24H Daytona: Feller loses second place
NO GRANDE VOR RIGHT The Audi team with Ricardo Feller, which finished second in the Daytona 24 Hours, has been moved to the end of the standings. A consequence of the premature race stoppage. With about two hours to go, heavy rain in Florida caused a second interruption of the race. It wasn't until ten minutes before the end of the 24th [...]
With around two hours to go, heavy rain in Florida caused a second interruption to the race. It wasn't until ten minutes before the end of the 24th hour that the race organizers wrestled themselves into stopping the event. In total, the cars stood still for 3:35 hours.
Strategy defeated
The beneficiaries were all those who were in front at the second red flag and thus remained so. The losers now include Audi Team Land Motorsport, which had initially been celebrated as the runner-up and subsequently received a penalty.
Reason: The fourth driver, by chance Ricardo Feller, sat at the wheel for too little time. How could he - he would have easily reached the minimum driving time with the strategically planned double stint in the last two hours. So, despite a percentage deduction due to the shortening of the race, he was a few minutes short of the required four hours.
A Ferrari team from the same class was also affected by the abort. Both are demoted as a penalty, the Land team to 22nd and penultimate position in the GTD class.
Feller is not worried
The 18-year-old from Aargau's best result to date is therefore not included in the statistics. He himself can get over it.
Ricardo Feller: "I don't think that burdens us so much now. When planning a 24-hour race, you don't assume that such an eventuality will occur and that a driver change will no longer be possible. Our strategy was perfect, the team didn't make the slightest mistake and the car ran perfectly. If I had been able to drive the last two hours, all four of us would have had six hours of driving time each."
How good the driving performance of the quartet was, which in addition to Feller consisted of the two Audi factory drivers Christopher Mies (D) and Dries Vanthoor (B) as well as Daniel Morad (CDN), is shown by the rapid advance from 15th place on the grid to the front of the field. The fastest of the four Audi R8 LMS cars was at the front for 71 of the 561 completed laps, the winning team for only 23.
The following time-lapse shows how the weather changed from good to bad during the race weekend in Daytona:
From sun to clouds to rain, the weather conditions were intense and it made for an interesting 24 hours at the #Rolex24! pic.twitter.com/KoLEZXaYGG
- Rolex24Hours (@Rolex24Hours) January 31, 2019
From mosquito to land?
After Ricardo Feller had driven for Mücke Motorsport in Dubai as in 2018 (6th place, a radiator problem thwarted the podium), the junior now cut an excellent figure in the team of old fox Wolfgang Land.
It is quite possible that he will now also be fielded in the 2019 ADAC GT Masters by the 2017 champion team. Negotiations are underway.
