rob the knob
01-24-2015, 03:32 PM
Follow the action: Rolex 24 at Daytona live blog
Sportscar365.com
FOX Sports
JAN 24, 2015 1:49p ET SHARE 24 TWEET 9 2
The green flag flies for the start of the 2015 24 Hours of Daytona.
John Dagys / SportsCar365.com
The green flag flies for the start of the 2015 24 Hours of Daytona.
Watch LIVE onboard streaming during the Rolex 24 at Daytona by visiting FOXSports.com/tudor.
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Hour 1 Update:
Scott Dixon leads as the 53rd Rolex 24 at Daytona is underway, but now under the first full caution, from Daytona International Speedway.
Dixon jumped past polesitter Ozz Negri on the start, with Dixon then controlling the pace in the No. 02 Chip Ganassi Racing Riley-Ford until the first round of pit stops.
Although he wasn’t the last of the Prototype leaders to pit on the sequence – that distinction went to the No. 7 Starworks Motorsport Dinan BMW-powered Riley of Rubens Barrichello who stayed out for 43 minutes – Dixon regained the lead once the cycle was complete.
Negri, in the polesitting No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ligier JS P2 Honda was second ahead of the sister No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Riley-Ford and emerging No. 0 DeltaWing DWC13 coupe, the latter of which set the early fastest lap of the race in the hands of Andy Meyrick before Dixon trumped it later on.
> at Daytona International Speedway on January 23, 2015 in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Live video streaming: Catch all the Rolex 24 at Daytona action right here
Scott Pruett was second at the end of the first hour in the No. 01 with Joao Barbosa third in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP, Negri fourth and Meyrick fifth.
The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing and No. 90 VisitFlorida.com Racing Corvette DPs are fighting traction control issues reported in the first hour.
Colin Braun in the No. 54 CORE autosport Oreca FLM09 got the early jump on Prototype Challenge polesitter Johnny Mowlem in the No. 16 BAR1 Motorsports Oreca FLM09 before ceding the lead on the first round of pit stops. Mowlem regained the lead at that point.
The GT Le Mans battle was intense between Gianmaria Bruni, who led most of the first hour in the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia, and polesitter Oliver Gavin in the No. 4 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R.
Gavin and Jan Magnussen in the sister No. 3 Corvette run 1-2 in GTLM at the one-hour mark, with the No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR third.
Beyond those three, two cars in class had issues. The No. 98 Aston Martin Vantage GTE was issued a drive-through penalty for a speeding violation and the No. 912 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR lost six laps from the outset with an alternator change.
Daniel Serra moved to the early lead in GT Daytona in the Brazilian No. 64 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia after starting fifth, with the team car, the No. 63 Ferrari started by Townsend Bell, in second. Polesitter James Davison runs third in the No. 007 TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3.
The first caution flag of the race flew at the 52-minute mark, as Satoshi Hoshino stopped on track on the oval turns 3-4 in the No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Audi R8 LMS, with apparent gearbox issues.
9-11 January, 2015, Daytona Beach, Florida USA
4, Chevrolet, Corvette C7.R, GTLM, Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, Simon Pagenaud
©2015, Richard Dole
LAT Photo USA
Spotters guide: View all 53 cars for the Rolex 24 at Daytona
No caution flew for a few other minor incidents. Shane Lewis spun in the No. 66 RG Racing Riley-BMW in the Bus Stop and caused minor bodywork damage to the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia upon re-entry.
The No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca FLM09 driven by Tom Kimber-Smith spun at the first lap, and the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport Oreca FLM09 had two off-course excursions at the Bus Stop with Renger van der Zande driving.
More issues struck the No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America, which pitted at the first lap to check either suspension or brakes.
Pre-race stories:
*** During Saturday morning's all-driver meeting, IMSA Race Director Beaux Barfield confirmed the two yellow flag procedures to be used -- Standard and Short. Standard full-course cautions will be used in nearly all instances, except the first 15 minutes after the race start and the final 30 minutes, where Short yellows will be used. If situations should occur where multiple cautions occur in immediate succession, the cautions will alternate between Standard and Short -- i.e. if a second yellow followed immediately after the first, the second yellow would be Short.
*** Two cars have been moved to the rear of their respective fields on the official grid. The No. 90 VisitFlorida.com Racing Corvette DP has been moved to the back of the Prototype/Prototype Challenge grid per Article 30.4.1 of the IMSA Regulations. That rule indicates at least one driver did not take part in an Official Session. The No. 93 Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper GT3-R has also been moved to the rear of the overall field per Article 40.2.1 for causing a red flag, when Kuno Wittmer's right rear tire left the car in qualifying. Both he and the car were OK.
*** After failing to set a qualifying time, the No. 1 Tequila Patron ESM HPD ARX-04b will start from the rear of P/PC field and not from the rear of the full field. Today's race marks the first time for the TUDOR Championship to implement split starts between the Prototype and GT categories.
ELKHART LAKE, WI - AUGUST 09: The #555 Ferrari of Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell is shown in action during practice for the IMSA Tudor Series race at Road America on August 9, 2014 in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. (Photo by Brian Cleary/Getty Images)
Ferrari trio seeking Rolex 24 repeat, redemption
*** Per multiple reports, Patrick Dempsey's wife Jillian Fink has filed for divorce from the driver. Dempsey co-drives the No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT America with Jan Heylen, Madison Snow and Phillip Eng for today's race.
*** The DeltaWing will start from fifth place for today's race, but it has been struggling for track time since Andy Meyrick's qualifying effort on Thursday. Persistent gearbox issues have limited the DWC13 coupe to single-digit laps in the last two practice sessions, as the team sorts out the new rear end of the car for this race.
*** Veteran strategist Mike Johnson is a notable absence from any pit box for this year's Rolex 24. This year marks his first time not working the race since 2000; Johnson, long regarded as one of sports car racing's top strategists, has multiple Rolex 24 class wins under his belt.
*** SpeedSource Mazda will have spotters Tim Fedewa and Tyler Green, who were two of the four spotters with Level 5 Motorsports last year.
*** Scuderia Corsa will have Jeff Gordon's and Kevin Harvick's spotters atop the box for them this week. Additionally, the No. 63 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 has the Bosch collision avoidance system -- a radar-based, rear view monitor. This technology was pioneered by Corvette Racing several years ago.
*** Past Rolex 24 overall winners in the field include these 21 drivers: Memo Rojas, Scott Sharp, Ryan Dalziel, Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi, Sebastien Bourdais, Max Angelelli, Max Papis, Jim Pace, John Pew, Ozz Negri, AJ Allmendinger, Mike Rockenfeller, Scott Pruett, Joey Hand, Charlie Kimball, Scott Dixon, Antonio Garcia, Graham Rahal and Jorg Bergmeister. There are multiple other prior class winners in the field.
*** There are 36 rookies making their first Rolex 24 start, with the highest number coming in Prototype Challenge. There are 14 rookies in PC, including Brian Alder, Martin Plowman, Marc Drumwright, Shelby Blackstock, Remo Ruscitti, James French, James Vance, Jerome Mee, Sean Johnston, Andrew Novich, Andrew Palmer, Chris Miller, Stephen Simpson and Mikhail Goikhberg.
*** Performance Tech Motorsports' lineup of French, Vance, Mee and Johnston features an all-rookie lineup, while all other PC cars except those from CORE autosport, Starworks Motorsport and RSR Racing feature at least two rookies per car.
*** GT Daytona also features a high volume of rookies with 13 drivers making their first Rolex 24 start. Those include Matteo Beretta, Michael Lira, Niki Mayr-Melnhof, Ricardo Flores, Christopher Zoechling, Satoshi Hoshino, Tomonobu Fujii, Pasin Lathouras, Phillip Eng, Rory Butcher, Cameron Lawrence, Christoffer Nygaard and Derek DeBoer.
*** The leftover nine Rolex 24 rookies beyond PC's 14 and GTD's 13 include Tor Graves, Phil Keen, Matt McMurry and Ben Devlin in Prototype and Jens Klingmann, Bruno Spengler, Francois Perrodo, Mathias Lauda and Fred Makowiecki in GT Le Mans.
*** Those drivers racing today in the Rolex 24 after being in yesterday's Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge BMW Performance 200 include Andrew Davis, Mark Wilkins, Andy Lally, Cameron Lawrence, Spencer Pumpelly, Jeff Segal, Michael Lira, and Ricardo Flores.
*** Travis Braun, brother of CORE autosport driver Colin and son of SpeedSource competition director Jeff, has a shot to win $1 million if his Super Bowl ad created for the event gets the most votes; he'd also get a feature-writing opportunity with Paramount Pictures. Travis' ad made it to the top 10 from more than 5,000 entries; here's the link to watch and vote.
*** Watch the 53rd Rolex 24 at Daytona on the FOX family of networks, including the first two hours on the FOX network, beginning at 2 p.m. ET. IMSA Radio, meanwhile, will provide flag-to-flag coverage of the race. Click here for full details in Continental Tire's Keys to the Race.
*** Mazda will stream the race as well for all 24 hours. In-car cameras and IMSA Radio will be going all race at MazdaLive.com, beginning at 2 p.m. ET.
*** Continental Tire has 85 people at the Rolex 24 this week to process tires; this is roughly four times more than an average race weekend, where the staff is approximately 20-25.
*** The roughly 10,000 Continental Tires on hand takes 17 trailers. That number of tires covers both Continental's dry (Gold for all cars except the DeltaWing, which is Black) and wet weather compounds.
Sportscar365.com
FOX Sports
JAN 24, 2015 1:49p ET SHARE 24 TWEET 9 2
The green flag flies for the start of the 2015 24 Hours of Daytona.
John Dagys / SportsCar365.com
The green flag flies for the start of the 2015 24 Hours of Daytona.
Watch LIVE onboard streaming during the Rolex 24 at Daytona by visiting FOXSports.com/tudor.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hour 1 Update:
Scott Dixon leads as the 53rd Rolex 24 at Daytona is underway, but now under the first full caution, from Daytona International Speedway.
Dixon jumped past polesitter Ozz Negri on the start, with Dixon then controlling the pace in the No. 02 Chip Ganassi Racing Riley-Ford until the first round of pit stops.
Although he wasn’t the last of the Prototype leaders to pit on the sequence – that distinction went to the No. 7 Starworks Motorsport Dinan BMW-powered Riley of Rubens Barrichello who stayed out for 43 minutes – Dixon regained the lead once the cycle was complete.
Negri, in the polesitting No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ligier JS P2 Honda was second ahead of the sister No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Riley-Ford and emerging No. 0 DeltaWing DWC13 coupe, the latter of which set the early fastest lap of the race in the hands of Andy Meyrick before Dixon trumped it later on.
> at Daytona International Speedway on January 23, 2015 in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Live video streaming: Catch all the Rolex 24 at Daytona action right here
Scott Pruett was second at the end of the first hour in the No. 01 with Joao Barbosa third in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP, Negri fourth and Meyrick fifth.
The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing and No. 90 VisitFlorida.com Racing Corvette DPs are fighting traction control issues reported in the first hour.
Colin Braun in the No. 54 CORE autosport Oreca FLM09 got the early jump on Prototype Challenge polesitter Johnny Mowlem in the No. 16 BAR1 Motorsports Oreca FLM09 before ceding the lead on the first round of pit stops. Mowlem regained the lead at that point.
The GT Le Mans battle was intense between Gianmaria Bruni, who led most of the first hour in the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia, and polesitter Oliver Gavin in the No. 4 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R.
Gavin and Jan Magnussen in the sister No. 3 Corvette run 1-2 in GTLM at the one-hour mark, with the No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR third.
Beyond those three, two cars in class had issues. The No. 98 Aston Martin Vantage GTE was issued a drive-through penalty for a speeding violation and the No. 912 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR lost six laps from the outset with an alternator change.
Daniel Serra moved to the early lead in GT Daytona in the Brazilian No. 64 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia after starting fifth, with the team car, the No. 63 Ferrari started by Townsend Bell, in second. Polesitter James Davison runs third in the No. 007 TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3.
The first caution flag of the race flew at the 52-minute mark, as Satoshi Hoshino stopped on track on the oval turns 3-4 in the No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Audi R8 LMS, with apparent gearbox issues.
9-11 January, 2015, Daytona Beach, Florida USA
4, Chevrolet, Corvette C7.R, GTLM, Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, Simon Pagenaud
©2015, Richard Dole
LAT Photo USA
Spotters guide: View all 53 cars for the Rolex 24 at Daytona
No caution flew for a few other minor incidents. Shane Lewis spun in the No. 66 RG Racing Riley-BMW in the Bus Stop and caused minor bodywork damage to the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia upon re-entry.
The No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca FLM09 driven by Tom Kimber-Smith spun at the first lap, and the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport Oreca FLM09 had two off-course excursions at the Bus Stop with Renger van der Zande driving.
More issues struck the No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America, which pitted at the first lap to check either suspension or brakes.
Pre-race stories:
*** During Saturday morning's all-driver meeting, IMSA Race Director Beaux Barfield confirmed the two yellow flag procedures to be used -- Standard and Short. Standard full-course cautions will be used in nearly all instances, except the first 15 minutes after the race start and the final 30 minutes, where Short yellows will be used. If situations should occur where multiple cautions occur in immediate succession, the cautions will alternate between Standard and Short -- i.e. if a second yellow followed immediately after the first, the second yellow would be Short.
*** Two cars have been moved to the rear of their respective fields on the official grid. The No. 90 VisitFlorida.com Racing Corvette DP has been moved to the back of the Prototype/Prototype Challenge grid per Article 30.4.1 of the IMSA Regulations. That rule indicates at least one driver did not take part in an Official Session. The No. 93 Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper GT3-R has also been moved to the rear of the overall field per Article 40.2.1 for causing a red flag, when Kuno Wittmer's right rear tire left the car in qualifying. Both he and the car were OK.
*** After failing to set a qualifying time, the No. 1 Tequila Patron ESM HPD ARX-04b will start from the rear of P/PC field and not from the rear of the full field. Today's race marks the first time for the TUDOR Championship to implement split starts between the Prototype and GT categories.
ELKHART LAKE, WI - AUGUST 09: The #555 Ferrari of Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell is shown in action during practice for the IMSA Tudor Series race at Road America on August 9, 2014 in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. (Photo by Brian Cleary/Getty Images)
Ferrari trio seeking Rolex 24 repeat, redemption
*** Per multiple reports, Patrick Dempsey's wife Jillian Fink has filed for divorce from the driver. Dempsey co-drives the No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT America with Jan Heylen, Madison Snow and Phillip Eng for today's race.
*** The DeltaWing will start from fifth place for today's race, but it has been struggling for track time since Andy Meyrick's qualifying effort on Thursday. Persistent gearbox issues have limited the DWC13 coupe to single-digit laps in the last two practice sessions, as the team sorts out the new rear end of the car for this race.
*** Veteran strategist Mike Johnson is a notable absence from any pit box for this year's Rolex 24. This year marks his first time not working the race since 2000; Johnson, long regarded as one of sports car racing's top strategists, has multiple Rolex 24 class wins under his belt.
*** SpeedSource Mazda will have spotters Tim Fedewa and Tyler Green, who were two of the four spotters with Level 5 Motorsports last year.
*** Scuderia Corsa will have Jeff Gordon's and Kevin Harvick's spotters atop the box for them this week. Additionally, the No. 63 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 has the Bosch collision avoidance system -- a radar-based, rear view monitor. This technology was pioneered by Corvette Racing several years ago.
*** Past Rolex 24 overall winners in the field include these 21 drivers: Memo Rojas, Scott Sharp, Ryan Dalziel, Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi, Sebastien Bourdais, Max Angelelli, Max Papis, Jim Pace, John Pew, Ozz Negri, AJ Allmendinger, Mike Rockenfeller, Scott Pruett, Joey Hand, Charlie Kimball, Scott Dixon, Antonio Garcia, Graham Rahal and Jorg Bergmeister. There are multiple other prior class winners in the field.
*** There are 36 rookies making their first Rolex 24 start, with the highest number coming in Prototype Challenge. There are 14 rookies in PC, including Brian Alder, Martin Plowman, Marc Drumwright, Shelby Blackstock, Remo Ruscitti, James French, James Vance, Jerome Mee, Sean Johnston, Andrew Novich, Andrew Palmer, Chris Miller, Stephen Simpson and Mikhail Goikhberg.
*** Performance Tech Motorsports' lineup of French, Vance, Mee and Johnston features an all-rookie lineup, while all other PC cars except those from CORE autosport, Starworks Motorsport and RSR Racing feature at least two rookies per car.
*** GT Daytona also features a high volume of rookies with 13 drivers making their first Rolex 24 start. Those include Matteo Beretta, Michael Lira, Niki Mayr-Melnhof, Ricardo Flores, Christopher Zoechling, Satoshi Hoshino, Tomonobu Fujii, Pasin Lathouras, Phillip Eng, Rory Butcher, Cameron Lawrence, Christoffer Nygaard and Derek DeBoer.
*** The leftover nine Rolex 24 rookies beyond PC's 14 and GTD's 13 include Tor Graves, Phil Keen, Matt McMurry and Ben Devlin in Prototype and Jens Klingmann, Bruno Spengler, Francois Perrodo, Mathias Lauda and Fred Makowiecki in GT Le Mans.
*** Those drivers racing today in the Rolex 24 after being in yesterday's Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge BMW Performance 200 include Andrew Davis, Mark Wilkins, Andy Lally, Cameron Lawrence, Spencer Pumpelly, Jeff Segal, Michael Lira, and Ricardo Flores.
*** Travis Braun, brother of CORE autosport driver Colin and son of SpeedSource competition director Jeff, has a shot to win $1 million if his Super Bowl ad created for the event gets the most votes; he'd also get a feature-writing opportunity with Paramount Pictures. Travis' ad made it to the top 10 from more than 5,000 entries; here's the link to watch and vote.
*** Watch the 53rd Rolex 24 at Daytona on the FOX family of networks, including the first two hours on the FOX network, beginning at 2 p.m. ET. IMSA Radio, meanwhile, will provide flag-to-flag coverage of the race. Click here for full details in Continental Tire's Keys to the Race.
*** Mazda will stream the race as well for all 24 hours. In-car cameras and IMSA Radio will be going all race at MazdaLive.com, beginning at 2 p.m. ET.
*** Continental Tire has 85 people at the Rolex 24 this week to process tires; this is roughly four times more than an average race weekend, where the staff is approximately 20-25.
*** The roughly 10,000 Continental Tires on hand takes 17 trailers. That number of tires covers both Continental's dry (Gold for all cars except the DeltaWing, which is Black) and wet weather compounds.