24H Daytona: New territory for Nico Müller and Fabio Scherer 🎥
US CLASSICS LIVE ON THE INTERNET This weekend, the 24 Hours of Daytona opens the North American Sports Car Championship. Three Swiss drivers - Nico Müller, Fabio Scherer and Louis Delétraz - are taking part for the first time. The entire race is live on the Internet.
The 2022 IMSA season traditionally begins with the 24 Hours of Daytona. 61 cars start on Saturday.
The Americans may talk about the 60th edition of the famous 24 Hours of Daytona. In fact, however, the first sports car races lasted only a few hours before the actual marathon premiere took place in 1966. It ended with the triumph of the legendary duo Ken Miles/Lloyd Ruby in a Shelby American Ford MkII.
End of an era
Nowadays, up to five drivers take turns at the wheel of the fastest Daytona Prototype (DPi) sports cars. For them, 2022 marks the end of an era, as from next year the LMDh regulations will also apply in Europe, i.e. Le Mans.
If only U.S. teams with five Cadillacs and two Acuras settle the victory among themselves at the weekend, renowned brands such as Porsche, Audi and BMW will be back at the forefront of the action from 2023.
Only Siffert and Lienhard
The only Swiss overall winners in the history of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, as the race is officially called, were Jo Siffert in 1968 in a Porsche 907 and Fredy Lienhard in 2002 in a Dallara SP1.
This is likely to remain the case, as no Swiss driver is competing for the favored DPi teams. Mike Rockenfeller, who lives in Thurgau and drives a top Caddy, has held a Swiss passport for some time but remains a German racing driver.
Müller is confident
The Swiss presence is strong in the LM P2 class, where eight teams with ten technically identical Oreca 07-Gibson V8s will decide the winner among themselves. Nico Müller starts his LMP2 campaign, which will also take him to the WEC, with High Class Racing. One of his three partners is Fabio Scherer who, like the DTM driver, is racing in the USA for the first time.
The Danish team is not among the absolute best, but anything is possible over the distance.
Nico Müller: "The team is doing a good job so far. We're certainly not the favorites, but we still reckon we have a good chance because our pace has been really promising so far."
Delétraz in winning team
The team will tackle the race from fourth position in LMP2. The grid positions were allocated last Sunday based on the outcome of a 100-minute qualifying race in which Scherer and Dane Dennis Andersen took turns at the wheel. P2 would have been possible without any time loss during the pit stop.
Daytona and its special track characteristics are also new territory for Geneva-based Louis Delétraz. The reigning champion in the European Le Mans Series has found shelter with Tower Motorsports from the USA, which won the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta last November and the year before. So they know how it's done.
Two classes for GT3 cars
There are also four fast candidates for the podium in the two GT classes under GT3 regulations. The organizers of the North American sports car racing series have set up a new class structure for them.
The previous GTLM category will no longer exist. It will be replaced by the new GTD Pro class, in which pure professional racers can share a car. In the GTD class, as before, at least one "amateur" must be on board at each race, and even two at the 24 Hours of Daytona.
Ineichen and Ellis back at the place of success
Even though he is not a professional, Rolf Ineichen is racing a Lamborghini Huracán in GTD-Pro with three strong Italians. In a similar constellation, the Lucerne native has already won at Daytona (2018 and 2019) and Sebring (2019).
Philip Ellis, too, knows how to do it. A year ago, his star really rose thanks to a heroically won battle for the GTD victory. Then elevated to the status of a Mercedes-AMG works driver, the man from Zug also won in the DTM. With the proven Team Winward from the USA, he wants to repeat last year's success.
Alexandre Imperatori from Freiburg in a Porsche and Raffaele Marciello from Ticino in a Mercedes are further contenders for the podium thanks to equally strong team partners.
Complete 24-hour race in livestream
The Daytona International Speedway in Florida, which opened in 1959, differs from other tracks, among other things, in its highly banked corners: the angle of inclination in the oval sections of the 5.73-kilometer circuit is up to 31 degrees.
The race will start at 13:40 local time (19:40 CET) on Saturday, January 29. Outside the USA and Canada, it will be broadcast live over the entire distance on the Internet (here the direct link). The livetiming is available at this Link.
Result qualifying race Official start list
daytonainternationalspeedway.com
