ESM SQUAD FAST BUT UNFORTUNATE IN ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA

Daytona International Speedway, Daytona, FL, USA – While the Nissan-powered ESM team may be disappointed to not finish this year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, the team displayed impressive pace that showed it would again be a strong contender in 2018.

Both the No. 2 and No. 22 machines were forced to charge from the back of the prototype pack after a precautionary pre-session engine change for the No. 2 and a crash in qualifying for the No. 22 entry.

However, once the green flag dropped both were quickly on the move. The No. 2 of Ryan Dalziel moved from 20th to 10th before his first pit stop on lap 20 while Nicolas Lapierre was all the way up to third place when he stopped a lap later after starting 18th.

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The No. 22 Nissan-powered entry led the race twice and both cars enjoyed extended runs in second place during the endurance classic.

Lapierre also held the fastest lap of the race for more than five hours. His time of 1:37.570 on lap 59 ended being the second fastest lap of the race overall.

The progress for both cars was hindered by tyre issues which was being experienced by much of the prototype field – both the No. 2 and No. 22 cars forced to make unscheduled pit stops.

The Rolex 24 turned out to be a race of attrition with very few yellow flags and the overall record for the race distance completely obliterated.

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Of the 20 prototype entries, only eight cars made it to the chequered flag without significant delays from mechanical issues or contact.

For the No. 2 of Dalziel, Scott Sharp and Olivier Pla, their race came to an end in the early morning at 3:00 amwhen the car succumbed to gearbox failure.

Sadly, before sunrise on lap 438 the No. 22 was also forced out of the race with a turbo oil line leak.

“Wow. I feel horrible for the entire Tequila Patrón ESM team - for Patron, Onroak, Nissan and of course all of the guys,” Scott Sharp said.

“Both cars really came alive during the race and we all felt if we could just stay out of trouble we could be contenders at the end. It’s such a shame.”

The team will now turn its attention to the Twelve Hours of Sebring scheduled for March 17.

"It was really hard to retire after such a team effort,” Lapierre said.

“We fought to come back after a few punctures, and we had the pace to fight for the win. From today, we will focus on the Twelve Hours of Sebring.”