The 2015 racing season starts this weekend with the Roar before the Rolex 24 at Daytona as they take to the track for some practice before the Rolex 24 later this month. Great time to take pictures as the infield isn't all cluttered up with motorhomes and displays and its pretty much free roam. Should be nice and cool as well. With all the chatter on here about teams dropping out of the series my only concern now is how many teams will show up. Will I get to see some cars or will I be stuck chasing grid girls?
grid girls are fine with me entry list for the Roar is 53 cars, down ~15% from last year (62 cars; 67 started the race last year). the bigger concern is the non-NAEC races, where I suspect we'll see nearly 50% fewer entries (and rightly so, frankly...there's no reason to invest in those events with virtually no ROI from any angle). some interesting driver lineups, including Pat Long with Falken, Lucas Luhr with the factory BMW GTLM car, an "All Star" Ganassi car of Indycar and NASCAR guys, and the usual shenanigans with silver driver lineups in GTD. 24 hours should be a great race. won't be at the ROAR, might be at the race.
Sounds good! I'm hoping for a great turnout with it being Daytona and all. One way or another I'll bring some pics back to this thread. Probably won't do much video as those only get a couple hundred views so its not worth the effort. I'm going to find you at the Rolex 24. I sure as heck don't want to be the only guy on Fchat that you haven't met in person
+1....regarding NON NAEC races.... Friend of mine owns a team that ran full season in GTD last year.....he like others have dropped and moved on to other platforms/series....money is soo outrageous now (and having been a sponsor of this car....ZERO ROI)...bragging rights aside...
not that I'm aware of, but IMSA and a few other outlets (racer.com, etc) will post video updates on Youtube.
The "Roar" event is more of a test so a bit difficult to cover on TV like a race. Too many teams going out on different programs, some doing long runs, tuning in their mileage, tires, etc., others doing just a few laps and making adjustments, fine tuning and dialing in settings. Testing is always a mixed bag but there will no doubt be some media stuff going on. Maybe Radio Le Mans will be covering it though... BHW
I can't find any either. That really sucks! So much for the "Fox Sports Commitment to Motorsports" that we heard about when the took over SpeedTV Longing for the old days George
Saturday, Jan. 24 (All times ET) 2-4 p.m. FOX Network 4-8 p.m. FOX Sports 2 8-10 p.m. FOX Sports 1 Overnight (Jan. 24-25) 10 p.m.-7 a.m. IMSA TV on IMSA.com (live video streaming and commentary) Sunday, Jan. 25 7 a.m.-2:30 p.m. FOX Sports 1
Seemed like a lot of cars on track today. Took a bunch of pictures but don't have time to go through them all and pick out the best so here are a few from the pile. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
A few more. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Saw a lot of this today. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
great pics! love the new P2 cars. more of those, please could you tell any significant differences in top speeds between the classes? supposedly they make tweaks to separate out the top speeds of various classes to make passing easier on straights (or banking in this case)
Thanks! I'm going for more today Thanks! Funny you should ask that because even to my untrained eye, there was a noticeable difference in top speeds between the classes. Taking into consideration that this is just testing / practice and everyone could have different agendas I could easily see a difference. One car really stood out and that was the Action Express DP. From the moment they dropped the green flag ( see my pic ) he was flying around the track and appeared to be in a class of it's own. Of course the others could have been feeling things out but the Action Express would blow by everyone especially on the NASCAR portion of the course. Braking into the little horseshoe he would pass three or four cars and catch a couple more on the exit. Timing probably has a different car faster but visually the Action Express was very fast compared to the other cars it was around at my vantage point. I was taking pictures at the exit of NASCAR Turn 2 and watched as a P car came up fast on one of the 458s. He was on the outside and decided to cross under to the inside on the back straight and closed so quick his diffuser almost passed under the 458. I thought he was going to hit him. Unfortunately I didn't get the pic. I'm getting ready to go back to the track now but here's a few pics of the new Krohn car and when I get back I'll do the same with the other new P2 cars. While I didn't see Mike Hedlund at the track I did get to see one of the cars he's driving with a nice Martini livery. ( Mike what color is your helmet so I can find your pics? ) Sorry, not one grid girl in sight Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
what? Action Express, the team owned and solely funded by the France family, with ownership hidden behind their family accountant, using ECR NASCAR motors and a proprietary chassis, was fast in a series owned by the France family at a track owned by the France family? well now I've seen everything good to hear about the top speeds/closing rate though. should make the race better. too cold thanks for the pics of the Krohn Ligier! love that car and the MSR Ligier.
I thought you said the Ganassi Teams were the fastest Here is a pic of the dream team. Image Unavailable, Please Login
well you said AX was fastest (and Ganassi doesn't exactly have an "arms length" history with Grand AM/NASCAR) my decision to attend the 24 will largely depend on Roar and qualifying results...if P2s look like they can be competitive over 24 hours, I'll go. not interested in another DP runaway. nice pic btw...wonder why Karam (or is that Larson?) doesn't have a matching puffy coat.
Thanks for the great pics. Marshall Pruett published the top speeds for each class on Racer.com this morning.
Nice pics. Thanks for sharing. Wish Daytona would take out or lower some of the fencing that sprouted up over the past 10 or 15 years. Makes it more difficult for spectating and photos. Not likely, but one can wish...
Sounds like the #50 DP got airborne at start/finish today. 100 yards in the air. Driver is OK. Daytona Prototype goes airborne in Roar testing | News | Motorsport.com
