2016 Daytona 24 Hours

I loved every minute of this year's race. I was especially pleased with the online coverage. They did not hack it up during the network coverage. They left it on the entire time.

I had it going on the big screen for network coverage, on the tablet at the same time for online coverage, while watching 'Live Timing & Scoring' on my phone. I was also getting texts from friends at the race on the same phone. Very busy weekend.

I cringed when they crashed the DW - major brain fart for the driver. I can hear Katherine Legge's internal dialogue right after the crash, "The car was in first place when I got out. The car is in pieces when you got out. Thanks for all your help. Security!!!"

I shouted at the screen when Gavin (that rude f****r in the Vette) bumped pass Bamber in the 911. Although I wanted our local Ferrari boys to win, it was unrealistic to expect a new car that had only been in their hands a few days to that well. I don't care HOW MUCH "work" they did in Maranello. The team that actually races the car has to do the development to win.

I bought a Huracan for the shop, last year, so I was excited to see the new car run. It was smart of Lamborghini to come in at the GTD level for the first year. I was getting texts from the race telling me Audi was really conserving fuel for the last hour - they must know something! So I cheered like a school boy when Lamborghini regained the lead. Then I screamed like a little girl when they ran out of fuel, and Audi flew past. Then I laughed out loud when Audi ran out of fuel during the cool down only 1 lap later! They had to tow her to victory lane. At least Lamborghini knows EXACTLY how far they can go on a tank. Like Ron White said, "And that's a pretty handy piece of information to have!"

My buddy said there wasn't a Ford jacket in sight at the end of the race. The GT ran like a half baked car. Lots of development needed there. But she's fast and we know the Blue Oval guys will be back.

I'm making reservations for next year. There's quite a few scores to settle and the new equipment will have a full season of development under their belts. Next year's race is gonna be a "real barn burner" for sure!

 

The Huracan already had the full 2015 season (very competitively) in the Blacpain GT3 class in Europe, so GTD at this race was the obvious choice. Love this car...
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Missed Thursday at the track because of the rain and skipped Friday because of there being only one morning practice session so all I had was Saturday to take pictures. I'm really low on energy so I ended up not getting much at all.

I will say the improvements to the Speedway are awesome and everywhere you looked you would see something new. The crowds were so huge I couldn't even make it to the gate to get out to the grid walk.

The action on the track was great. The DW was really flying there for a bit. Kinda hard to follow when you're standing there on the fence but once I got home and watched the rest on TV I could see just how close the racing was. That battle at the end between the two Corvettes was fun to watch.

I've been debating whether to go to Sebring this year but after the Rolex I'm no longer on the fence
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Great shots! The M6 and C7R shots look amazing!

 

Thanks for the photo of my car, number 51. Great shot.

What a tough race, made all the more difficult by a BoP that was overtly favorable to the Lambos (quicker on the banking than the BR01...which is absurd) and the Porsches

In any case, a privilege to have been there and finished it!!

See you in Sebring

 

those Lambos were stupid fast on the banking. how that managed to get past BoP is beyond me.

they would have run away with GTD if they hadn't wrecked each other

 

I will post the pictures that I have of your car. A great race overall.

 

I think I saw some sand bagging going on.
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You're welcome.

From a fan's perspective I thought it was a great race

I look forward to Sebring.
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A few more pics
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This was my first Daytona 24 and I had a great time at the track. I think we watched about 18 of the 24 hours of the race from various parts of the track..that includes leaving to go to dinner Saturday night.

We attempted to go out for the gridwalk but it was absolutely packed. We figured we wouldn't be able to get near the cars anyway and decided to go back to the grandstands near T1 for the start of the race.

My only complaint of the event is the lack of TV screens around the track. Other races I have been to have had a lot more screens so you can keep up with what is happening from different points int he track.

I will post some photos later when i get the chance to go through them all.


Oh and... the Deltawing was stupid fast. Too fast. We were amazed at how quickly it ran down and passed the leaders. We had a side bet going on when the DW would crash/break/catch fire. I had my money on hour 4.

 

Did anyone hear what happened to Max Angelelli? He stopped in the runoff area at the end of the front straight as soon as the checkered flag dropped and was taken to the hospital.

I haven't been able to find any details on what happened.

 

I believe there was an exhaust leak that lead to the driver before him asking to get out and they hoped Max could take it to the end with a fresh breath. He ended up stopped like you said. I don't know his condition.

For the grid walk they used to open four gates from the garage side to let everyone out. For whatever reason, they decided to only open two and they were at the other end from the garage which ended up funneling everyone down there to the point of grid lock. It would have taken me a half hour to get from where I was standing by the normal gate to get to the only gate open so I passed as well. I can't think of any reason they did this except to intentional slow down the amount of people getting out there.

There didn't used to be any TVs in the infield and it was one of the improvements I noticed. I saw one down by the exit of the little horse shoe and one big one by the finish line. That's two more than last year. Those were both facing the infield so it wasn't beneficial to those in the stands. I saw something on my local news they they actually had less TVs than they started with for the Rolex 24 and it sounds like a couple people helped themselves to a TV. I've been going to Daytona since the early 90s and believe me it has come along way since then.

 

This... I haven't heard an update on his condition.

 

Yep...it was a crowd control mechanism, and, created a bunch of pushing and shoving to get in via the single access point. But, my prize for being patient was this...
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Also, got spend some time on the Start stand as two of my friends are Starters...always a fun time up there!
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NICE!

One of the best parts of the grid walk is the teams are just standing around so it is very easy to meet and take picture of or with the drivers. A few years ago they used to rope off pit lane, let everyone come in through the four access gates and stand in the grass to watch each car pushed down pit lane to their spot on the grid. It was a great way to see the cars, drivers and everyone else on the team.

The last few years people began to disrespect the rope and everyone was stepping over and crowding the lane set for the cars and I guess they had enough and now push the cars out first and then let the fans in. Its a shame because the old way gave a great view.

I'm glad you braved that crowd and got in there.

 

carbon monoxide poisoning. spent the night in the hospital, released with an "all clear" by docs this afternoon.

one of the Taylor boys got sick as well but didn't go to the hospital.

 

Nice photos.

Thanks for posting.

 

Max required hyperbaric therapy, but Wayne reports he is doing well. Jordan drove several strong stints in spite of 2 separate infections. Spent the race in their pit and met this nice man.....
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he really should stay away from the hookers in downtown Daytona

 

btw Jordan said thanks on IG
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What a great race, best one from the past few years. Good to be there in person.

 

😊

 

I had carbon monoxide poisoning three years ago after driving around a MGB with a hard-top and bad exhaust for a couple of days. It does not dissipate with time!! After four days of hoping I would wake up the next morning feeling better, I had to go to the ER. Put on oxygen for five or six hours. It dropped the level in my bloodstream to that of a heavy smoker. My symptoms were personality-change (agitation, zero patience) and the sensation of walking on mattresses....ground felt springy, marshmallow-like.

Hope Jordan and Ricky get some oxygen therapy this week! It wouldn't hurt.