Rolex 24 winners wave their flags while being bathed in confetti. [Joe Jennings Photo]
Daytona Beach, Fla. – With the race on the line, virtual unknown Pipo Derani picked up the pace and motored to victory in the 54th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, winning the grueling race by 26 seconds. The young Brazilian co-drove the Tequila Patron ESM Ligier JS P2 Honda HPD.
This was the first-ever Rolex 24 victory for the team and the first for a Honda-powered car and same for a P2 entry, a car that transitioned over from the old American LeMans Series. In recent years, Daytona Prototypes had taken the victories.
“The last two hours was pretty tough, pretty intense with the Taylor brothers pushing us hard,” said Derani. “I tried not to make any mistakes and keep the gap and to increase the gap to the end was amazing.”
For young Derani, the Rolex 24 was his first race at Daytona.
“When you have a supporter like Tequila Patron and Ed (Brown), you want to deliver wins like this. 2015 was a bit of a tough year for us. We made a lot of changes as November rolled around, and to see all that culminate together and to come out of the box and win a big race like this is huge for us,” commented Sharp.
Added Brown, “We knew at the Roar we had a good car and if we took care of her the way we needed to, we would be right there at the end. Our main goal was to make sure we were on the lead lap with a couple of hours to go and see what would happen.”
Van Overbeek said the car and motor were flawless.
As the race wound down, alarm bells rang some 20 times, letting the driver and team know the gear box and power steering temperatures were climbing.
Second place went to the Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP of brothers Jordan and Ricky Taylor, seasoned veteran Max Angelelli and F1 veteran Rubens Barrichello, the latter pressed into service because of a persistent virus experienced by Jordan Taylor. The latter climbed from the car with less than 30 minutes to go, being relieved by the ailing Angelelli. When the race ended, Angelelli was removed from the car and taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Third, also on the lead lap, was the VisitFlorida Racing Corvette DP of Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay, Ryan Dalziel and Marc Goosens.
The 2015 race-winning Chip Ganassi Racing Ford finished seventh in class, 28 laps down. Its drivers were Indianapolis 500 champions Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan and NASCAR stars Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson. Dixon ran strong early on until problems slowed the car. The team soldiered on, only to have Larson plow into a tire barrier mid-day on Sunday but he was able to stay in the race.
In addition to the Prototype class, the 54-car field included three more classes: GTLM, GTD and PC Challenge classes.
The hotly contested GTLM victory went to Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Marcel Fassler. Over the last 30 minutes of the race, Gavin and a team car driven by Antonio Garcia waged an intensely competitive dual, only settled at the finish line.
“I was watching my rear view camera really closely,” Gavin said. “The line couldn’t come fast enough. It was so close the entire race. Racing Antonio is so much fun; he’s hard, tough and fair. I knew if we had an incident, we would really be in hot water. To come home 1-2 was amazing.”
In somewhat similar situation, Magnus Racing gained the victory in the waning moments when the Konrad Motorsports Lamborghini ran out of fuel. After taking the checkered flag, the Magnus Audi also ran out of fuel. The Magnus drivers were Andy Lally, Rene Rast, Marco Seefried and team owner John Potter.
The PC Challenge victory went to the JDC-Miller Motorsports team of Chris Miller, Stephen Simpson, Misha Golkhberg and Kenton Koch. They enjoyed a four-lap advantage over their nearest rival.