Daytona 24 Hour Review ! | FerrariChat

Daytona 24 Hour Review !

Discussion in 'Other Racing' started by FLATOUTRACING, Feb 3, 2004.

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  1. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

    Aug 20, 2001
    2,684
    East Coast
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    Jon K.
    Just got back from Daytona. What a great race. Despite the worst weather in 15 years and a break in the action it was a fantastic race.

    Unlike last year there were plenty of Daytona Prototypes to fill the field and also a good mix of GT cars.

    The Red Bull 360 GT car had a geat race and seemed on the pace for most of the race.

    The Maseratis didn't finish but showed some real promise. The Risi car seemed to struggle with top end and someone suggested that they were not pulling the same rpm's as the FOW car. The Risi car seemed off the pace. The FOW car on the other hand was flat out (no pun intended) flying. Hat's off to the FOW crew and Glen Marquis. They not only matched the pace of the Porsche's but blew many of them away in the rain and in the dry.

    In addition, you have to hear the car in person. It sounds unlike anything on the track and is even louder than the DP cars.

    Glen told me that they are running the stock gearbox and engine on the Maserati which is simply amazing. I asked him if they were going to build the engine to race specs and he indicated it was already making good power and that they don't want the engine slapped with restrictors (which it currently doesn't require). Glen said they may add a sequential race box at some point.

    Even more amazing was that he indicated it cost much less than the 360 GT car to run.

    The race itself started out under clowds and by 3 pm it started raining. It rained until about two hours before the race had ended.

    Lot of cars going off early in the race but after everyone got used to the conditions there were surpisingly little in the way of incidents and yellow flags.

    Around 7 am the rain was realy coming down and they red flagged the race.

    Some of us wondered why they stopped it since it had rained as bad or worse on Saturday afternoon.

    It appears that a healthy dose of politics may have been involved. Why????

    1) Earnhardt and Stewart were leading the race and the France family (which owns the Speedway and practically own NASCAR...also own Grand Am) may have wanted the NASCAR boys to win.

    2) This is connected to the above statement. The top three DP cars were running out of Goodyear Rain tires while the competition running on Dunlops had plenty available. The front running car was down to the last set or two of rain tires.

    3) A Porsche GT car was moving up the ranks very fast and had gone from 8th overall to 5th overall in less than 2 hours and was gaining on the 4th place DP car.

    GA officials don't want a repeat of last year when Buckler's Porsche GT car won the race overall beating the DP cars which GA is trying to promote. In the end it didn't matter as two Porsche GT cars finished 2nd and 3rd overall.

    Although the DP's were clearly faster than the GT's this year (not so last year) they still couldn't really pull away from the GT cars on the short straights.

    I still miss the LMP cars but I guess we will have to watch ALMS for those cars.

    It was a great race despite the rain and I got to hang in the pits with the NASCAR drivers and some friends who were racing.

    My friends at Nonnemaker Racing finished 4th in the SGS in the Planet Earth Motorsports Porsche GT3 in their first 24 Hour race. In Grand Am Cup on Friday they ran three Porsche's and won the race placing 1st, 4st and 5th.

    A great race and I got to hang with a few other Ferrarichat members.

    Lastly, I spoke with Glen Marquis and about renting a ride possibly at the end of the season. They may get a second Maser.

    Anyone want to see their company logo on TV on a factory Maserati ??????

    Regards,

    Jon P. Kofod
    www.flatoutracing.net
     
  2. Napolis

    Napolis Three Time F1 World Champ
    Honorary Owner

    Oct 23, 2002
    32,118
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    Jim Glickenhaus
    Way Cool! Thanks for posting.
    Best
     
  3. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

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    #3 FLATOUTRACING, Feb 3, 2004
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  4. ebrigham

    ebrigham Karting

    Nov 1, 2003
    155
    NYC
    Thanks! I watched some of the race to try and get a look at the Maseratis but to little avail. Thanks again for the run down!

    EB
     
  5. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

    Aug 20, 2001
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    Jim read you post on the other thread. You referrence to some of the other DP cars was accurate. Some were slower than the GT cars. I'd say the first 5 or 6 DP cars were very fast but the last 5 or 6 DP's looked like they had been run on my racing budget.

    Can't wait to hear what the FIA Maser GT car will sound like. The FOW and Risi GT cars sound unbelievable. Like something from the 60's or 70's.

    Regards,

    Jon
     
  6. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

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    #6 FLATOUTRACING, Feb 3, 2004
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  7. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

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    #7 FLATOUTRACING, Feb 3, 2004
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  8. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

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    #8 FLATOUTRACING, Feb 3, 2004
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  9. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

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    #9 FLATOUTRACING, Feb 3, 2004
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  10. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

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    #10 FLATOUTRACING, Feb 3, 2004
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  11. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

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    #11 FLATOUTRACING, Feb 3, 2004
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  12. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

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    #12 FLATOUTRACING, Feb 3, 2004
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  13. Napolis

    Napolis Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Oct 23, 2002
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    Jon
    It's been too long since we've heard the sound of a Factory F car running at Daytona. Back then the one that finished 1st had fewer stickers...
     
  14. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

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    #14 FLATOUTRACING, Feb 3, 2004
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  15. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

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    #15 FLATOUTRACING, Feb 3, 2004
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  16. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

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    #16 FLATOUTRACING, Feb 3, 2004
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  17. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

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    #17 FLATOUTRACING, Feb 3, 2004
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  18. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

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    #18 FLATOUTRACING, Feb 3, 2004
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  19. tonyh

    tonyh F1 World Champ
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  20. wax

    wax Five Time F1 World Champ
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    Jon - better than good post, thanks. Early and late rain being equal, could the delay have been more attributable to standing water than the torrential downpour?
     
  21. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

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    Wax, yes there was water running down the banking and some standing water on the track but my question was why the race hadn't been stopped on Saturday when the rain was as bad or worse than Sunday morning.

    The person who indicated there were some politics involved was the head of Dunlop's tire crew so maybe he was upset but I think he would know what was going on.

    In any event it was a great race.

    Regards,

    Jon
     
  22. wax

    wax Five Time F1 World Champ
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    Yes - I'd caught that important point - but was the amount of "standing water" on Saturday comparable to Sunday?
    I don't think "rain" would/could/should be a reason to put a stop to things, unless:
    there's ponds forming
    or
    oilier-than-usual (for whatever reason) conditions in tandem with water causing
    conditions to be to dangerous to continue.
     
  23. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

    Aug 20, 2001
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    Wax, the only issue that could have been different was visibility which I was told was the main concern of some of the teams (mostly Goodyear teams). The race was flagged early in the morning around 7 am I believe and certainly it could have been that issue that was the determining factor.

    Throughout the evening the rain was simply a light mist.

    In any event, I was amazed at how fast Tony Stewart was driving in the rain. He was at least 4 seconds per lap faster than the next fastest DP car for his session in the early evening.

    Regards,

    Jon
     
  24. wax

    wax Five Time F1 World Champ
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    Wow - 4 secs. Some have the ability to drive in rain, some don't. Most of those who don't live in Los Angeles. One of the race sites that posted stats every 30 seconds indicated it was due to "torrential downpours and standing water." That was all I had to go by, other than shots of the track while commentators were B.S.ing on the air during delay. Thanks for clarifying things - too bad if it was politics, aye?
     
  25. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
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    I thought they gave a good explanation why NASCAR drivers might be good in the rain, even though NASCAR doesn't race in the rain. The explanation was that NASCAR's are very heavy and the driver has to learn to feel the wheel and connection to the tires. In other words, they're more sensitive to what's going on where the rubber meets the road. Sounds somewhat valid to me. Remember how good Dale Sr. was at Daytona in the rain?

    We have a guy that races SRX7 with us that rally raced in the eighties. When it rains we just fight for 2nd place. He'll even finish 20 seconds ahead of the top SM drivers. He also uses his rally talents in the dry too as I've seen him use the "non racing surface" as a racing surface. :)
     

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