Daytona 24 hours: the final furlong

The sun has risen again at Daytona, which means the Rolex 24 is approaching its home straight. It’s, um, seven-hour long home straight. It’s easy to think, with two thirds of the race gone, that teams are over the hardest part. Far from it. The final few hours of a twice-round-the-clock race are often its trickiest.

More gearbox woes for the GT

Just ask Ford about how hard the final hours can be. The GT’s much-anticipated motorsport return has been dogged by issues, with both cars suffering a handful of electronic and brake-based issues at the very beginning of the race, effectively ending their chances of victory right from the off.

Since then, though, the cars have been strong, putting in the kind of pace that has the team worrying about looming Balance of Performance judgements, despite its cars propping up the class. Go figure.

Around 7am EST, car number 67 suffered another gearbox issue, caused, they reckon, by the Rolex’s long periods of slow going under the yellow flag. More major than any issues thus far, it requires a three-hour transmission change, which is ongoing.

Is there much point, you might rightly ask, given that’s about half the race’s remaining duration? TG spoke to Dave Pericak, boss of Ford Performance. “My guys said it’ll take three hours. I said ‘change it’. It’s practice for them, and we get to run for a few more hours after it’s fixed.”

The DeltaWing is out. Sad face

Little sooner had we mentioned the DeltaWing’s entrance to the garage to fix crash damage, and it was hauled from the race completely. It really does seem cursed this thing - no sooner had it led for the bulk of the first two hours, with British racer Katherine Legge putting in lap after smooth lap, it suffered damage after its driver change and had to retire, completing 119 laps and racing for less than four hours.

The DeltaWing, and its oddly shaped relatives, have a long history of retirements, thanks to both damage and glitches, and four years after its debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours, this design feels little closer to an endurance race win. If anything, though, it’s increasing underdog status can only seems to make its fans’ favourite status ever stronger… 

The battle for victory is close

With a lap time half that of La Sarthe’s, the gap between class leaders and their opponents continues to be a matter of seconds, even in the late stages of the race. Corvette and Ford have been swapping the overall race lead between them with their prototypes, while Porsche and Corvette have been taking turns to lead the GT-class cars. Leaders swap every pit stop, and even the littlest of issues become a big problem.

Competitiveness can be as dangerous as actual mechanical issues, though: in the early hours of the morning, as fatigue no doubt began to grip, two Lamborghini Huracans - loudly battling for GTD class victory - wiped each other out leading onto the pit straight, starting yet another period under the yellow flag.

Some endurance races get themselves into a pattern of frequent stints under the safety car, and overnight at the 2016 Rolex 24 has certainly fitted that description. Here’s to a less eventful - and more racing-packed - final furlong.

Pictures: Nathan Deremer/Stephan Cooper/Jamey Price