It has only been four hours since the flag dropped and the Rolex 24 began, but there has been plenty of excitement already. As soon as the cars set off for the race, there was trouble. One of the new Audi R8s in the race had stalled and wouldn’t start. Not a great start. Thankfully they eventually get it moving and head into the race.
They wouldn’t be the only car to experience trouble early in the race. Ford’s GT racers showed a lot of promise over the weekend, but early not even 30-minutes into the race, the first Ford GT had to pit for transmission issues. Moments later, we get a safety car when one of Mazda’s new gasoline prototypes stalls on the track.
The GTLM Class is filed with far more than the Ford GTs though, and the highly competitive class is seeing a huge battle between the leaders, with thankfully very few issues and little contact. The fun doesn’t last long however, as just one hour after the first safety car, the second Ford GT stalls on the track and brings out another safety car.
As amazing as the race has been in the GTLM class, the real news has been happening farther toward the front of the field. The Panoz Deltawing, being driven by Katherine Legge, managed to plow its way to the front of the field. The wild concept car that has failed to finish a single race here at Daytona, found itself in the front.
It is not all sunshine and roses for one of the only two females drivers on the grid this year. Legge pitted during the second safety car, and the Deltawing stalled as it was leaving the pits, and lost its lead to one of Chip Gnassi’s Ford Daytona Prototypes. The Deltawing is still proving to a be a strong competitor, and less than an hour later, Legge pushes the strange looking racer back into the lead.
While all the attention had shifted to the race leaders, Ferrari’s cars have come to life with the new 488 GTE racers securing second, third and fourth spots in the GTLM class.
From there various battles continue around the track in ever class with multiple car packs roving around. It sounds a bit like Mad Max in the infield as you listen to angry V8s and V10s scream around the nearly four-mile long course.
Four hours in, darkness begins to fall, and disaster strikes for the Deltawing team. The #8 Prototype Challenge car from Starworks stalls on the track. Before the yellow flag can drop to caution the drivers, the Deltawing smashes into it. Thankfully both drivers are safe, and there is talk that the Deltawing could make it back onto track, but it seems safe to say that any chances it had of an overall victory have just vanished.
The race is just getting started, and there is a lot more to come. Keep it locked on AutoTalk.com to catch all the action.
