Chip Harp, Valdosta Today Sports Feature Writer
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY — The start of the 2016 Weather Tech SportsCar Championship launched into full gear as Daytona hosted the annual Roar before the Rolex 24 Hours testing event over the weekend.
The annual dress rehearsal before the season-opening Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona showcased cars from 4 categories over a 3-day period at the newly-renovated Daytona International Speedway.
North America’s premier sports car racing series featured dozens of new cars this season, many taking their first run at the high banks of Daytona. This massive stadium circuit with its high banked turns is the only like it’s kind in the world related to top-level sports car racing.
The top-level prototype category saw the Honda-powered Tequila Patrón ESM Ligier JS P2 earn the fastest lap time of 1:49.249.
“I really did not expect be here (atop the speed chart),” driver Pipo Derani said. “This is my first time at Daytona, and it’s a unique place with a lot of history. It’s a pleasure to be part of this event for the first time. This is my first time doing sports car racing in the U.S., and I’m having fun.”
The SMP team from Russia, whose cars has featured on the podium at Le Mans more than once, also fared well in their first trip to Daytona in their Paolo Catone-designed LM P2 Prototype. The car is driven by Nicolas Minassian and Maurizio Mediani, the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) P2 titlists. They also got help from Russians Mikhail Aleshin and Kirill Ladygin.
“This is our first time here with the car, but the team is very fired up,” said Minassian. “We’re going to give it our best. In the back of our head you always want to win. It’s a long race, and anything can happen. We’ve got a good crew, and all the team has lots of experience. I’m expecting us to be at the front.”
In the GT categories, which features road cars, the factory Corvette team took fastest laps among GTLM cars, beating out teams from BMW, Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Audi, and the new Ford GT, which debuted here. It was an impressive showing, none-the-less for the new Ford supercar, as it posted the second-best time.
Mike Rockenfeller led the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class with a lap of 1:45.256 (121.760 mph) in the Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R co-driven by defending Rolex 24 class winners Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia. This team also won its class at Le Mans last year.
“We always want more track time,” said Magnussen, whose son drives Formula One for the Williams Martini Racing team. “This weekend was very good. The weather gave us a chance to carry on with some things that may help us in the race. We have a good baseline and I’m sure the Corvette engineers will make the right decisions to put us in an even better position for the Rolex 24.”
Fabled Italian car maker Lamborghini also made their debut. Fabio Babini turned Saturday’s fastest GT Daytona (GTD) lap of 1:48.309 in the Konrad Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3.
For sports car racing fans, the Roar event at Daytona is an annual treat, showcasing some of the fastest sports cars in the world, with some of the world’s best drivers at the wheel, including Formula One and world endurance champions. The event allows fans to mingle with the drivers, teams, and best, the cars, upclose and personal, with access like few other venues. As always, it provides an enticing preview to the famous Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona coming later this month.
