DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Story by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — Extreme Speed Motorsports photo —
After 24 hours of twists, turns, thrilling moments for some and gutting heartbreaks for others, a new chapter of sports car lore was written at the Daytona International Speedway, as Honda Performance Development won their first-ever overall crown as a manufacturer in the Rolex 24 at Daytona on Sunday afternoon.
Carried by 22-year-old Luis Felipe “Pipo” Derani in the No. 2 Tequila Patron/Extreme Speed Motorsports Honda-HPD Ligier JS P2 Prototype — co-driven by Scott Sharp, Ed Brown and Johannes van Overbeek — the HPD squad dominated the final two hours of the event. They ultimately passed the No. 10 Konica Minolta/Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP of Ricky Taylor with one hour, 44 minutes of race time remaining, and Derani then held off both Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli over the final two stints to notch the historic victory for his team.
The race winning entry crossed the stripe having completed 736 laps around the 3.564-mile road course encompassing both the infield and the stock car oval at DIS, with a 26.166 second margin of victory over Angelelli as it flashed underneath the checkered flag.
For the young Brazilian, it was his first-career Rolex 24 victory in his first-ever professional attempt on American soil, a result that left him emotional in Gatorade Victory Lane as he climbed on the roof of the green-and-black Prototype and pumped his fists in celebration.
“I have no idea what I’ve just done!” an enthusiastic Derani said in victory lane. “I have no words [for this]. It’s just incredible. All of these guys have worked so incredibly hard the whole month since the Roar and it’s kind of unreal to be [standing] here. [My] first-ever race in America and my first-ever win [here]. Amazing!”
20 years ago, Sharp and Wayne Taylor teamed in a Doyle Racing Oldsmobile to win the 1996 running of the endurance classic. This time around, with the senior Taylor as a team owner and Sharp behind the wheel of the rival ESM machine, the two went toe-to-toe … with Sharp a part of the four-man squad that came out on top.
“Wow, this is unbelievable,” Sharp smiled. “This has been a complete team effort. To think that we went from where we were at the end of last year in [our last race in] Bahrain to where we are now — all the changes, additions and everything else — it’s an unbelievable feeling. What a way to start the season off!”
For Brown and Van Overbeek, Sunday was their first-ever overall win at the Rolex as well alongside rookie Derani, making the celebration special for all involved on the Tequila Patron team.
“I’ll tell you, that was the hardest 24 hours of my life,” Brown admitted. “When you’re not in the car, you’re so nervous that something will happen because [auto racing] is the cruelest sport ever, but the team did unbelievable and like my teammates have said, it’s an amazing feeling.”
“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” van Overbeek added. “I’ve come so close to winning this race a couple of times and to finally do it overall, with these guys — words can’t describe it.”
Behind the Wayne Taylor Racing entry that also saw F1 star Rubens Barrichello take time at the controls, the No. 90 VisitFlorida.com/Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP co-driven by Ryan Dalziel, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marc Goossens rounded out the overall and Prototype podium by finishing third, the last car on the lead lap.
Despite a rear axle issue that lost them five laps in the garage area with three hours to go, the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP of five-time Rolex 24 champion Scott Pruett, Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Filipe Albuquerque hung on to finish fourth and the No. 01 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Riley DP (Lance Stroll/Alex Wurz/Brendon Hartley/Andy Priaulx) rounded out the top five, 11 laps in arrears.
This year’s Rolex 24 was also notable for the myriad of early-race problems that took out multiple top contenders for the overall victory.
2016’s early-race leaders, the No. 0 DeltaWing Coupe, crashed out four hours into the event with Andy Meyrick driving after it lead 29 of the race’s first 119 laps. The retirement came due to heavy contact with the stalled No. 8 Starworks Motorsport PC entry in turn one of the road course — an incident many afterwards said should have necessitated a full-course caution.
The defending race-winning No. 02 Ford EcoBoost/Riley DP from Chip Ganassi Racing went out with a brake problem eight hours into the race on Saturday night, running second at the time with IndyCar star Tony Kanaan at the wheel. An hour later, the No. 60 Honda Ligier JS P2 from Michael Shank Racing pulled off with engine problems while leading the race.
Then, midday on Sunday, the No. 02 had brake woes again, with NASCAR regular Kyle Larson crashing as a result and putting the car out for good.
Behind the overall battle for the win, the race’s most electric duels took place in the two Grand Touring (GT) classes, where nothing was decided even coming off of turn four on the final lap.
In GT Le Mans (GTLM), the two Corvette Racing factory C7.Rs were turned loose with a half hour to go and “allowed to race” for the win amongst each other. Over the better part of the final 17 laps, the No. 4 driven by Oliver Gavin and the No. 3 of Antonio Garcia ran in lock-step formation, never more than a car length or two apart as they diced in and out of traffic.
Lap 719 in class, however, was the moment that shocked everyone in attendance.
With three minutes to go, Garcia got a run on the banking exiting NASCAR turn four and made a daring move to the outside of Gavin coming through the tri-oval. While he was able to cut across the nose of the No. 4 for the lead entering turn one of the road course, Garcia locked up the brakes and slid wide — allowing Gavin to power back to the inside and retake the lead for good.
Though Garcia got one final run entering the tri-oval and coming to the line, the bottom lane prevailed as Gavin held off his teammate by 0.034 of a second to claim Corvette Racing’s first North American sports car victory since 2013.
“It was crazy,” Gavin, whose career-best Rolex class finish was third a year ago, said of the final stint. “Antonio was coming so quickly — I think he had fresher tires — and I knew I was going to have a battle on my hands. When he caught me and got a little bit of a tow (draft), he tried to pass me on the outside going into turn one and almost got on the long stuff [going] sideways.”
“I was still trying to get the spot back while trying not to touch him, and it was as close as it could be without contact, but he’s a fantastic teammate and I wouldn’t have wanted to race anyone else for the win. It was a brilliant drive for the entire team.”
Tommy Milner and Marcel Fassler joined Gavin on the winning GTLM squad, while Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller aided Garcia in that car’s runner-up finish in class.
The No. 912 Porsche North America 911 RSR, driven by Earl Bamber, Michael Christensen and Frédéric Makowiecki, rounded out the GTLM class podium in third.
The GT Daytona (GTD) finish came down not to race heroics, but fuel mileage, as Rene Rast milked every last drop of E10 fuel out of his No. 44 Magnus Racing Audi R8 over the final two laps en route to scoring the class victory for the perennial series contenders and former champions.
While Italian Fabio Babini streaked by and took over the top spot with nine minutes and 14 seconds to go (at lap 697 in class), the Konrad Motorsport Lanborghini Huracan GT3 began sputtering four laps later and ceded the battle back to Rast, who coasted home on fumes to share the win (his second at Daytona) with Andy Lally (who scored his fifth Daytona class win), John Potter and Marco Seefried.
“I think it was one of the hardest races I’ve ever run in, but it was one of my best [performances] ever as well,” Rast said of the win. “It was an epic race. We had a tough fight with the entire field. I was saving fuel the whole last stint, and somehow we had enough to make it to the end. This Audi was great and it was such a fun Rolex 24.”
The Black Swan Racing No. 540 Porsche 911 GT3-R (Andy Pilgrim/Patrick Long/Timothy Pappas/Nicky Catsburg) came home as the GTD runner-up, trailed by the No. 93 Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper GT3-R (Ben Keating/Jeff Mosing/Eric Foss/Gar Robinson/Damien Faulkner) in third.
And while the Prototype Challenge (PC) lead never changed hands again once the JDC-Miller Motorsports No. 85 ORECA FLM09 took the top spot shortly after the halfway point, the end result was still emotional for Kenton Koch, who drove the final stint en route to a four lap victory over his nearest challenger.
“I think this win means a lot to everyone, to be honest,” Koch admitted as he fought back tears. “I’m pretty speechless right now. It’s hard not to cry. This is what the Mazda Road to the 24 is all about. I came through Mazda’s ladder system five years ago and took it step by step … and now we’re here and we freaking won! It’s pretty cool.”
Koch, whose mother Karen received a heart transplant just prior to the Rolex 24 one year ago, shared in the spoils of victory with co-drivers Chris Miller, Stephen Simpson and Misha Goikhberg.
“I had just gotten released from the hospital at this time a year ago, and we were sitting on the couch and I said ‘Kenton, maybe one day you’ll be there,'” Karen Koch explained. “We just didn’t see this happening a year later. I’m so thankful that I’m here now — I feel amazing — and this has been a wonderful opportunity for Kenton. We’re all so grateful for everything that’s happened this weekend.”
Second in class was the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports ride of Robert Alon, Tom Kimber-Smith, Jose Gutierrez and Nicholas Boulle; and third went to the No. 20 BAR1 Motorsports mount driven by Tomy Drissi, Brendan Gaughan, Johnny Mowlem, Ricardo Vera and Marc Drumwright.
Leaders in the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup after the first of four rounds (Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen and Road Atlanta) include Extreme Speed Motorsports (P), JDC-Miller Motorsports and PR1-Mathiasen Motorsports (PC, tie), Corvette Racing (GTLM) and a four-way tie in GTD that includes the race-winning Magnus Racing entry.
Round two of the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring fueled by Fresh from Florida, takes place March 16-19 at Sebring International Raceway.
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 21-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: speed77radio@gmail.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
Email Race Chaser Online: news@racechaseronline.com
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