Throughout the process that began with the merger of NASCAR-owned Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series, the brainchild of Don Panoz, there have been more than a few detractors, people in the media suggesting that the unified series would never come to fruition.
There were complaints about the schedule – Kansas Speedway’s road course/oval circuit instead of historic Lime Rock Park – about the racing classes – the abolishment of the flagship P1 category and making the Grand-Am Daytona Prototypes the top prototype machines in the series – and the myriad rule changes that were either alien to those competing formerly in Grand-Am or to those in ALMS competition.
Of course, the process of putting together a new series by taking the best parts of two successful series’ – albeit ones that were competing against one another, thus diluting the niche fan base that sports car racing in North America has – and making an even better one is not easy. There were all sorts of struggles, and the powers-that-be in Daytona Beach had a massive task in appeasing everyone from drivers, team-owners, tyre manufacturers and factory engine makes.
All of which makes last weekend’s 52nd Rolex 24 at Daytona’s exciting race even more of an outstanding triumph. Everything had to come together in a short period of time and, for the most part, it was a successful construction. Aside from the horrendous crash that consumed the #99 Bob Stallings Racing Daytona Prototype and the Ferrari F458 GT Le Mans car driven by Matteo Malucelli early on, and the controversy surrounding the finish and placing of the GT-Daytona category, there was plenty to like about the long-awaited debut of the United Sportscar Championship. More to like, perhaps, than some of the most vocal critics wanted to see. Those pundits are doubtless eating a serve of humble pie as you read this article.
Where to start? Fittingly, with those who took the checkered flag, went to Victory Lane and were presented with their commemorative Rolex watches. The 2014 edition of the Rolex 24 had everything, including – most importantly – a popular winner, the #5 Action Express Racing Chevrolet Corvette DP, driven Portuguese ace Joao Barbosa and Brazilian Christian Fittipaldi, with accomplished French racer Sebastien Bourdais. The victors of the 2014 edition of Daytona’s sports car classic
The third driver in the winning car, Bourdais, an Indycar race winner and a four-time winner of the now-defunct ChampCar World Series, will long be remembered for his entrance into the pits to hand over to Barbosa for the closing stint, Coming in just sideways and at great speed, it's a maneuver that will become the stuff of Daytona legend.
The Action Express Corvette was the first of more than sixty prototypes and Grand Touring machines. It’s been many years since Daytona has seen such a stacked field. The factory Corvette team returned to the Rolex 24 for the first time since 2001, and other classic, iconic makes like Aston Martin and Viper SRT returned to South Florida to complete a heavenly array of the best performance race cars in the world.
Attrition was down on what we’ve seen in recent years, which is an impressive feat given that a lot of the cars – particularly the Delta Wing and every single Prototype Challenge model – had never before run a 24-hour race, and many had never done so in the unforgiving Daytona International Speedway course. Reliable calls were a hallmark of the race this year.
The Gidley/Malucelli crash horrendous. Gidley, in a fast Daytona Prototype, smashed into the back of the Ferrari, driving much slower because of a mechanical issue, resulting in the destruction of both cars. Gidley had no idea the F458 was there until a car he was following moved out of the way, and then it was too late, the #99 Corvette DP ploughing hard into the back of the Ferrari.
It was as frightening an accident as we’ve see at Daytona in a long time. Gidley had to be cut from the car, and it seemed serious enough that no replays were being shown on FOX Sports, leading some to speculate on Gidley’s condition.
Thankfully, our worst fears were not realised, for Gidley survived, and has undergone a number of surgeries in the week since. He has a long road to recovery, of course, but that he’s with us at all is a powerful testament to how strongly cars are built these days. Who knows? A decade earlier, and we might’ve been mourning Gidley’s life and career. Luckily, Malucelli escaped serious injury, and the race went on without the pall of gloom that settled over the 24 Hours of Le Mans last year after Alan Simonsen’s death.
What I hated most was the after-race penalty called on the Level 5 Motorsports Ferrari, which took the checkered flag on GT-Daytona, but was given a time penalty, which dropped it down the order following a late race ‘avoidable contact’ incident – in which there was, importantly, no contact – with the Flying Lizard Racing Audi R8 driven by Marcus Winklehock, who was going all-or-nothing for the Rolex 24 class victory.
The two cars had a side-by-side moment, and the Audi R8 was forced off into the dirt, giving the Level 5 Motorsports Ferrari the much needed breathing space to go on and record the win. The Lizard Audi was temporarily crowned GT-D winner, before an IMSA review changed it again. That’s three different results in about two hours: Ferrari across the line, Audi on penalty, Ferrari after an investigation overturned the penalty.
At the end of the day, yes, the penalty was rescinded, but that’s not the point here. Really, there should have been no penalty at all. On the last lap of the biggest race of the Tudor Series, surely some slack could be cut. The fact that there was not even a slight touch between the two cars should have been enough for the officials to not even levy the call in the first place. I’m not sure what their thinking was.
The FOX Sports broadcasters correctly indicated it was a bad call. All the drivers in the booth said they would have done the same thing. Justin Bell made the best point of all, wondering how on earth a penalty could be given for someone overtaking you around the outside of a left-hand corner. It was the natural wash of cars around a corner that pushed the Audi into the dirt, not any bad or illegal move by the Ferrari. Thankfully, sanity prevailed. None of this should take away from the brave attempt by Winklehock. That was super stuff, just not quite successful.
Equally frustrating was the sketchy caution flag thrown late in the race for a car that, granted, had run off the track, but seemed in little danger of not being able to get back on and continue the race. Talk about an itchy flag finger! There was no damage, and we’d seen no caution flags thrown for vehicles in worse positions on the track throughout the previous twenty-three hours.
It smacked of NASCAR machinations, the way that racing series often finds debris late in the race or when the field is strung out to manufacture a finish. Please, let’s not have this become a regular thing in sports car racing. It spoilt what had been a gripping last three or four hours, and it would have been a shame had the Action Express team not taken a deserved victory for that Corvette DP was clearly the class of the field when it mattered: deep into the race.
As good as the cars were, how about the drivers? The grid for the 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona was perhaps the strongest grid that has assembled for the endurance classic since the glory days of the event, decades ago. To have a stellar line-up of Indycar, NASCAR and American-born sports car drivers alongside a stellar contingent from Europe and further abroad – Australia – ensured the first Tudor Series race was a memorable event. There seemed to be competition at every corner, with drivers from all walks of life battling constantly for position. Tough work for those behind the wheel, most certainly, but thrilling viewing for fans in the infield and at home on television.
Perhaps the most pleasing aspect was the crowd. Veteran observers determined that it was one of the biggest ever seen at Daytona for a twenty-four hour event. Sure, you didn’t see them in speedway’s towering grandstands, the location of choice when there’s a NASCAR race on, but they were there in their tens of thousands in the infield, all around the track. Campgrounds had been booked out months in advance, and slots for recreational vehicles were hard to come by, too. By all accounts, there aren’t many better experiences in racing, save the wild campgrounds at Le Mans, than camping out in the Floridian winter for the Rolex 24.
Even on social media, there was a buzz, with teams, drivers, officials and journalists all tweeting their opinions and impressions of the race. Will Buxton, an F1 reporter who works primarily with the NBC Sports Group, mentioned that the level of interaction for the Rolex 24 was akin to what he sees for a Formula One Grand Prix.
That proves there is definitely a market for sports car racing in North America, and great potential moving forward, with the 12 Hours of Sebring next on the calendar. The merged series can only get better, as fans perhaps alienated by the ALMS vs. Grand-Am battle, may return. Certainly, social media buzz is important, and will make the Tudor Series very happy.
There’s no doubt that some things need to be sorted out. The end of the GT-D race, with the Level 5 Motorsports Ferrari winning across the line before being penalised, and finally reinstated, was poorly handled by the IMSA officials, in that there should never have been a penalty in the first place.
The entire drama led to plenty of interesting comment from drivers on Twitter, whose main concern was how foolish the series looked, so there is improvement necessary before the series heads to Sebring for the traditional twelve-hour race on the classic airport circuit.
All in all, though, a good start for the new series – and the best is yet to come!
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