2010 Daytona - 24-Hour

2010 marked the eleventh year for the Grand American Road Racing Championship. The twelve-race season opened in Daytona with the Rolex 24. There were a number of changes to the schedule:

Homestead returned to its traditional date which meant it followed Daytona
the series returned to Lime Rock after a one-year absence and dropped the Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca event

Most races were 250-miles in length with a 2-hour and 45-minute time limit. The major exceptions were the 24-hour event at Daytona, the Sahlen’s Six Hours at Watkins Glen and a shorter 2-hour race at Montreal and the second Watkins Glen event.

Teams and drivers competed in the Daytona Prototype or Grand Touring category for class honours:

Daytona Prototype (DP) – These sports racing cars were designed to compete in the Grand Am series. The concept of an affordable prototype for privateer teams was introduced in 2003. Rules were created so that the cars could be produced for less than $400,000. Additionally, the prototypes had to be approved by the series and new cars could not be introduced for 5-years. The flat-bottomed, closed cockpit prototype was constructed with a complete frame and a mid-engine location. The cars were powered by motors from production cars. Manufacturers providing engines included: Lexus, Pontiac, Chevrolet, Ford, BMW and Porsche. The 2008 season saw the introduction of the Generation 2 Daytona Prototypes.
Grand Touring (GT) – After a number of seasons with multiple GT classes a single category was introduced in 2005. The GT division was for production-based vehicles. Cars racing in this group included the: Pontiac GXP.R, Porsche GT3 Cup, Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Mustang, BMW 6 and Mazda RX-8. To equalize performance among the different brands, rules were implemented that included adjusting the vehicle’s weight and limiting tire size and engine RPMs.

The 48th Rolex 24 at Daytona took place on the weekend of January 30 and 31. Entries were down over last year – 49-cars in 2009 versus 44-cars (15-Daytona Prototypes and 29-Grand Touring). The decrease in car count could be attributed to the continued slowdown of the American economy. Drivers and teams would compete for 24-hours on the 12-turn, 3.56-mile track which utilized an infield road course and almost the entire tri-oval.

Weather wise it was a miserable weekend at the 2010 Rolex 24 at Daytona. It started raining in the hours leading up to the race. As a result, Grand Am officials decided to start the event under yellow flag conditions which lasted several laps before the field received the green flag. After the rain had stopped, temperatures dropped to levels lower than earlier in the week.

It did not appear that the No. 9 Porsche-powered Riley MK XI from Action Express Racing was going to be much a threat in this year’s race as Joao Barbosa qualified in the middle of the Daytona Prototype group. It was not until mid-night that Barbosa and his teammates - Mike Rockenfeller, Ryan Dalziel, and Terry Borcheller were contending for the lead. Barbosa led the way during the final round of pit-stops and finished 52.303-seconds ahead of second place.

After a number of years qualifying second for the Rolex 24, Max Angelelli finally won the pole. Driving the Suntrust Dallara DP01with Angelelli, were Ricky Taylor, Pedro Lamy and team owner, Wayne Taylor. Unfortunately, during the tenth hour of the race, the transmission had to be replaced dropping the car to twenty-fourth. The team fought their way back and finished sixth overall.

As was customary, the qualifying duties for the SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 were assigned to team principal, Sylvain Tremblay. The No. 70 Mazda was also raced by David Haskell, Jonathan Bomarito and Nick Ham. For most of the race, the battle for GT supremacy raged between the Porsches and Camaros. When they faltered, the SpeedSource team was there to take the Grand Touring category victory.

SpeedSource made a triumphant return to Daytona, after a disastrous 2009 Rolex 24 that saw them finish twenty-eighth overall and seventeenth in the Grand Touring category. From left to right are drivers Jonathan Bomarito, David Haskell, Sylvain Tremblay and Nick Ham. In the center is the event’s Grand Marshal – Vic Elford.

Chip Ganassi Racing entered a pair of BMW-powered Riley MK XXs. The No. 01 Riley started in the fifth grid position thanks to Scott Pruett. Also racing this car were Justin Wilson, Max Papis and Pruett’s teammate for the season, Memo Rojas. At noon on Sunday, the team was fighting for the lead when Wilson took the car behind the wall. The crew did not find any problems and he returned to the race. Pruett drove the final stint but was unable to catch the winning car.

As usual, The Racer’s Group had the largest number of entries – five Porsche GT3 Cup cars. The No. 67 Porsche was driven by Seth Neiman, Johannes van Overbeek, Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long. Bergmeister qualified the car third quickest. The Porsche was leading late Sunday morning when it broke a shock absorber which allowed SpeedSource to inherit first. With repairs made, the team finished second – four laps behind the winners.

The top-three spots in Grand Touring qualifying went to Mazda RX-8 teams. Quickest of the three was the No. 69 SpeedSource qualified by Jeff Segal. In the race, Segal would be accompanied by Emil Assentato, Nick Longhi and Anthony Lazzaro. Trouble for the car began when Assentato had an accident at turn three and early Sunday morning, the car developed a terminal fluid leak. The team was classified twenty-eighth overall.

The NPN Racing Riley MK XX was unable to record a time during the qualifying session and started fourteenth overall. Scott Tucker, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Lucas Luhr and Richard Westbrook were scheduled to drive this car – Tucker was also entered in the team’s second car. The Riley was quick and led early before sliding down the lap chart. But a consistent pace and the retirement of some faster cars allowed the team to finish third overall.

One the five Racer’s Group Porsches was the No. 66 shared by Ted Ballou, Kelly Collins, Patrick Flanagan, Wolf Henzler and Andy Lally. Lally was the quickest of all the Porsche entries and qualified fifth. The team had their share of issues during the race but were able to remain in the top ten. At the checkered flag, they finished third in the Grand Touring category and tenth overall.

Second quickest after qualifying was 2008 pole winner, Oswaldo Negri, Jr. Also driving the No. 60 Michael Shank Riley MK XI were Jon Pew, Mark Wilkins and Burt Frisselle. Despite a big moment for Pew in the fourth hour of the event, the car ran in the top ten for most of the race. After twenty-four hours, the team had completed 726 laps and was fifth at the checkered flag.

Second quickest in Grand Touring qualifying and splitting the SpeedSource team was the No. 30 Mazda RX-8 from Racers Edge Motorsports. The qualifying honours were performed by Jordan Taylor. Also driving this Mazda were, Todd Lamb, Glenn Bocchino and Jade Buford. Unfortunately, this entry was the second car to retire – after on sixty-nine laps.

The second Michael Shank Racing Riley MK XI was piloted by Mark Patterson, A.J. Allmendinger, Brian Frisselle and Michael Valiante, who qualified the car third. The car was competitive and maintained touch with leaders until just over an hour left in the event. Allmendinger was driving when the car suffered a driveline failure. The team was classified seventh overall and in the Daytona Prototype class.

From left to right are the overall and Daytona Prototype class winners – Mike Rockenfeller, Ryan Dalziel, Joao Barbosa and Terry Borcheller. This was Action Express Racings first race and the winning car was the No. 58 Brumos Riley that was victorious in last year’s Rolex 24.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	DP	Barbosa / Rockenfeller / Borcheller / Dalziel	Riley Mk XI Porsche	755	-
2	DP	Pruett / Rojas / Wilson / Papis	Riley Mk XX BMW	755	-
3	DP	Tucker / Hunter-Reay / Luhr / Westbrook	Riley Mk XX BMW	751	-
4	DP	Krohn / Jonsson / Zonta / Braun	Lola B08/70 Ford	735	-
5	DP	Pew / Negri / Frisselle / Wilkins	Riley Mk XX Ford	726	-
6	DP	Taylor / Lamy / Angelelli / Taylor	Dallara DP01 Ford	711	-
7	DP	Patterson / Valiante / Allmendinger / Frisselle	Riley Mk XX Ford	707	Driveline
8	GT	Haskell / Tremblay / Ham / Bomarito	Mazda RX-8	707	-
9	GT	Bergmeister / Van Overbeek / Neiman / Long	Porsche GT3 Cup	703	-
10	GT	Ballou / Collins / Flanagan / Henzler / Lally	Porsche GT3 Cup	691	-
11	GT	Liddell / Davis / Magnussen	Chevrolet Camaro GT.R	683	-
12	GT	Potter / Stanton / Lietz	Porsche GT3 Cup	683	-
13	GT	Foster / Espenlaub / Maxwell	Mazda RX-8	682	-
14	GT	Sahlen / Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker	Mazda RX-8	682	-
15	GT	Auberlen / Said / Dalla Lana / Hand	BMW M6	675	-
16	GT	George, Jr. / Pumpelly / Bernhard / Dumas / Labonte	Porsche GT3 Cup	668	-
17	GT	Schaldach / Borkowski / Bell / Refenning	Chevrolet Camaro GT.R	661	-
18	GT	Finlay / Westphal / Hyatt / Merrill	BMW M6	657	-
19	GT	Burtin / Baldwin / Pagerey / Ragginger / Farnbacher	Porsche GT3 Cup	656	-
20	GT	Bentley / McIntosh / Nierop / O'Young	Porsche GT3 Cup	632	-
21	DP	Gurney / Fogarty / Vasser / Johnson	Riley Mk XX Chevrolet	630	Oil Pressure
22	GT	Gue / Keen / Kitch / Lacey	Mazda RX-8	620	-
23	DP	Tucker / Collard / Bouchut / Maassen	Riley Mk XX BMW	619	Did Not Finish
24	DP	Gidley / Jaeger / Gollin / Johnston	Dallara DP01 Ford	612	-
25	GT	Thomas / Graeff / Yarab, Jr. / Gatlin	Porsche GT3 Cup	611	-
26	DP	Law / Donohue / Haywood / Matos	Riley Mk XI Porsche	582	Engine
27	DP	Lester / Forest / von Moltke / James	Riley Mk XI BMW	549	Did Not Finish
28	GT	Assentato / Segal / Longhi / Lazzaro	Mazda RX-8	488	Coolant Leak
29	GT	Willsley / Papadopoulos / Baker / Mowlem / Cosmo	Porsche GT3 Cup	444	Did Not Finish
30	GT	Miller / Ludwig / Roush	Porsche GT3 Cup	411	Accident
31	GT	Ledoux / Quinlan / Sheehan / Doyle / Watkins	Porsche GT3 Cup	386	Transmission
32	DP	Garcia / Manning / Rice / Menard	Coyote CC/09 Porsche	346	Did Not Finish
33	GT	Brown / Villeneuve / Richard / Thomas / Dean	Porsche GT3 Cup	335	-
34	DP	Kapudija / Cameron / Beyer / Lueders / Wagner	Crawford DP03 Chevrolet	319	Cooling
35	GT	Breslin / Breslin / Romanini / Romagnoli / Vinkemulder	Chevrolet Corvette	316	Did Not Finish
36	GT	Slingerland / Menten / Palttala / Lapierre	Porsche GT3 Cup	276	Engine
37	DP	Dixon / Montoya / Franchitti / McMurray	Riley Mk XX BMW	249	Engine
38	GT	Edwards / Jones / Russell / McCutchen	Chevrolet Corvette	201	Suspension
39	GT	Steuer / Rosa / Trenery / Briody	Pontiac GTO.R	153	-
40	GT	Lewis / Zahn / Iannetta	Pontiac GXP.R	125	Did Not Finish
41	GT	Michaelian / Schmidt / Castellano	Ferrari F430	112	Did Not Finish
42	GT	Sugden / Lux / Walker	Porsche GT3 Cup	100	Engine
43	GT	Taylor / Lamb / Buford / Bocchino	Mazda RX-8	69	Did Not Finish
44	GT	Sahlen / Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker	Mazda RX-8	27	Did Not Finish

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