Photo: Jurgen Tap/Porsche
***All 60 cars competing in this weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona assembled for the now-traditional group photo on Wednesday morning on the Daytona International Speedway tri-oval. Simultaneously, some 228 helmets from the drivers competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener were used for photoshoot in victory lane.
***Risi Competizione, which is making its Michelin Endurance Cup return after a year away while assisting DragonSpeed, has confirmed Daniel Serra and Davide Rigon as drivers for all five of the races this year in its GTD Pro class Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo. They’re joined by reigning FIA World Endurance Hypercar champion Alessandro Pier Guidi this weekend.
***The No. 62 Ferrari is sporting a special Ferrari North American Racing Team (NART) logo on the door, honoring the Luigi Chinetti-owned Ferrari team that won the 1962 and 1963 editions of the race, then known as the Daytona Continental, with the likes of Phil Hill and Pedro Rodriguez with Ferrari 250 GTO machinery.
***Jack Aitken and Alexander Sims completed a Detroit media tour earlier this week, having attended a Detroit Pistons NBA game against the Boston Celtics on Monday evening with courtside seats, courtesy of the Detroit Grand Prix, before joining selected NTT IndyCar Series drivers, including fellow Rolex 24 driver Kyffin Simpson, for the Detroit GP Racing Day at the Detroit Auto Show on Tuesday.
***Sims said: “It’s been great fun. It started off last night with the NBA game with the Pistons playing in a pretty tight contest. Being courtside for that was a really cool experience. Today, to see the Auto Show for the first time, see all the cars on display and all the amazing GM products is really nice. To meet some of the IndyCar guys, meet the fans, do some hot laps, see some smiles on some faces, it’s been really good fun.”
***Several other Rolex 24 drivers, meanwhile, remained active behind the wheel with both McLaren Team RLL driver Nikita Johnson and Enzo Fittipaldi, of Pratt Miller Motorsports, completed a two-day pre-season Indy NXT test at Sebring International Raceway.
***IMSA’s managing director of engineering Matt Kurdock confirmed to Sportscar365 that there will be no Balance of Performance adjustments prior to this weekend’s Rolex 24, with the BoP tables in GTP, and GTD Pro/GTD remaining unchanged since the Roar.
***The sanctioning body, meanwhile, declared the Michelin Pilot Sport Endurance Soft compound will be permitted in the race from 5 p.m. on Sunday through 10 a.m. on Sunday in the GTP class. “The use of Soft tire sets on track beyond the limits of the pit exit and pit entry loops is prohibited outside of the timeframe stated,” the competition bulletin read. Michelin’s Medium compound will be permitted at all times during the race unless the race director declares the use of wet weather tires.
***Ben Barker is making his long-awaited Rolex 24 debut, one year after being replaced by NASCAR star Austin Cindric in Ford Multimatic Motorsports’ lineup after the Englishman broke his collarbone from a snowboarding accident over the holiday break.
***Barker and fellow Ford Racing co-driver Dennis Olsen are set for their first full-season WeatherTech Championship campaigns, with Barker’s previous most comprehensive season having come in 2014 when he was in GB Autosport’s Porsche 911 GT America for a six-race campaign. Olsen, meanwhile, said he’s visited all tracks on the calendar except for the downtown Detroit street course and Virginia International Raceway. Both come from LMGT3 competition in the WEC.
***Olsen told Sportscar365: “Obviously WEC is a super nice championship as well but to me, my favorite is absolutely IMSA. It’s one of the best championships I can race in. I just love the tracks and the atmosphere in the paddock. I’m excited to be here with Ford and Multimatic, it’s going to be exciting.”
***Frederic Vervisch, who along with Olsen and Christopher Mies, enter the race as defending GTD Pro class winners, revealed to Sportscar365 the Ford Mustang GT3 EVO was not in final specification when it ran in last November’s IMSA-sanctioned test. The Belgian said the car’s original aero package was the “weak link” with the updates aimed to solve many of the previous issues,
***Vervisch said: “Clearly Laguna [Seca] was a real disaster for us and has been the last two years. We expect to be better there. I think we won’t be at the top but at least we will be more in the fight. That’s a track with high-speed corners where we should be better. That was the major weakness. There were other things, like mechanical parts and brakes, but the main gain should come from the aero.”
***Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Farley will be competing in the Historic Sportscar Racing IMSA Classic race on Saturday morning at the wheel of a Riley & Scott Mk IIIC prototype.
***The Bud Moore Engineering BOSS 302 Mustang that was driven by Parnelli Jones and George Follmer in the 1969 Trans-Am season, which has served as inspiration for the throwback livery on the No. 16 Myers Riley Motorsports Mustang, is on-site this weekend. The car is part of the 3 Dog Garage collection.
***Both of the Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.Rs are sporting the message ‘Thinking of You Bernard’ near the airbox of the cars, as a show of support for Bernard Tilanus, a longtime friend of co-owner Wayne Taylor, who also raced in their native South Africa. Tilanus, 82, is understood to be seriously ill.
***The third annual IMSA Technology Symposium is set to take place on Friday morning at the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, adjacent to the speedway. Hosted by NBC Sports’ Leigh Diffey, panelists will include leadership from Bosch, General Motors, Honda Racing Corporation, Michelin, NASA and IMSA. This year’s symposium will address how Automotive and Technology partners are focusing on IMSA as a place to develop the next generation of mobility solutions.
***A new racing film “2DIE4” featuring Porsche Penske Motorsport driver Felipe Nasr and filmed through his three last editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, will be showing this weekend at the CMX Cinemas Daytona & IMAX. Written, directed and edited by the Abdala brothers, the film is set to become the first Latin-American feature to debut on IMAX.
***The IMSA Twenty-Four Premier at One Daytona, a free-of-charge fan-filled preview event to the Rolex 24, is set for this evening from 5:30-8 p.m., located directly across the street from the speedway, and will feature selected race cars competing this weekend, driver autograph sessions, pit stop demonstrations and more. Among the cars that will be on display is the road-going Porsche 963 RSP.
***Official WeatherTech Championship track action kicks off with a 90-minute practice session on Thursday at 10:05 a.m. ET, followed by qualifying from 2:10-3:25 p.m. (Live, Peacock/IMSA YouTube Channel), and night practice from 6:15-7:45 p.m.
Jamie Klein contributed to this report
John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John
