Autos
PHOTOS: 61st Rolex 24 Sees Biggest Attendance, Ushers in New Hybrids Era
Published
2 years agoon

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (FNN SPORTS) – The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) ignited the auto racing world this weekend with the debut of hybrid engines in the top GTP class. And with IMSA being the only North American series using hybrid technology, all eyes are on the 2023 Rolex 24 At DAYTONA this weekend, boasting its largest crowd for the prestigious endurance race in its 61 years.
The GTP class has four different manufacturers: Acura and Cadillac and, new this year, BMW and Porsche. Lamborghini also plans to enter the series before the end of the year. The top GTP class cars use a hybrid powertrain combined with a traditional internal combustion engine. Given the newness of the the cars and supply chain challenges leading to this point, many are uncertain about the cars’ durability.
“History is being written starting today,” said Bobby Rahal, co-owner of the two BMW GTP entries.

The No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8, one of the new hybrids in this year’s GTP class, prepares to enter the 61st Rolex 24 At DAYTONA at the Daytona International Speedway Saturday, January 28, 2023. Photo: Harry Castiblanco/Florida National News.
Rahal moved up to the top class for the new era, while Roger Penske returned to sports car racing and hopes to take his two Porsches to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. Michael Andretti, meanwhile, partnered with Wayne Taylor Racing to join the grid and a Saturday morning news conference of the seven GTP team owners was comprised of five owners of IndyCar teams.

The No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsports’ Porsche 963 is led to Pit Road before the start of the 61st Rolex 24 At DAYTONA at Daytona International Speedway Saturday, January 28, 2023. Photo: Harry Castiblanco/Florida National News.

This year’s Rolex 24 At DAYTONA drew the race’s largest audience in its 61-year history. Photo: Harry Castiblanco/Florida National News.

The race got more interesting after sunset as the first third of this year’s Rolex 24 AT DAYTONA came to a close showcasing the new hybrid GPT cars from BMW and Porsche (pictured, with Lambourghini at left). Photo: Harry Castiblanco/Florida National News.
All the GTP team owners, who spoke with the media at Daytona International Speedway Saturday (see full press conference below), stressed the importance of IMSA, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) and the Federation International de l’Automobile (FIA) merging rules that has widened IMSA’s participation and given North American sports car teams a chance to race Le Mans.
“This seems to be a real platform for us to take sports car racing to the next level here in the United States,” said Penske, “and then to be able to compete on the international platform at Le Mans for our teams and our brands will be special. I look at competing with these folks as going to be terrific.”
The GTP Hybrids Hold Up in the First Eight Hours
Only two of the nine GTP hybrids fell out of contention within the first eight hours of the race Saturday. One of Rahal’s BMW cars had a mechanical problem in the first hour of the race and dropped out.
The second hybrid to go was the second-level LMP2 class ORECA LMP2 07, driven by Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin (known on social media as the “Bus Bros.”), and up-and-comer Kyffin Simpson, for Tower Motorsports. John Farano, who owns the car, was driving it in the first hour Saturday and, according to McLaughlin, a water bottle leaked onto the electronic control issue to cause the car to stall.
Watch this space for the winner to be announced Sunday.
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Mellissa Thomas is Editor for Florida National News. | mellissa.thomas@floridanationalnews.com
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2023 DAYTONA 200: Josh Herrin Claws Back from Penalty to Snatch Victory
Published
2 years agoon
March 11, 2023
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (FNN) – Josh Herrin rallied back from the 7th position in a ten-lap restart to defeat Josh Hayes by .070 seconds in the 81st running of the DAYTONA 200, the annual single-man motorcycle endurance race.
Josh Herrin started strong and held the lead for most of the race. Two racers crashed out early, but things didn’t really get disruptive until the race got down to less than 10 laps remaining.
The most notable crash of the race was Herrin’s contact with Richie Escalante, who had been keeping up with Herrin for the majority of the race. The contact sent Escalante sliding off the track–and out of the running–with just eight laps to go. Escalante attempted to lift the bike up to get back on it, but there was no chance remaining for him to get back in the race. Seeing his chance of victory lost, he slammed his gloves to the ground as he removed them.
The call of whether the contact was an intentional push or race incident was tricky because when played back in slow motion, the collision looks incidental since Escalante had leaned in a bit too far and then just barely lifted back up at the last second while Herrin went wide in the turn as he was sometimes doing throughout the race. However, when played back in real time, it looks like Herrin intentionally went wide to knock Escalante out. The collision went under review.
Despite the brief break after Escalante’s crash, Herrin regained the lead. With five laps remaining, Teagg Hobbs crashed into Jason Waters, causing a red flag. After the red flag period, Herrin got penalized for his collision with Escalante by dropping six positions to the number seven spot. Five laps were added, making it a 10-lap race for the restart.
Ultimately, Herrin was penalized six positions to start at seventh for the restart. Herrin confessed he wasn’t sure he could make it to the end, given the amount of pain he was in, but he heard the struggling conditions of several other racers, since they couldn’t switch out tires during the red flag period, and give it all he had.
“After 15 years of trying I finally got it right,” Herrin said. “This is by far my favorite event that I ever get to race. It’s the one race a year where we really see the teamwork that goes on.”
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Mellissa Thomas is Editor for Florida National News. | mellissa.thomas@floridanationalnews.com
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