in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona test weekend
Dario Franchitti in Car # 02 among fastest cars in Daytona Prototype
Bitter cold weather at Daytona International Speedway in Florida, more akin to Snetterton, Norfolk in winter, greeted drivers from the UK and around the world, who learned important lessons and data for the upcoming Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, the 48th annual event.
Temperatures hovered around zero degrees Celsius, and frozen rain formed an ice buildup around the track, including on the course’s famed 31-degree banking Saturday, canceling the morning session.
A healthy list of British drivers will race at the end of January, including 2007 Indy 500 winner and current Indycar champion Dario Franchitti (Edinburgh), 2009 Sunoco Rolex 24 At Daytona Challenge Derek Johnston (Nottingham) and 2008 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona GT class winner, Nick Ham (Yorkshire)
Richard Westbrook (London) joined Level 5 Motorsports to drive a BMW Riley Daytona Prototype on the 3.56-mile (5.73-kilometre) track, Johnny Mowlem (London), a 1999 GT class runner-up in the Rolex 24, participated at the test with Orbit Racing in a Porsche GT3. Though not at the test, U.K. born Dan Watkins (Bristol)was a late add-in for the race; he will drive with Guardian Angel Motorsports in a Porsche GT3.
The top car with a British driver was Dario Franchitti’s No. 02 Target BMW Riley, fielded by multi-time IndyCar Series champion Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates. Sharing the No. 02 with Franchitti were NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regulars Juan Pablo Montoya (Bogota, Colombia) and Jamie McMurray (USA) as well as 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon (New Zealand). Their best time of 1:40.588 (205.074 kph) came during the first practice Friday, just four hundredths of a second off the track record.
The team’s second car – the No. 01 TELMEX BMW Riley – was fourth quickest overall, with Franchitti’s brother Marino Franchitti (Edinburgh) joined by fellow Briton Justin Wilson (Sheffield) with Scott Pruett (USA) and Memo Rojas (Mexico). Their best time of 1:40.986 (204.266 kph) also came Friday.
Derek Johnston, the inaugural Sunoco Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona Challenge winner drove the No. 77 Ford Dallara Daytona Prototype.Others in Daytona Prototypes included former open-wheel stars Ryan Dalziel (Edinburgh) in the No. 59 Porsche Riley fielded by Brumos Racing and Darren Manning (Knaresborough, Yorkshire) in the No. 09 Porsche Riley fielded by Spirit of Daytona Racing.
In GT, Ham’s No. 70 Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8 from SpeedSource was the quickest for a U.K. driver, lapped the track at 1:49.770 (187.920 kph). Right behind were Robin Liddell (Edinburgh) and Jan Magnussen (currently living in England), driving the No. 57 VinSolutions Chevrolet Camaro from Stevenson Motorsports. Johnny Mowlem’s Porsche GT3 was 10th quickest.
Others running included Tim Sugden (Bradford) and James Walker (Jersey) in the No. 64 JLowe Racing Porsche GT3 and Luke Hines (London) a Daytona rookie, in the No. 48 Miller Barrett Racing Porsche GT3.
Notable drivers from outside the GRAND-AM Series, include NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stars AJ Allmendinger and Bobby Labonte and Hollywood star Patrick Dempsey from Beverly Hills. All these join the four-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and former Formula 1 drivers Ricardo Zonta ( Brazil) and Sebastien Bourdais ( France), in the great 2010 24 Hours of Daytona race.
