It is a continuous cycle. Daytona Beach, a beach as hard, wide and flat as a slab of stone, shaped, sands shifted by the waves of the Atlantic on a brisk, sometimes damp chill in the air. The tides of time have shaped this landscape. Racers, as soon as cars existed, were drawn here. Ransom Olds and Alexander Winton had a match race in 1903. Speed record attempts were made here for many, many years, most famously by the Bluebird and Sir Malcolm Campbell who went 276 miles an hour on Daytona Beach in 1935. After the war, stock car racing took over on the beach from the record breakers who had gone on to Utah's fabled Bonneville Salt Flats, and the legendary NASCAR races after the organization's founding at the Streamline Hotel in this very city, continued on the beach for a decade.
In 1959, NASCAR moved inland to the then newly built palace of speed that is Daytona International Speedway. 1962 marked the first ever sports car race with Dan Gurney in his Lotus sports racer crawling across the finish line at the end of three hours, on the starter motor. The first 24 Hours of Daytona was run in 1966 and since then this race has become the stuff of legend. A new legend begins today with the rebirth of IMSA's greatest nameplate. GTP, Grand Touring Prototype. The exotic sports cars are reborn from four brands, Cadillac, Porsche, Acura, and BMW, after last racing at Daytona Beach, 30 years ago. They are reborn with a combination of combustion engine power propelled by specially blended fuel made up of petrol as well as new generation biomass ingredients to make the racing more friendly to the planet, one hopes.
The cars may be all new. The objective remains the same. This will be a race of survival for 24 hours as the clock will not quicken it's pace and the team with the best preparation, may ultimately triumph. It will be hotly contested in GTP. LMP2, LMP3, GT Daytona Pro and GT Daytona will take a back seat to no one, and these classes shall contest battles of their very own. This is going to be a race of unknowns for the GTP contenders. The sports car racing tradition of endurance and efficiency continues today but with a brand new vision for the future in the hopes of providing diverse designs and powertrains to please the senses of the sports car racing faithful, while also looking to a future in which maybe, our planet may become somewhat healthier. Who is to say.
The electrical hybrid power from batteries and electric motors, will be a key question mark during this whole event as will the newly developed engines. V8 turbo power for the German brands BMW from Munich and Porsche from Stuttgart. V8 naturally aspirated thunder and power for the three all American Cadillac's. Turbo V6 power for the Acura, in an American and Japanese effort as Honda has bases in it's home country and in the United States, as do the German brands. It is sports car racing once again on a worldwide scale with the hopes of convergence of rules and competition on all continents.
This race is for the biggest prize in sports car racing. The Rolex watch. That is what everyone wants. This is the largest crowd ever assembled at the Rolex 24! The engines are fired up and we are ready. These are 200+ miles an hour race cars. Look for the hybrid units to propel the cars in pit lane. 61 cars starting and nine GTP cars. This is Daytona. This is a massive roulette table, and you don't want any mistakes. Everybody and I mean everybody wants to win this race in 24 hours. Watch on Peacock streaming the whole event. Change over the different portions of the race on the app if you have it or tune in on TV to NBC and USA Network or on IMSA Radio.
We are ready to have Leigh Diffey, Calvin Fish, and Townsend Bell on NBC Sports take us through the first portion of the event. The cars are on their warmup laps. These new GTP cars are amazing. Nine of them, ten LMP2's, nine LMP3's, nine GTD Pro and 23 GTD cars. The #80 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3R has had a spot of bother. Take a breath. I know. It is absolutely electric as we get ready to begin this motor race. Watch in LMP2 for the #8 Tower Motorsports Oreca. John Farano, Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin, and Kyffin Simpson.
Watch too for GTD Pro where we saw an amazing finish in last year's race. It was unreal when Pfaff Motorsports won and they are back with a Porsche 911 GT3R. In GT Daytona, that is the deepest field with Pro-Am driver teams. Three GTD cars out qualified the GTD Pro entries. Be careful out there. 20 years ago saw the birth of the Daytona Prototypes. Now, we have GTP. This is a new era and we are ready. Let's go! GTP is on! The Rolex 24 is green! The #60 Meyer Shank Acura leads with Tom Blomqvist and here comes Sebastien Bourdais in the #01 Chip Ganassi Cadillac GTP.
Fabian Schiller is leading the GT Daytona class. We have the #11 LMP2 car for TDS Racing off the road with Steven Thomas at the controls. Thomas' car looks OK. That is a tough braking zone in the International Horseshoe for the first time of asking. Another car is slow. Thomas got in hot and now, poor old John Farano is slow in this car he shares with Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin, IndyCar stars. Acura leads Cadillac, Porsche, Acura, Porsche, Cadillac, Cadillac, BMW. BMW. These cars all look cool. The cars have the styling of each brand and the engines are all unique.
Turbo V6 for Acura. Atmospheric V8 for Cadillac. Turbo V8s for Porsche and BMW. The #8 car is stopped and needs a reset. It is hearbtreaking and we have a Full Course Yellow already. Spare a thought for John Farano, team boss. Kyffin Simpson, Scott McLaughlin, and Josef Newgarden in trouble early doors. In GTP, Cadillac have all gone for three driver lineups as has Porsche while Acura and BMW have four driver teams with Colton Herta at BMW doing double duty in both the #24 and #25 M Hybrid V8.
Hope for these cars is reliability and stewardship of the environment. We shall see. Porsche dominated the first era of GTP between 1981 and 1993. They now hope to pick up the dominance again but they have Cadillac, Acura, and BMW, all right on their six. What a disappointment for Tower Motorsports but they will be able to come back. Hello to Marty Snider, Steve Letarte, and James Hinchcliffe who will be on the Peacock Pit Box. There are two challenges. Take care of yourself as a driver. Sleep, food etc. But remember that you are sharing the car with other drivers. You cannot be selfish. You have to share and compromise.
These cars will run 3,000 miles in 24 hours driving from Atlantic to Pacific from Daytona Beach to Seattle, Washington. The pit crews have roles. They must get 20-minute naps between pit stops. Daytona International Speedway President Frank Kelliher has stated this is the biggest crowd ever seen at the Rolex 24! Holy smokes! I went to this race in 2020 in the Daytona Prototype International era and it was unreal. This race is mega. We go back to green. Blomqvist punches it and we are back after it. Blomqvist, Bourdais, Nasr, Taylor. Nick Tandy running wide onto the road course. Pipo Derani and Action Express went winless last year. My friends at this team, we want to win again and today and tomorrow, we might just have that chance.
This massive Cadillac V8 is absolutely roaring right now up onto the high banks. Pipo Derani sharing our car with Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken, two British drivers who have sports car experience. This is all American V8 power. These cars sound wonderful! You will hear the others as well. The Porsche, the BMW, the Acura. The prize is the wristwatch. The Rolex watches. It is the most beautiful trophy in all of motor racing. We are 18 minutes into the motor race and have a long, long way to go. Tom Blomqvist, Ben Keating, Nico Pino, Maro Engel, and Mike Skeen are your current class leaders. As this race settles down and unfolds we are going to highlight individual driver lineups in the cars.
Blomqvist in the Acura ARX-06 leads. The Acura is another unique engine note with it's turbocharged 2.4-liter V6 motor. This car sounds just as angry and as fast as the Cadillac. I hope we also get to ride aboard the Porsche and the BMW. Coast into the braking zone with the hybrid regnerating the battery. You do not hear a whining and whirling sound from the hybrid like the World Endurance Hypercars. The hybrid units on the GTP cars are seamless. We have drivers from all walks of life who have won titles from every championship. Six of seven continents and the best teams and team bosses in the world. Action Express. Penske Motorsports, Wayne Taylor Racing and Andretti Autosport. Meyer Shank Racing. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Porsche, Cadillac, Acura, BMW.
Huge closing speeds between the GTP and GTD cars. Be patient. Do not take any risks. Don't damage the car, whatever you do. Be very careful. Honestly. When are the production cars going to brake? Thrugh the Bus Stop they go. The challenge is that you are on a long stint and come across the same car but with a different driver at the wheel of it. These cars are flying, the GTP entries. "Spider Man" Helio Castroneves is looking for his third straight Rolex 24 victory. The #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 features Castroneves, Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, and Simon Pagenaud. IndyCar and sports car stars.
Ricky Taylor runs wide and is struggling with brake bias and brake by wire. The rear brakes on GTP cars are electronically controlled. Blomqvist leads Bourdais, Nasr, and Taylor. Acura, Cadillac, Porsche, Acura. Leading LMP2 is Ben Keating in the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Oreca 07. Keating, the Texas car dealer and racer sharing with Alex Quinn, Paul-Loup Chatin and Nicolas Lapierre. More woe for Tower Motorsports? The #80 P.J. Hyett driven Porsche 911 GT3R has also had some troubles. That is the T Bird Swap Shops retro liveried car going back to the win 40 years ago for Preston Henn, Claude Ballot-Lena, Bob Wollek, and A.J. Foyt in a Porsche 935 in 1983.
That car is being shared by P.J. Hyett, Gunnar Jeannette, Sebastian Priaulx, and Harry Tincknell, former Mazda Daytona Prototype International driver. We watch the battle for second place. Sebastien Bourdais in the #01 Ganassi Racing Cadillac V LMDh being monstered by Felipe Nasr in the first of the two Porsche Penske Motorsports Porsche 963's. Battles all over the track as we speak. We are just getting started and we will be open all night here at the Rolex 24, so please join us. We should go back and talk about one of the other LMP2 contenders and that is the #04 CrowdStrike Racing with APR Oreca.
This car is being shared by George Kurtz, Matt McMurry, Ben Hanley, and former F1 driver Esteban Guttierez. Acura, Cadillac, Porsche, Acura, Porsche, Cadillac, Cadillac, BMW, BMW is the order in GTP, all nine of these glorious cars. Control, Alt, Delete. The high tech of these cars is a big deal. Double trouble. Double stinting tires. It is a softer tire at night. Objects in your mirror are closer than they appear. Derani tags Tandy! Wow! Cadillac on Porsche! Derani was committed and Tandy I don't think he knew what was coming! Fly by wire rear brakes. The computer says, "you are in trouble, mate!"
Does the #6 Porsche 963 have any damage? Race Control is looking at it. But I don't think anything will result. Nick Tandy sharing the second Penske Porsche #7 with Felipe Nasr and Michael Christensen. In the #31 Whelen Cadillac for Action Express has Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims, and Jack Aitken. The #01 Cadillac for Ganassi Racing is Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande, and Scott Dixon. The #8 Tower Motorsports LMP2 is back on track but they have a long way to go. We are looking at the #63 GTD Pro Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3. This is an all-star lineup with ex-Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean, Jordan Pepper, Mirko Bortolotti, and Andrea Caldarelli.
No further action on the #31 and #7 shemozzle. Good. That was just hard racing. Editorial. That is what our boys at Action Express want. So, we shall see as the race goes on, what happens. Good GTD battle between two Mercedes AMG GT3's. Korthoff Motorsports vs. SunEnergy1. The #32 Korthoff Mercedes has Mike Skeen sharing with Mikael Grenier, Kenton Koch, and Maximilian Goetz. The pursuer is the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes of Kenny Habul, Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller, and Axcil Jeffries. At SunEnergy1, the drivers dye their hair different colors for superstition.
How much risk do you take to get through traffic? Blomqvist now leads Bourdais by 6.6 seconds. Blomqvist is really pushing hard, turning up the heat. Hopefully things might settle down as the race goes on. Hard to tell. We shall see. It is such an unknown with these new race cars. Reliability is a massive deal. Nico Pino is your LMP3 leader in the #33 Sean Creech Motorsports Ligier. Pino, the Chilean, sharing with Portuguese veteran Joao Barbosa, a former race winner, Dr. Lance Willsey, and Nolan Siegel.
Blomqvist is beginning to work lapped traffic through the LMP3 and GT Daytona cars. The #57 Winward Racing Mercedes which was on pole, Lucas Auer, the pole winning driver, he suffered a massive crash head on into the concrete wall. Canadian Daniel Morad has been drafted into the lineup sharing with Phillip Ellis, Russell Ward, and Indy Dontje. Lucas Auer had successful surgery on his back. We are thinking of him. They have a different car. NASCAR spotter and hauler driver Jonathan Davis, drove the spare car back to Florida from the teams' shop in Texas. This is a race and pole winning car for the team for a spare car.
The comeback and determination and grit from Winward is great to see. They won GTD in their first IMSA race at the 2021 Rolex 24 and went on a midseason tear. Pit stop time for the #60 MSR Acura. These are hybrid electrified cars. Make sure there are no issues. The GTP cars are mandated to double stint their tires at the start. Refuel and replenish energy. Tom Blomqvist is driving a double stint. 40 seconds for the fuel as the car is down and away on the electric launch. Dump the clutch and bump start the ICE, the internal combustion engine. Blomqvist went deeper into the race than some of the other GTP's. The two Porsche 963"s are flying. Nick Tandy vs. Felipe Nasr.
Porsche was the first to develop their cars. There was some sharing between the teams during testing for the common hybrid parts. But remember, this is competitive racing, and everyone wants to win. Trouble for BMW! This is Nick Yelloly in one of the cars in the high voltage safety era for the hybrid power. The car has to be disarmed. Nick Yelloly in the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 sharing with Connor De Philippi, Sheldon van der Linde, and Colton Herta. look for a green light and that tells you the car is safe, and the electrical energy has been contained.
Daytona International Speedway President Frank Kelliher mentioned that we have the largest crowd in recent history at Daytona for these new GTP hybrid sports cars. Good scrum. Porsche vs. Cadillac. Nick Tandy monstering and passing Sebastien Bourdais.
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