2023 Rolex 24 At Daytona: GTP Preview
The 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona marks the most transition point for top class North American road racing since the merger of Grand-Am and the American Le Mans Series, and marks the most significant technical leap forward for somewhat longer than that!
The introduction of the new hybridised GTP class has brought positivity from the automotive industry, has energised the existing fan base and has every chance of providing significant growth, both in top-class numbers, and in eyes on the Championship, as the quality of the machinery and the subsequent racing product, mature.
The class for the inaugural race numbers a healthy 9 cars, with the two privately entered Porsches (from JDC Miller and Proton Competition) joining later, the nine early adopters offering great looking cars that look different from each other and sound different too, from the high revving turbo V6 of the to Acuras, through the turbo V8 of the BMWs and Penske Porsches and onto the baritone below of the Cadillac’s normally aspirated V8s.
All are built to the LMDh regulations, the cars are all new, the basis of each car a chassis destined in future years to do double duty in the next generation of LM2 crs.
The Cadillacs and BMWs are built around Dallara chassis, the Porsches with Multimatic underpinnings and the Acuras with Oreca chassis all of them with the same ‘single source’ hybrid drive, power going to the rear axle with help from a Bosch MGU, Williams battery pack and XTrac gearbox.
Acura ARX06
The Acura ARX06 is powered by a high-tech 2.4 litre twin turbo V6, a brand-new unit that was initially destined for double duty in GTP and IndyCar – the latter plan has been parked by the Championship organisers so sports fans will be the sole audience for HPD’s little screamer which will rev to c.9500 rpm (not a factor btw which is impacted by the IMSA BoP process but rather a value defined by the manufacturer.
#10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06: Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor for full season, Louis Deletraz for IMEC and Brendon Hartley for Rolex 24.
With the Wayne Taylor Racing and Andretti Autosport merger still very fresh there’s still been time for a fresh new livery for the #10, the team hoping to extend a run of form at the Rolex 24 that has seen four wins in the past 6 years and second place last year.
Filipe Albuquerque brings huge experience to the effort with two overall wins and a second place at this event, one of the wins, and last year’s second place with the same team. Ricky Taylor too shared the last two results plus another win in 2017 and a further pair of second places with the family-owned team.
Louis Deletraz has a podium at Daytona in LMP2 to add to his already impressive racing cv, the Swiss second generation racer starts his spell with the team at Daytona whilst the hugely experienced Brendon Hartley has success just about everywhere but Daytona – yet
#60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06: Tom Blomqvist & Colin Braun for the full season, Helio Castroneves for IMEC & Simon Pagenaud for the Rolex 24.
Returning Rolex 24 and IMSA Championship winners MSR bring their new car but a familiar-looking crew back to start the season.
Tom Blomqvist’s reputation is soaring in sportscar racing and Michael Shank is delighted to keep him on-board, joined by the team’s lucky charm, Helio Castroneves and another Indycar start with impressive endurance form, Simon Pagenaud. All three were part of the winning team last year.
The new face on the squad is a very familiar one to IMSA followers as Colin Braun grasps the huge opportunity that GTP offers to take a step up the ladder. After years of loyalty to the Core Autosports team he leaves with Jon Bennett’s blessing, and whilst the end of an IMSA stalwart squad is t be mourned, the opportunity for its star driver to form an important part of an important team at an important time is a fine legacy.
BMW M Hybrid V8
The power plant for the handsome BMW is based around a 3.4 litre twin turbo V8 with DTM Class One heritage, but with BMW M development this is set to be an engine with a future as well as a racing past.
#24 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8: Philipp Eng and Augusto Farfus for the season, Marco Wittmann and Colton Herta for Daytona
#25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8: Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly for the season and Sheldon van der Linde and Colton Herta for Daytona
BMW have shown huge faith in their current driver roster to form the core of their GTP future.
The IMSA crews are a blend of huge experience and relative youth, but all those listed have plenty of highly relevant experience.
Augusto Farfus has an astounding history with the marque and is set to form the keystone that the team is built around, aided and abetted by the experience of Eng, the fire in the belly of de Philippi and the rapidly emerging stellar talent of Yelloly.
DTM Champions Wittmann and Sheldon van der Linde will provide yet more steel for the Rolex 24.
IndyCar star Colton Herta meanwhile is listed aboard both cars for the Roar. Whether he will seee time beyond testing in one or both of the GTPs will be determined as much by the reliability factor, as by the performance that the package promises.
Cadillac V-LMDH
Whilst many of the headlines in recent days featuring Cadillac have been about Formula One, there’s little doubt that the memories that many fans at Daytona over the next two weekends will be thinking less about single seaters and more about rumbling V8s as the new normally aspirated 5.5 litre unit powering the V-LMDH is set to be an instant fan favourite
#01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-LMDh: Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande for full season, Scott Dixon for Rolex 24.
There is simply no more experienced and accomplished driver line-up anywhere in the field than the trio assembled to pilot the #01 at Daytona.
All three have won this race and all three have won multiple Championships at very high levels.
If the Cadillac arrives at Daytona with the required reliability they are going to be tough to beat, perhaps not in terms of raw speed, but certainly in terms of digging deep when the niggles almost inevitably arrive.
If you had to put money on a crew capable of driving around an emerging issue then the one would be a very solid bet!
#02 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-LMDh: A Rolex 24-only entry with Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook.
The #02 for Daytona is the #2 for the full season in the FIA WEC and will give the marque a valuable third card to play in what could be a tough introduction for the GTP class.
And it’s another squad with experience in depth, both here at Daytona, and in the wider endurance discipline. Westbrook showed real strength in battling his way into a seat in GTP and will fight to stay there. Bamber is an established star that still believes he has much to give and mush to prove whilst Lynn is a superstar for the here and now as well as what is coming down the line.
He’s sure to benefit from the stability that the new class should offer – this is a team that is not fighting for a Championship, it’s fighting for a race win!
#31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-LMDh: Returning with Whelen Engineering Racing sponsorship, Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims are in for the full season, with Jack Aitken on board for the Rolex 24.
Another team with extensive Rolex 24 and IMSA title-winning success, Action Express return with a stunning new livery, a familiar team stalwart and a pair of ne faces to the squad.
Pipo Derani is now an established IMSA star with wins at Daytona on his cv already.
Alexander Sims meanwhile has real depth of experience and speed that his bespectacled and professorial appearance disguise very well! The best compliment that can be paid here is that sims is highly rated by his peers – and with good reason!
Aitken meanwhile I a thoroughly modern race driver, still keeping his finger in the Formula One pie whilst expanding hs racing experience in a variety of formulae, in GT3, LMP2 and now GTP – If you haven’t heard of him yet, you soon will! If F1 overlooks his talent, then the emerging tsunami of Sportscar racing surely won’t make the same mistake!
Porsche 963
The Porsche 963 blends heritage in the cars’ name, its Porsche RS-Spyder-based but now twin-turbo 4.6 litre V8 and its aspirations – Porsche the most successful marque in the modern history of endurance racing.
#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet for the full season, at the 24 Hours of Daytona, the pair will be joined by Dane Cameron
#7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell pairs with Felipe Nasr for the full season with Michael Christensen as the third driver at Daytona.
The Porsche Penske effort sees a car apiece in both IMSA and WEC competition – Porsche and Penske both exceedingly serious about the task ahead.
The Porsche was first of the GTPs to run and has done so to a very significant degree ever since with endurance testing completed, not without incident but every single lap has been a learning opportunity. The odds are that Porsche will have the most mature package.
On the driving front there’s a blend of talents, in the #6 Nick Tandy brings LMP1 race-winning experience to the raw GT speed of Jaminet who, like his British counterpart knows the IMSA circuits well. Dane Cameron forms the Penske part of the deal, albeit now as a Porsche factory driver.
The sister #7 fields rapid Aussie Matt Campbell who will be keen to add GTP success to his already impressive GT race cv. Hs full-season partner will be ex F1 racer and double IMSA Champion Felip Nasr. GTE Pro World Champion Michael Christensen gets early GTP race experience as the additional driver for Daytona before his full-season WEC duties begin.
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