Daytona 24h: Chance of a Swiss overall victory
WILL THE DREAM COME TRUE? Only two Swiss drivers have won the 24 Hours of Daytona: Jo Siffert in 1968 and Fredy Lienhard in 2002. Will it be the turn of Geneva's Louis Delétraz this weekend? We can be curious.
On the last weekend in January, the 24 Hours of Daytona will be held for the 61st time. 61 teams have registered for the classic in Florida. The video shows day 3 of qualifying. Swiss racers are also represented in four of the five classes. Thanks to Louis Delétraz, who is competing for the first time in the GTP class, the premier class, there is even a chance of a Swiss overall victory (gallery left).
Third Swiss triumph is in sight
It would be only the third Swiss triumph after 1968 (Jo Siffert) and 2002 (Fredy Lienhard). And the chances of this are not bad at all. With Filipe Albuquerque (P), Brendon Hartley (NZ) and Ricky Taylor (USA), Delétraz has three proven teammates at his side, two of whom (Albuquerque and Taylor) have already entered their names in the winners' list.
In addition, Delétraz has been a factory driver for Acura since this year, the manufacturer that won the last two races at Daytona. And Acura seems to be in good shape. Delétraz's car with the #10 will start the race from the third grid position. The sister car with the #60 is on pole position.
Raffaele Marciello with High Class Racing
Raffaele Marciello's performance will also be interesting. The man from Ticino, who usually causes a sensation in a GT3 car, will take his seat in an LMP2 Oreca from High Class Racing at Daytona. Nine opponents have to be beaten in the second highest class. Whether Marciello will succeed in his first attempt - we'll keep our fingers crossed!
We do the same to the three Swiss who are competing in GTD. Rolf Ineichen starts with the #19 in Team Iron Lynx with a Lamborghini Huracán. Philip Ellis drives a Mercedes AMG GT3 from Team Winward (gallery at right). And Rahel Frey is one of the four ladies in the Iron Dames team (also on a Lamborghini Huracán, center gallery).
The start of the race will be on Saturday, January 28, 13:30.
Source: motorsport.ch
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