Winning No. 9 Action Express Racing DP passes runner-up No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing DP on a Sunday morning restart. [Joe Jennings Photo]
SRT Viper and BMW tussle on frontstretch. [Joe Jennings Photo]
Overall winners Joao Barbosa, Sebastian Bourdais and Christian Fittipaldi. [Joe Jennings Photo]
GTLM class winners Nick Tandy, Richard Lietz and Patrick Pilet. [Joe Jennings Photo]
GTD class winners Spencer Pumpelly, Nelson Canache Jr., Tim Pappas and Marcus Winkelhock. [Joe Jennings Photo]
PC class winners Colin Braun, James Gue, Mark Wilkins and Jon Bennett. [Joe Jennings Photo]
Winners proudly display their Rolex winning watches. [Joe Jennings Photo]
Daytona Beach, FL – The Action Express Racing Corvette DP team of Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Sebastian Bourdais reigned supreme in the 52nd running of the internationally acclaimed Rolex24 at Daytona, winning the grueling race by a mere 1.461 seconds.
The race marked the debut of the newly formed TUDOR United SportsCar Championship series, which came about due to the merger of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and the American LeMans Series.
Holding a 10-second lead in the waning moments, a yellow flag bunched the field, setting up a dramatic run for the checkered flag over the final eight minutes. With Barbosa behind the wheel, the Portuguese driver wasn’t to be denied as he held off the fleet Max Angelelli en route to the checkered flag.
Said Barbosa, “I was surprised by the yellow flag, but I had to make the best of it. With a car in the middle of us, it gave me a cushion, and I was able to make it to the end. Everything worked out for us today, and we made the best of it.
Barbosa took his second overall Rolex24 win and his third class win.
Fittipaldi also took the overall win for the second time. “It is awesome to win it. This race came our way and the preparations for it started a year ago when we left here,” the Brazilian said.
Added IndyCar’s Bourdais, “This race is one of the big races you want to put on your resume, and it is a great one to win. Bob Johnson (team owner) was absolutely convinced we were going to win it, and it made me scared to death. The last time I heard that it didn’t work out. Everyone knew what they were doing, and their execution was perfect. It is a dream come true for me.”
Johnson said, “This one wasn’t unexpected, as we expected to win.”
The victors led a Corvette sweep of the top-four positions with the Wayne Taylor Racing team a close second, another Action Express Racing third and the Spirit of Daytona team fourth, to give Chevrolet a successful overall finish.
The winning team covered 695 laps around the 3.56-mile road course, and they averaged 103.050 mph for the 24-hour spectacle. They led 282 laps.
The Taylor team was frustrated with the outcome but not downtrodden. For owner Taylor, he may have driven for the final time and with Angelelli stepping aside except for the longer races, the accomplished team will stake its future on Jordan and Ricky Taylor.
Said Angelelli about the final four laps, “It was the most painful time of the race. I tried everything, adjusting everything in the car trying to settle it, to find a good balance. I thought I had an opportunity with two PC cars, but I didn’t have enough for Barbosa.”
Wayne Taylor, who is rarely emotional, was so this weekend. “It was an incredible weekend, an emotional weekend to be in a situation to have my kids and Max, who is like my oldest kid, being together. We’ve been around each other for the last 20 years. I didn’t even want to do this race, as I didn’t want to make a fool out of myself.”
The high-profile Chip Ganassi Racing Ford EcoBoost two-car team ended up 15th and 43rd after experiencing issues. The No. 02 car of Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Marino Franchitti and upstart Kyle Larson trailed in fourth, one-lap back, until the final hour.
In a second Ganassi entry, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas were seeking to repeat their 2013 victory but engine woes sidelined them with 3 hours to go. The team, including NASCAR’s Jamie McMurray and teenager Sage Karam fell behind early and weren’t in contention for the win.
“Sometimes you have those races that don’t go well from the start,” Pruett said.
A vicious accident stopped the race after three hours. In the accident, Memo Gidley, driver of the No. 99 GAINSCO / Bob Stallings Racing Corvette DP, slammed into the slowing Ferrari of Matteo Malucelli at full speed, destroying both cars and medical crews need substantive time to remove the drivers from their cars.
The two drivers were immediately transported to the nearby Halifax Health Medical Center where Gidley underwent surgery to his left arm and leg and was being treated for an unstable fracture of his back, a condition which will require additional surgery.
Malucelli remains in the hospital for further evaluation, and he is said to be resting comfortably.
The GTLM class victory went to a Porsche 911 RSR driven by Nick Tandy, Richard Leitz and Patrick Pilet.
For the legendary Porsche brand, it won for the 76th time at Daytona.
In a controversial finish in the GTD class, the Flying Lizard Audi R8 LMS of Spencer Pumpelly, Tim Pappas, Nelson Canache Jr. and Markus Winkelhock went to victory lane after an avoidable contact penalty dropped the Level 5 Motorsports Ferrari 458 Italia of Scott Tucker, Townsend Bell, Jeff Segal and Alessandro Pier Guidi to fourth.
The Level 5 car drove into the overtaking Audi R8 as the race neared the finish.
Said Winkelhock about the last-lap tangle, “It was an incredible last lap. He (the Level 5 driver) tried to push me into the grass by not giving me enough space, which put me off (course). That’s not the way to win a race, so I think the (penalty) decision was fair.”
In PC action, the foursome of Colin Braun, Jon Bennett, James Gue and Mark Wilkins drove their pole-winning ORECA FLM09 to victory.
16 caution periods slowed the race for 78 laps and the red flag was out 90 minutes for the Gidley-Malucelli wreck.
The TUDOR United SportsCar Championship’s next race comes in March at the Sebring International Raceway.
2014 Rolex 24Daytona International SpeedwayFeatured