| Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport.info
From: Daytona International Speedway <[email protected]>
Subject: IMSA: Daytona testing notes 96-01-08
AUBERLEN LATEST TO GO UNDER DAYTONA TRACK RECORD IN TESTING
DAYTIONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 8) -- Exxon World SportsCar rookie
Bill Auberlen became the latest driver to unofficially best the
Daytona International Speedway track record Monday as he turned the
fastest lap of the three-day IMSA Open Test Days in preparation for
the Feb. 3-4 Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Auberlen, of Redondo Beach, Calif., toured the 3.56-mile road
course with a quick lap of 1:41.634, an average speed of 126.100
mph. The track record, set by Italian Mauro Baldi in qualifying for
the 1995 Rolex 24, is 1:43.326, 124.034 mph. A total of five
drivers eclipsed the track record during the test, including Baldi,
Gianpiero Moretti, Andy Wallace and Wayne Taylor.
Fermin Velez, the 1995 IMSA World SportsCar Championship
titlist, had been quick all three days of the session in his
Scandia-Simon Racing Ferrari 333SP. "Definitely we are coming back
(to Daytona) with our eyes on victory," said Velez, whose team will
be one of the favorites when the green flag drops on the 34th Rolex
24. "The team and the car are strong. It's very difficult to win
a 24-hour race but I think a Ferrari will win the race. I just
hope it's my car!"
Ford NASCAR Winston Cup Series teams are scheduled to begin a
three-day test on Tuesday, including those of former Daytona 500
winners Bill Elliott and Dale Jarrett. A section of the Oldfield
Grandstand is open daily at no charge from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with
access through the Visitors' Center. Guided tours of the Speedway
are also available from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. for a nominal fee.
*IMSA TEST SPEEDS -- Jan. 8
NO DRIVER/CAR TIME SPEED
Exxon World SportsCars
30 Bill Auberlen/Ferrari 333 SP 1:41.634 126.09
4 Wayne Taylor/Olds R&S Mk. 3 1:41.651 126.07
30 Gianpiero Moretti/Ferrari 333 1:42.597 124.91
Exxon Supreme GTS-1
95 Tommy Archer/Dodge Viper GTSR 1:50.757 115.71
1 Darin Brassfield/Olds Aurora 1:51.358 115.08
56 Jorge Trejos/Porsche 911 T 1:52.783 113.63
Exxon Supreme GTS-2
07 David Donohue/BMW M3 1:57.894 108.70
99 Andy Pilgrim/Porsche 911 2:00.728 106.15
06 Bill Adams/BMW M3 2:02.271 104.81
IMSA Endurance Championship -- Grand Sports
35 Steve McNeely/Pontiac Firebird 2:08.157 100.00
1 Andy Pilgrim/Pontiac Firebird 2:08.783 99.516
47 John Kohler/Ford Mustang Cobra 2:10.479 98.222
* Electronic times furnished by IMSA scoring.
PETE HALSMER (#06* Valvoline BMW M3) -- Right now I don't think we
have any weak links. We keep trying to make all of it strong: Like
the driver lineups, the sponsors, the equipment in terms of BMW,
the crew guys and the entire team. I think we've got a pretty good
package and we're concentrating on making it better. (On the chief
competition for the Rolex) It looks like there are some really good
Porsches that are going to be running and there is a mid-engine
Porsche that has been built. I think there are a number of
potential competitors but we're just going to have to wait and see
what shows up for the race. We run under the unibody side of the
rules which is basically a stock chassis of the BMW and we try to
work within that configuration. But we're just working real hard
and keeping our heads up. (On picking up more time) We keep working
at it and I think we're reasonably pleased about where we're at. We
just want to keep running our program, keep optimizing and making
the car better. We need to learn about what the car needs so it
will go 24 hours because that's a critical element. We may go fast
but if we don't go fast for 24 hours it doesn't do us much good.
So we are trying to learn about the durability factor as well as
the speed so we can be right for a 24-hour race. The key is to keep
focused on what we're trying to do and watch what the competition
is doing. If we stay focused on what we're trying to do -- our plan
and our procedure -- that will produce the best results that we can
get. Hopefully good enough that we are ahead of everybody else.
DEREK BELL (#72+ Champion Porsche 911 Turbo) -- (On the performance
so far) Well, we went quicker this afternoon than the car ever has
been before, so that's quite something for that sort of car. There
are really no secrets about these kind of cars. The guys have
really done a super job of preparing it and we are very happy!
Overall, I am very pleased considering I haven't driven this kind
of car for a very long time. I'm really looking forward to next
month's race very much now. (On durability) One of the guys asked
me today how do I think we're going to run in the race. I told him
that you could finish any endurance race in the world with that car
-- it is a proven package. You know, with that identical engine
I've won Daytona twice before. The car is so proven! Now having
said that, something stupid will probably happen, but you can't
account for that. But we haven't got any gray areas like the
gearbox. This car you just drive it as fast as you can without
hitting anything. If you go off the road then you're a naughty boy,
but you can't go off the road and keep within the rev limits. I
would love to win Daytona another time. I think we will do very
well in the Porsche and I am excited about driving it. I didn't
think we could win in the McLaren at Le Mans and we ended up
leading it for 10 hours (and another McLaren won). We have a very
reliable car and anything can happen and we have three very good
drivers in it and I am really looking forward to it. I wish it was
tomorrow!
Don Kitch (#43 Payne Racing/CF Team Oldsmobile R&S Mk. 3) -- We're
actually racing as a fundraiser for the cure for cystic fibrosis,
the leading genetic disease afflicting children and young adults in
the U.S. What we're doing is garnering corporate or private
donations to be collected for research on a laps-completed basis
according to IMSA official timing and scoring. Right now we're
sitting on about $100 per lap from what we've taken in. Our goal
is to get to $200 per lap. If the car goes somewhere between 650-
700 laps then we'll have raised approximately $140,000. We plan to
have some families with kids who are afflicted with CF here for the
race. We plan to have a block of cellular phones right in the hot
pits so that people can call right in, talk to the drivers and team
and make their pledge right there. It's going to be a great effort.
We're looking for nothing less than a win. The driver lineup
includes Canadian Ross Bentley, who has an extensive IndyCar
background (and who drove the car during 1995) and Frenchman Franck
Freon, also with some IndyCar racing during his career; plus team
owner Lee Payne and myself. We've already had good test sessions
before coming here. Last year, the car was on the front row at New
Orleans and led the race for a while. The car has (pushrod)
Oldsmobile power in a Riley & Scott chassis, which is an incredible
package. We're looking to qualify within the top four and then
we'll go to race pace.
TOMMY ARCHER (#95+ Dodge Viper GTSR) -- We've got a brand new car
with the Viper and we're having the typical teething problems
associated with trying to make a road car a race car. When you do
that, put that much horsepower through the stock components, you
find things which have to be adjusted or changed especially for a
24-hour race. The car looks like it's moving even when it's parked
and I've had people tell me the V-10 sounds like a P-51 (World War
II fighter plane) coming around the banking. It's a neat car. This
is the first time I've been here since 1988 so I'm sort of new to
the track too.
Our goal with the car is to finish the race. If the program
had been going for maybe a year, then we might be saying we had a
good chance of finishing up front. Realistically, what we're
trying to do is use the race as a test for Le Mans and see if we
can make the car finish. Right now every time I get in the car
there's a new piece on it. You just can't expect to win with a car
this new. I do know we can run comfortable race laps with the car,
but whether we have all the right pieces to last 24 hours -- well,
time will tell.
DARIN BRASSFIELD (#1+ Brix Racing Oldsmobile Aurora) -- The test is
going really good. The car has impressed us even more than the
test we had here in December. We've had six different drivers in
the car. Other than a bit of wear and tear, we haven't had one
problem. I started back in 1992 with this program and the wait for
this (overhead cam) car has been worth it. Without a doubt in all
the years we've been here with Oldsmobile this is the best car
we've had. Even though we didn't have this car last year, we did
win the class title and the manufacturer's championship so you can
see the team can get the job done. I believe my (one minute) 50.9
has been the fastest in the car. The main thing has been to get
the others in the car. I can't drive the entire 24 hours so we
need them to be able to maintain the pace we set. I would have to
say that we're going to be running up front in the race. If we can
keep the car out of pit lane for other than routine stops then
we're going to be the pace setters. It's a very easy car to drive
and a very fast car. I'd be real surprised if you didn't see us in
victory lane at the end of the race.
|
| Thanks for the update, Jilly, much appreciated.
However, I'm sad to report that Group C died around 1992. Kevorked, in
fact, by some crazed Brits and Frenchmen. There is a whole generation
of road race fans who fervently wish that there *was* a 1996 group C
series.
Perhaps we could change the topic title to read "1996 Sportscar/GT
racing"?
Thanks again for keeping us up-to-date,
George
|
| Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport.info
From: Daytona International Speedway <[email protected]>
Subject: IMSA/WSC: Daytona report
Record Finish For Doyle Racing In Rolex 24 At Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The 34th running of the Rolex 24 At
Daytona produced the closest finish in the history of the race and
an exhilarating debut victory for Doyle Racing on Feb. 3-4 at
Daytona International Speedway.
The record margin of victory for Doyle's Oldsmobile R&S Mk.
3 over the MOMO Corse Ferrari 333 SP was 64.099 seconds after
2,481.32 miles of racing. The event kicked off Speedweeks 96 and
was the season opener for the International Motor Sports
Association's Exxon World SportsCar Championship and Supreme GT
Series.
Drivers Wayne Taylor, Scott Sharp and Jim Pace scored their
first victory in North America's biggest sports car race after
completing 697 laps of Daytona's 3.56-mile course at an average
speed of 103.324 mph. The victory marked the first time in three
years of official competition that a World SportsCar had scored an
overall victory in the Rolex 24.
The closing moments of the race contained high drama. Italian
Formula One driver Max Papis established the race lap record in the
MOMO Ferrari just six laps from the end as he tried to catch
Taylor. Third overall was decided on the last lap as Butch Hamlet's
WSC Mazda Kudzu moved past Enzo Calderari's Exxon Supreme GTS-2
class winning Stadler Motorsport Porsche 911. Stadler's Ulrich
Richter won the class for the third straight year while Lilian
Bryner and Enzo Calderari won for the second straight year and
fourth driver Ferdinand de Lesseps won for the first time in four
Daytona appearances.
Brix Racing's Oldsmobile Aurora won the Exxon Supreme GTS-1
division with a seventh place overall finish using drivers Irv
Hoerr, Jon Gooding, Joe Pezza, Darin Brassfield and Charles and Rob
Morgan.
"With two and a half hours to go we had a four lap cushion,"
explained Taylor, who drove the race's final 70 minutes. "Max Papis
was lapping at six seconds a lap quicker than us. We calculated
that by the final lap he would be on the lead lap with us -- which
he was. If a caution flag had come out in the final half hour he
would have won. It was that close."
"I thought at seven this morning that I was sick, that I
wouldn't be able to get back into the car," Taylor described
typical Rolex 24 feelings. "I feel fine now!"
The MOMO team, especially owner/driver Gianpiero Moretti, took
the loss hard. In the race's waning hours the Italian veteran noted
to friends crowded in his pit area that "You don't know how much
winning this race would mean to me."
"It was very close," said Moretti at the finish. "It's never
easy to lose and it's never easy to say that's racing.'"
The battle started in pole qualifying when Belgian Didier
Theys put the MOMO Ferrari on the pole with a Daytona WSC record
lap of 1:41.224, an average speed of 126.610 mph. Taylor qualified
..3 seconds behind to fill the front row of the 78-car grid. The 86-
car entry was the largest for the Rolex 24 in a dozen years.
The teams swapped the lead throughout the 24 hours. Doyle
Racing took the lead for the last time at 8:55 a.m. and led for the
final four hours and five minutes.
The GTS-1 victory for Brix Racing and the debuting Oldsmobile
Aurora marked the fourth win in 25 Daytona starts for team
manager/driver Irv Hoerr. But, it was his first in the Rolex 24 and
capped an incredible comeback. The team's second car, which Hoerr
started, was eliminated by a fire. In the end, the team's win
marked the third straight appearance in Daytona's Victory Lane for
Brix Racing, which won the World SportsCar class in its first two
years before shutting down that team.
"The victory is nice," said Hoerr, the 1995 GTS-1 driving
champion. "I found out one thing, there's a lot more worrying
being a team manager rather than just a driver!"
In the inaugural Daytona 90-minute IMSA Endurance Championship
event on Feb. 2, John Heinricy and Stu Hayner finished just 1.04
seconds ahead of a Ford Mustang Cobra R driven by Joe Sulentic and
Alex Caffi. They topped the 76-car field in a Pontiac Firebird
Formula, averaged 77.897 mph and completed 33 laps.
Speedweeks will conclude with the 38th Daytona 500 on Feb. 18.
Camel Motorcycle Week, featuring the 55th Daytona 200 By Arai
Superbike Classic, will be held March 1-10.
|