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Rolex 24 - Thoughts From Frankl @ 6 Hours In


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By Nicholas Frankl
Senior Motor Sport Editor
The Auto Channel

Initial thoughts on the racing capital.

WOW. it's good to be at the legendary grand daddy of Nascar and sports car racing in the USA.


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Never been before and never been to the 24hrs of Daytona. Flying in is easy, as the airport is adjacent to the track. I recall Air Force One once landing here a dozen or more years ago.

I picked a good year as it seems that the excitement in sports car racing in the United States and around the world is growing every day. This year Ford (all new GT) BMW (M6) Porsche (911), Lamborghini (Huracan), Audi (R8), GM (Corvette), Dodge (Viper), Ferrari (488), Mazda (prototype with new 2 liter twin turbo replacing the torquey diesel), have all got new models entered.

The Ford GT seems to be the crowd & paddock favorite and is causing the most excitement although so far its reliability is letting it down in a big way and we still have a long way to go.

Unlike Formula One the noise of the cars gives them individual character and is an important element of the racing and although tiring over a 24 hour period it's interesting to hear how different the calls are.

Traditionally Ferrari's had the highest pitch V-8 scream however with the new twin turbo engines it's now the Porsche 911 which has the most distinctive and highest pitch, the V-8's of the old Fords have been also replaced by V-6 twin turbos and sounds a bit weak to be honest, so it's the Vette's, Vipers and Lamborghini's bringing charisma to the collegium.

The sun is down and the lights and neon flash strips lining the cars are dancing around the banking - a rainbow of color intermixed with bright red disks glowing in the cooling Florida air.

The sports prototype Performance Tech no.38 just spun in front of me, and bought out a yellow, that's when the colors and noise move up another level. With no damage done, it rejoins the pack and only loses 1 spot.

Six hours in its a war of human and mechanical attrition and the famous Ferris wheel is beckoning.

Roll on Daytona - the night is young.