IMSA Race 2017 - Rolex Daytona 24

[joeb]

The entry list is officially out so I thought we can start the race thread. There is much anticipation for this years event as it marks the first outing for the 2017 P2 cars and the new DPi machines from Cadillac, Mazda and Nissan. We will see 3 of the 4 new P2 cars in action with the base Dallara the only chassis builder not present (other than beneath the Caddy's). This is a lot of new machinery and the team that has the fewest new-car issues is likely to be the victor. In PC, we have 5 cars.

The GT classes are where the bulk of the entries come from with 11 GTLM(GTE) cars and 27 GTD (GT3) cars entered! Ford is bringing their two WEC machines over in an attempt to win Daytona, while we will see two cars each from BMW, Corvette, and Porsche with Risi entering the lone Ferrari. Porsche is here debuting the new "mid" engined 911. In GTD we have 9 different makes entered (if i counted correctly). Many of the entries will be serious competitors for the win, while we will see new cars from Acura and Lexus making their GT3 debuts. Mercedes will be making its series debut as well.

I will add and update the links as necessary, and if there is anything else you would like to see on here please let me know.


Entry List

Schedule

Results

Radio

Track Map

Timing & Scoring (Alternate)

Fantasy Racing

Spotter's Guide

[Nick Woodbury]

Thanks for the thread.

I must say I have never been more excited for a Rolex 24 than this year, 2017...(I was pretty excited for 2014, but we all know how that race went about).

Bring it on, cannot wait!

[fieldodreams79]

RACE THREAD - 2017!!!



Looking forward to watching this one very, very, very much!

[MaskedRacer]

Originally Posted by Nick Woodbury

Thanks for the thread.

I must say I have never been more excited for a Rolex 24 than this year, 2017...(I was pretty excited for 2014, but we all know how that race went about).

Bring it on, cannot wait!

Been excited for every Daytona 24 since 2014. This race is truly back now. I did not pay attention at all to it between 2004 through 2013.

Do you think DPI reliability will be a problem perhaps? There will be 12 of them in this race. I suggest to look and see where the GTLM leader is placed on Sunday morning of the race at some point.

I think Ford is the favorite to win GTLM. For GTD I am picking the Acura with Andy Lally in it. He is one of the best american sportscar drivers today. Darkhose is the Turner BMW M6 (can say the same for R.L.L BMW in GTLM)

Predictions for pole lap times: DPI 1 min 37; GTLM 1 min 42, GTD 1 min 45

[Maelochs]

I have been poring over the entry list trying to pick a GTD winner ... i can narrow it down to about ... or seven, or nine .... AJR, Core have great line-ups Riley AMG had the Mighty Bleekemolen and was second fastest at the Roar.. Stevenson looks strong and was third at the Roar .... Manthey, was quickest .... Montaaplast was fast, I don't have much hope for them despite being eighth iof the roar, but the TRG Porsche ... because I like Tim Pappas and Mike Hedlund .... I seriously cannot pick a solid top three in Any class.

[GT-Eins]

We did a small analysis on the Rolex-data:
http://cms3.gt-eins.at/imsa/11363-ro...otypen-analyse

[Akrapovic]

Those Caddy times are all nicely bunched together. IT resembles what laptimes look like if you run to a delta time Caddy will be fast come the 24.

[Maelochs]

Interesting ... Every team seems to have a slug.

Seems Jeff Gordon is far and away the weakest link at WTR, and Marc Goosens at VisitFL. I’d have expected Tom Kimber-Smith to be faster. Spencer Pigot is the slow man at Mazda #55.

The #5 Mustang (ne AXR) Cadillac has a strong lineup, and Dragonspeed also. Whelen has a slow driver in Seb Morris but the rest are pretty even.

Nick Heidfeld, the slowest Rebellion driver, is quicker than all the other slow drivers and as quick as some second-tier drivers.

I sort of expect the Cadillacs to run for 24 hours ... bit American V8s, not particularly highly stressed. if the Gibson engine can run hard for 24 hours, Rebellion and Dragonspeed should have the edge. if the Gibsons stumble, it will be a typical DP-team podium.

I see ESM isn’t represented. I don’t know how well that program has sorted itself out—they were the slowest two prototypes at the Roar, but not by much.

You guys always provide interesting data. Thank you.

[canamman]

Yay ! Thanks Joeb! Weather trend is looking dry but
possibly in the high 30's at nite which feels like the
teens in Fl.

Here is a link for the past Daytona 24 results. Its amazing
that at my first 24 race in 1990 the fast lap was a 1:38.596.
My oh my the eb and flow the series has gone through since then
and its basically hanging around the same times.
http://www.racingsportscars.com/race...?track=daytona

[Mike Hedlund]

I wouldn't put too much into individual driver performance at the Roar -- the teams were doing a lot of different things (in all classes), and the driving duties were far from equally distributed among all the cars. There's a such a big effect from going out in traffic (typically driver changes done during red flag periods, of which there were many) and if they only got a few laps then times would not be representative of performance. Also, very few teams ran all drivers through equal tire allocations. For instance, I did two 3-lap runs over the first 2 days to learn the new GT3R and both runs were on tires that were 1 stint old. My last run was 12 laps to close out the last session on Sunday and the tires had passed 2 stints before I was done.

Either way, there isn't enough information available to the public to know yet who is strong or who is weak -- for drivers or cars. The series might and I think inside the individual classes the competitors keep a bit closer of an eye on their competition (when people go out on stickers, who's driving when, etc).

Anyway, it looks pretty competitive across all the classes IMO and I think it'll lead to a good race. It'll be interesting to see how the new GTD cars come out of the box... if they play the long game for the season and don't go "too fast" or if they say "f*ck it, let's win Daytona!" -- I'd guess the factory teams in it for the season will do the former, and everyone else will do the latter. :-)

And thanks Maelochs! It's really fun to be driving with my co-driver from the RSR last year (Henzler) and my old ALMS co-driver (Heylen). With 3 real Am's in the car it's going to be hard for us to compete with the all Pro lineups, but if we can avoid trouble and give Wolf and Jan a car to fight with for the last couple stints... I think we can be up there.

If any Tenthers are at the race feel free to stop by and say Hi if you see me!

-mike

[Dyson Mazda]

This is kind of a dumb point, but I wish IMSA would go away from 3 digit numbers.*

911 ---> 91
912 ---> 92
991 ---> 99

*Exception: 007 is allowed, but only on an Aston Martin

[Bcarr6]

Guna be a good CTSCC support race too, great grid.

Going to be a cracking week to start the racing year proper


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Dyson Mazda

This is kind of a dumb point, but I wish IMSA would go away from 3 digit numbers.*

911 ---> 91
912 ---> 92
991 ---> 99

*Exception: 007 is allowed, but only on an Aston Martin

lol, I actually think the opposite. I don't mind 911, but I hate 007. You can't have a 007 and a 7! It's the same thing, your calculator says so.

[bentley speed 8]

And here I was waiting for quad digits

[ATLFalconsFAN]

I wish they would do away with cars that stupidly say FAST on the side of them.

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by Mike Hedlund

It's really fun to be driving with my co-driver from the RSR last year (Henzler) and my old ALMS co-driver (Heylen). With 3 real Am's in the car it's going to be hard for us to compete with the all Pro lineups, but if we can avoid trouble and give Wolf and Jan a car to fight with for the last couple stints... I think we can be up there.

-mike

Seems really weird to look at a Daytona 24 Hour entry list that contains only five Porsches! So, that said, I'm pullin' for y'all! I won't be there, got a grits contest going on.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by Mike Hedlund

I wouldn't put too much into individual driver performance at the Roar -- the teams were doing a lot of different things (in all classes), and the driving duties were far from equally distributed among all the cars. There's a such a big effect from going out in traffic (typically driver changes done during red flag periods, of which there were many) and if they only got a few laps then times would not be representative of performance. Also, very few teams ran all drivers through equal tire allocations. For instance, I did two 3-lap runs over the first 2 days to learn the new GT3R and both runs were on tires that were 1 stint old. My last run was 12 laps to close out the last session on Sunday and the tires had passed 2 stints before I was done.

Either way, there isn't enough information available to the public to know yet who is strong or who is weak -- for drivers or cars. The series might and I think inside the individual classes the competitors keep a bit closer of an eye on their competition (when people go out on stickers, who's driving when, etc).

Anyway, it looks pretty competitive across all the classes IMO and I think it'll lead to a good race. It'll be interesting to see how the new GTD cars come out of the box... if they play the long game for the season and don't go "too fast" or if they say "f*ck it, let's win Daytona!" -- I'd guess the factory teams in it for the season will do the former, and everyone else will do the latter. :-)

And thanks Maelochs! It's really fun to be driving with my co-driver from the RSR last year (Henzler) and my old ALMS co-driver (Heylen). With 3 real Am's in the car it's going to be hard for us to compete with the all Pro lineups, but if we can avoid trouble and give Wolf and Jan a car to fight with for the last couple stints... I think we can be up there.

If any Tenthers are at the race feel free to stop by and say Hi if you see me!

-mike

Maybe I'll see you at Sebring, if I can stumble out of Green Park for a minute.

And was thinking the same about drivers vs setup. While the stats are interesting and great to have, I was curious as to how much weight they hold.

Originally Posted by Dyson Mazda

This is kind of a dumb point, but I wish IMSA would go away from 3 digit numbers.*

911 ---> 91
912 ---> 92
991 ---> 99

*Exception: 007 is allowed, but only on an Aston Martin

I kinda like it, especially the 911, as that makes more sense than "Beetle".

I also don't mind the "1X" on dirt track cars either.

[Damian Baldi]

This race will be very very interesting to follow beyond which brand each one likes more. The Cadillac should be strong with that big engine, while the P2 cars with Gibson engines seems as the fastest in general terms. Then we have the Mazda, and the hope for a 4 cilinder's engine to win again since 1993. Will be the Nissan a surprise? It's a fast chassis with a well proven engine, but never working together. How the fuel consumption and tyre wear will play on the race.

By the drivers side, a long list of very experiences drivers, mixed with some amateurs, and very fast young men.

With the data from the roar, it is difficult to say who was really the fastest. As we see every year, early runs should be to get used of the car, track, weather, traffic, keeping the leader lap while avoiden any drama. Later some speed up to measure the rivals, survive the night, and finally let the fastest drivers decide the race.

[Maelochs]

Really the race won't start until about 1 p.m. Sunday when Pipo Derani starts his final two stints.

[Damian Baldi]

and here we go with more BoP

http://competitors.imsa.com/sites/de...lm_gtd_bop.pdf

[DeezPutz]

Originally Posted by Maelochs

Really the race won't start until about 1 p.m. Sunday when Pipo Derani starts his final two stints.

Pretty sure the race goes green on Saturday.

[DeezPutz]

Originally Posted by Damian Baldi

and here we go with more BoP

http://competitors.imsa.com/sites/de...lm_gtd_bop.pdf

Meh. Daytona is unique so this isn't surprising especially with so many cars.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Damian Baldi

and here we go with more BoP

http://competitors.imsa.com/sites/de...lm_gtd_bop.pdf

I know the Prototypes are new, so the BoP needs finalised, but the majority of the GT3 and GTLM grids are old cars. Why are they being balanced again?

Whenever IMSA post another round of BoP changes for cars they've been regulating for years, all I hear is "lol sorry, we still don't know how fast an Audi R8 LMS and a Porsche 911 are. Here's another attempt at it".

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

I know the Prototypes are new, so the BoP needs finalised, but the majority of the GT3 and GTLM grids are old cars. Why are they being balanced again?

Whenever IMSA post another round of BoP changes for cars they've been regulating for years, all I hear is "lol sorry, we still don't know how fast an Audi R8 LMS and a Porsche 911 are. Here's another attempt at it".

I've felt that way too. There were times when all the GTE cars had the same types of changes made to them, so it was kind of like what's the point why not just leave them as is. But then I realized that IMSA was trying to speed up the class as a whole.

But for the GTD cars, the existing ones should be the same spec as last year right?

[Mike Hedlund]

Originally Posted by joeb

But for the GTD cars, the existing ones should be the same spec as last year right?

They have new ways of collecting data this year and probably found things they wanted to adjust. Not to mention they also need to mix all the new cars into the class and you can't always make every car faster or slower in the same way. The new cars are faster than the older cars, so it creates a new middle.

-mike