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By Mark Robinson
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – If the first quarter of the Rolex 24 At Daytona is any indication of the rest of the race and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, it’s going to be a year to remember.
The opening six hours of the famous endurance race Saturday featured no-holds-barred competition from the drop of the green flag. Instead of biding their time and patiently waiting for the final hours, drivers and teams in all five classes turned up the wick early and often as day turned to night.
Five of the seven entries in the top class, Daytona Prototype international (DPi), took a turn at the front. The six-hour mark represented the first juncture where points were awarded in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. The leaders at the time were: the No. 5 Mustang Sampling/JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac DPi-V.R in DPi; the No. 11 WIN Autosport ORECA LMP2 07 in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2); the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier JS P320 in the new Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) class; the No. 4 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R in GT Le Mans (GTLM); and the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R in GT Daytona (GTD).
Flag-to-flag coverage of the iconic Rolex 24 continues throughout the night on the array of NBC Sports platforms. Tune in to the NBC Sports App until 11 p.m. ET. Coverage then moves to NBCSN from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. before returning to the NBC Sports App from 3-6 a.m.
As daylight breaks in Daytona Beach, live coverage shifts to NBCSN from 6 a.m.- 2 p.m. before the dramatic concluding hours are broadcast from 2-4 p.m. on NBC. The checkered flag will wave at about 3:40 p.m. The entire race streams on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold.
DPi Highlights: Johnson Revels Being in Car when Green Flag Waves
By Holly Cain
For the first time in his heralded career, NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson was tabbed as the driver to start the Rolex 24, in his eighth appearance. Johnson started the No. 48 Ally Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi from the sixth position and was running second when he pitted for the team’s first driver change a little less than two hours later.
Even with his face was covered by a mask for his post-stint Zoom news conference, the joy was apparent in Johnson’s face. His eyes revealed it had been an exciting start to his race.
"It’s just so much fun to be back in this race and to have an opportunity to drive for Action Express and to have my former sponsor with Ally on board and (former NASCAR crew chief) Chad Knaus is here and Jeff Gordon,” Johnson said.
"The prerace, although I did miss the fans not being there, there was just a great energy to be standing there knowing I was getting ready to start this amazing event. I’ve never had the honor to start in this race before, so a lot of really cool emotions, memories and thoughts I’ll never forget.”
Johnson conceded to having "butterflies" in his stomach walking to the grid but was pleased with his opening effort in the car.
"Nerves were probably a little higher than I wanted them to be, but at the same time I did look around and realize what I was getting ready to do and tried to savor as much as possible,” Johnson said.
The race start wasn’t as kind to the No. 55 Mazda Motorsports Mazda DPi, which suffered a double whammy of bad luck in the opening hour. First, the car would not start when the command was given. Once it was fired, driver Oliver Jarvis had to take the green flag from the back of the field. When Jarvis made his first pit stop some 40 minutes into the 24-hour race, he was cited for a pit-lane speeding violation and assessed a drive-through penalty. Still, the Mazda remained in contention at the six-hour mark, a single lap back.
Albuquerque Awed by Intense Early Action
By Jeff Olson
During the opening hours of the race, Filipe Albuquerque considered asking engineer Brian Pillar for some popcorn. The view of the wild racing in front of him was that good.
"They were banging doors," Albuquerque said. "I was like, ‘This is early.’ They were going wide. It was tough. … I had a little contact, unfortunately, with GTDs and LMP3s. They don’t know really where to go sometimes because there are so many cars. But the car is fine."
Albuquerque started fifth in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R and was fourth when he was replaced by Ricky Taylor some two hours and 25 minutes into the race. Taylor quickly put the No. 10 car, which Taylor and Albuquerque share with Alexander Rossi and Helio Castroneves, into the lead.
After the harrowing beginning, Albuquerque made a prediction.
"It’s going to be about who makes the least mistakes," he said.
Opening Stint Has Pagenaud Pumped
By Jeff Olson
Simon Pagenaud had one thought when he got out of the car.
"I’ll tell you what, I’m jacked right now," he said. "I’m just jacked! I had an awesome time at the wheel. The adrenaline went up. It was non-stop concentration. It was really, really fun."
Pagenaud handled the second driver stint in the No. 48 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R, handing over the car to teammate Mike Rockenfeller in fourth place in the DPi class shortly before the four-hour mark.
Throughout his stint, Pagenaud, who also shares the car with Jimmie Johnson and Kamui Kobayashi, raced closely with the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac, the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac and the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura.
"We were battling in traffic, passing each other," Pagenaud said. "Honestly, you’ve got to be on your toes. Every single braking zone, every single corner, you’re passing traffic. Unbelievable. You really have to be sharp on your reflexes. If you don’t see well at night, you’re going to be in trouble."
Magnussen’s Rookie Radio Mistake
By Jeff Olson
Kevin Magnussen made one mistake during his first stint in the race: He forgot to plug in his radio.
Magnussen got situated and belted into the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R after replacing Renger van der Zande, but forgot to insert the radio wire attached to his helmet to its place in the car.
The result was silence.
"I made a rookie mistake," Magnussen said. "I didn’t plug in my radio, so I was waiting for them to tell me to go, but my radio wasn’t in. I didn’t realize it until it was a couple of seconds too late. I plugged it in, but then I had to wait for them again to tell me to go. We lost, I don’t know, five seconds, so I lost the lead and went from P1 to P3."
Once on track, Magnussen worked back into second place before being replaced by Scott Dixon. The radio won’t be forgotten again.
"That’s now out of the way," Magnussen said. "It won’t happen again. I’ll plug the radio in immediately next time."
Le Mans Prototype 2: Defending Champion DragonSpeed First out of Race
The No. 81 DragonSpeed USA ORECA LMP2 07 will not defend its Rolex 24 class win. The car retired three hours into the race after a pair of early off-course excursions with Rob Hodes at the wheel. Hodes went off course at the famous Bus Stop chicane 40 minutes into the race and again at Turn 2 about a half-hour later. The car spent extensive time in the garage for repairs, attempted to return with Ben Hanley driving but ended its run after completing just 53 laps.
Two other LMP2 entries were among the early retirees as well. The No. 20 High Class Racing ORECA that started second in class was out of the race after 56 laps. Ex-Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica was among the driver lineup but was unable to turn any race laps.
The No. 29 Racing Team Nederland ORECA ran in the top three early but was damaged when Fritz Van Eerd had contact with the wall in Turn 7 about two hours into the race. Van Eerd was treated and released from the infield medical center. The car was taken to the garage for repairs shortly after and didn’t return, completing 65 laps.
Those retirements helped open the door for the No. 11 WIN Autosport ORECA, with Steven Thomas, Tristan Nunez, Thomas Merrill and Matthew Bell sharing driving duties, to stake their claim at the front.
"My first three stints, we were able to get up there and at least stay around the leaders," Thomas said. "Then we put Tristan in the car, and he just drove it straight to the front."
Nunez, the former Mazda DPi driver, was pleased with how the new team was progressing in a packed LMP2 field.
"The WIN Autosport machine is on rails right now so it was a lot of fun out there," Nunez said. "It’s great to have a different perspective now. The class numbers are insane. Ten LMP2 cars is insane. The racing’s close, lots of top-notch drivers. Steven did a great job the first stint so really excited to see where it goes from here."
Le Mans Prototype 3: Issues Hamper Top Starters in Class
The top two starters in LMP3 suffered damage to their cars at almost the same time less than 20 minutes into the race. The No. 6 Muehlner Motorsports America Duqueine M30-D08, the class pole sitter with Moritz Kranz at the wheel, slowed with apparent suspension damage and limped back to pit lane for repairs. At the same time, Ryan Norman spun in the No. 7 Forty7 Motorsports Duqueine and, following reports of fluids leaking from the car, drove directly to the garage.
The No. 6 was fighting its way back into contention at the six-hour mark, sitting third in class, two laps behind the leading No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier. The No 7 was soldiering along sixth in class, 35 laps off the pace.
GT Le Mans: Not the Way to Start a Race
It was an inauspicious race start for the GT Le Mans class. As the GT cars came to the green flag, Bruno Spengler (No. 25 BMW Team RLL BMW M8 GTE) ran into the back of Kevin Estre (No. 79 WeatherTech Porsche 911 RSR-19). The contact turned Estre into Alessandro Pier Guidi beside him in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE.
While the others were able to continue with minimal damage, the No. 79 Porsche was wounded in the front and rear. When a large piece of rear bodywork shook free minutes later, its resulted in the first full-course caution of the race. The No. 79 spent 14 minutes on pit lane for repairs. Spengler was assessed a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility.
"It was quite an emotional start," No. 62 Ferrari driver Pier Guidi said. "It was quite tricky. You don’t expect something like this for the start of a 24-hour (race), but we were lucky honestly. I was hit hard but the car is fine. I managed to stay with the Corvette and the car was OK. The race is still on for a long time, so we’ll keep going."
Not unexpectedly, the two Corvette Racing Corvette C8.Rs set the pace in class, with the Nos. 3 and 4 dominating up front. Still, the top five in class remained on the lead lap, with the No. 79 Porsche still 12 laps back.
GT Daytona: Time to Wright the Ship
As expected, the GT Daytona class saw a wide variety of leaders and front-runners through the first quarter of the race. When the six-hour mark was reached, it was the No. 16 Wright Motorsport Porsche in front. Quite the achievement considering what the team has gone through in the past week.
First, the team’s primary car was crashed in Roar Before the Rolex 24 testing and team owner John Wright worked with Black Swan Motorsport to acquire a new chassis. Then driver Ryan Hardwick crashed again, this time in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge practice as the team was working to make its debut in that series. Hardwick suffered a concussion in the later incident, which sidelined the 2020 Bob Akin Award recipient from competing in the Rolex 24.
The team added Trent Hindman, GTD champion in 2019, to replace Hardwick. The drama didn’t stop the No. 16 from leading the class at the six-hour mark and picking up invaluable IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup points.
"We’re all really happy to be here, given the lead-up to the race," said Jan Heylen, the team’s endurance race driver who opened in the car. "I’m happy that Ryan’s doing well and recovering well. I know he really wanted to be here and do this with us.
"Like any long-distance race, we’re just trying to look after the brakes, the car, and be there at the end at the 20-hour mark and hopefully have a good car to go race."
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