-known teams like Chip mph. Porsches swept the podium in GT tain amount of electronic control is in- Ganassi Racing’s two-car BMW Riley (11th through 13th overall), with the best corporated into this system. team. The Ganassi team had to settle for finish by a non-Porsche GT car being a Back in the garage area, the decision fourth and sixth this year. Camaro in fourth (14th overall). It re- was made to replace the transmission, as The GT class-winning Magnus Racing mains to be seen whether LIQUI MOLY inspection had revealed a crack in the Porsche GT3 of John Potter, , will return to sponsor another attempt at case. Once again, it was either fortunate that the team had a replacement trans- mission available when they needed it, or unfortunate that they needed it in the first place. It’s all a matter of perspective. The car returned to action with the new transmission, but the shifting prob- lems continued. Some team members speculated that the original problem may have been with the electronic controls rather than the transmission itself. In any case, the system was having difficulty de- termining which gear had been selected, which made it extremely difficult to se- lect the proper gear for the various sec- tions of the track. After soldiering on for some time, the decision was made to re- tire the car early Sunday morning. At the conclusion of the race, the LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler/Mitchum Motor- sports Porsche was placed 47th with 416 laps. Not the outcome anyone had hoped for, but a valiant effort nonetheless. There were still several hours of rac- ing left for those teams that remained in the running. In DP, several teams still appeared to have a shot at the overall win, although the Ford-powered Rileys seemed to enjoy a slight horsepower ad- vantage. After some late-race jousting on the front straight with Allan McNish in the second place #8 Starworks Motor- sport Ford Riley, A.J. Allmendinger brought home the victory in the #60 Ford Riley for Racing. Allmendinger and his co-drivers , Oswaldo Negri Jr. and Justin Wil- son had completed 761 laps in 24 hours. There were only 13 caution periods for a total of 64 laps, and the winning car averaged 112.834 mph and traveled the Circle #25 second-farthest distance in the history of the 24-hour race. Ford-powered Rileys took the top three spots, with Michael Shank Racing cars capturing first and

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