24h Le Mans
Though many drivers enjoy competing in the Rolex 24 at Daytona because of the Florida sun this time of year, they had to contend with heavy rain today because of weather disturbances centered in the southern U.S. The GTs didn't miss the occasion to take the lead.
"I'm sick and tired of seeing Nick Tandy qualifying ahead of me in a GTLM car!" Those were the first words uttered by Johnny Mowlem - who has nine participations and a class podium finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans to his credit - at the press conference after qualifying, at which he clocked the best time in the PC class (Formula Le Mans) in which the cars are supposed to be faster than those entered in GTLM.
There is no question that ever since the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Nick Tandy has been on a roll. To figure on the top line of the results sheet, one has had to be a teammate of the Brit, who won at Le Mans in the Porsche 919 Hybrid, along with Nico Hülkenberg and Earl Bamber.
Indeed, after the 24 Hours, Tandy kept the wins coming in the GTLM class for Porsche in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, renamed the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship this year, prior to scoring a surprise win at Petit Le Mans with Patrick Pilet (Richard Lietz was also considered a victor though he did not get behind the wheel during the race).
The win at Road Atlanta allowed the French driver (Nick Tandy did not compete in the full championship) and Porsche to win in GTLM and make their mark with the 911 as the first GT to cross the finish line victorious in Georgia. It was the same Porsche, but the 2017 version, that clocked the fastest lap (2:01:408) during qualifying driven by Tandy, just ahead of its sister car.
The two official Porsche 911s came in ahead of the new BMW M6, the livery of which paying tribute to the Bavarian manufacturer's overall win at Le Mans in 1999, and the new Ferrari 488s of Scuderia Corse and Risi Competizione. Then follows the Corvette C7.R driven by the LM GTE Pro winners at the 2015 24 Hours, Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, along with for the occasion Marcel Fässler, three-time overall winner at Le Mans, and the second BMW M6.
It isn't until the ninth row that a prototype first appears, the eighth spot being held by Johnny Mowlem and his Formula Le Mans. The rain redoubled in intensity betwen the qualifying sessions for the GTs and the prototypes and the Michelin development tyres on the cars in the GTLM class, in which competitors can choose manufacturers, against the mandatory Continentals in all the other classes - which explains the surprising qualifying results.
Though it was Michael Shank Racing's Ligier JS P2-HPD - which has earned an automatic invitation to the 84th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans - that was the fastest at the first free practice (1:54:807), it was SMP Racing's BR01, designed by Paolo Catone, designer of the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP, that took the spot during qualifying thanks to Mikhail Aleshin with a time of 2:05:793.
Between the second and third prototypes can be found the first of the Ford GTs, which performed well at the second free practice, especially thanks to Le Mans native Sébastien Bourdais who clocked the best time (1:56:024), before falling into line at qualifying with 15th and 25th places.
Lastly, the starting grid will not be a direct reflection of the qualifying results since the IMSA, the governing body of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, stipulates that the cars in the P and PC classes be placed ahead of those in the GTLM and GTD classes for the race. Consequently, Mikhail Aleshin (the driver who qualified the car must take the start of the race) will start from the pole with Russian team SMP Racing's BR01.
The start of the 54th edition of the Rolex 24 at Daytona will be given Saturday, January 30th at 2:40 p.m. local time, but the competitors will have a final free practice on Friday to tweak their settings after Thursday's night session dominated once again by the GTLMs with the Corvette C7.R of Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Mike Rockenfeller, victorious at Le Mans in 2010, in the lead.
The protagonists should be very diligent during the last free practice session since they have yet to roll on a dry track, some didn't even do the second session, and the weather forecast for this weekend is beautiful.
Cécile Bonardel / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
PHOTO: DAYTONA BEACH (FLORIDA, U.S.), DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY, WEATHERTECH SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP, ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA, THURSDAY JANUARY 28 2016, FREE PRACTICE. The official Porsche No. 911, with Nick Tandy at the wheel, clocked the best time at Daytona qualifying.
