Updated story with video: taking heart in Daytona
Despite a tough start to our 2018 race programme, Daytona lay firm foundations for the season ahead
The round-the-clock spectacular of Daytona has wrapped for another year, and it was a challenging season opener in the Weathertech IMSA for our colleagues in the Motorsport team, as you can see from the video below.
The two factory Porsche 911 RSRs showed real promise in practice and qualifying, locking out the second row with an impressive turn of speed and leading the field in the first third of the race. Unfortunately, in a race punctuated by minor offs and adverse weather, this pace proved hard to maintain.
The faster of the two cars, No. 911 driven by Pilet, Tandy and Makowiecki, enjoyed a strong start before contact at the bus stop forced it to pit for repairs on two separate occasions. The car battled on bravely through the night but was unable to claw its way back through the field, finishing 8th.
The sister car of Bamber, Vanthoor and Bruni fared a little better, finishing 6th behind the dominant Ford GTs, Corvettes and sole Ferrari, but for everyone in the teams it was a frustrating weekend. A remarkable lack of incidents and corresponding appearances of the safety car (four this year compared to 21 in 2017) meant that once a lead was established there were no real chance to close it down and the Fords pulled away.
It may not have been how we wanted to mark our 50th outing at the iconic Florida meet, but there were plenty of positives to take into the rest of the season, as Briton Nick Tandy observed: “After such an unfortunate race we have to look at things in a positive light. For instance, one positive aspect is that the team pulled together as one unit this week. Everyone knew what they had to do. Plus we didn’t have any problems during free practice and were going well early on in the race. We now need to build on this. Daytona is an important race, there’s no question about that, but the season has only just begun.”
The teams are looking south towards Sebring now, where the 66th 12 Hours will be held on the rough and ready former air force base on March 17th. It’s a long season ahead, both in IMSA and WEC, and we suspect there is much more to come from the RSRs.
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Comments (5)
You established a good foundation at Daytona. Next you start building the walls and finish the roof at end of season with the Championship. No point in trying to build a house with the roof first
Thanks, Ian. I think everyone agrees it was a tough 24 hour race, but there’s plenty to build on. Watch this space ...^BJWS
Hey guyz, U are the one who took the cup of LeMans and alike times. U will win the next race. You guyz will win it, With no doubt. Me and lots of others reserved two places of the first three for RSRs in the next race. That's the 911, and it's a Porsche. Ich Wünsche eine gross Sieg für nächster Rennen.
Thanks! We’ll be reporting from Bathurst this weekend where we’re working alongside the privateer teams. ^BJWS
Nice to hear that. It's your rule but, never give up😎😎😎😎😎😍😍😍😍😍