Sascha Maassen - Rolex 24

Sascha Maassen raced to one of his best finishes in the Rolex 24 At Daytona,
bolstered by a flawless performance from the Brumos Racing crew.

 

Although Maassen, of Raeren Belgium, had a fast qualifying time, he started
the No. 58 Porsche-powered Fabcar 29th on the 66-car grid due to an
administrative glitch. He quickly charged to 12th during his first double
stint, followed by David Donohue of Westchester, Pa., and Darren Law of
Phoenix, who had equally strong stints. All three drivers led during the
first seven hours of the race.

 

A water-hose leak zapped them out of the lead at 7h31, but a quick repair
put them back on track in seven minutes, three laps behind the race leader.
They steadily worked back to second place at 18h32 and stayed in the top
three until the final minutes of the race. Law was driving when he was hit
by the race leader and spun off track. The resulting bodywork damage cut the
left-rear tire, forcing a pitstop just six minutes from the finish. The trio
finished fourth.

 

"This was one of my best finishes at Daytona. To bring the car from 29th to
12th without any damage was really good, because it would have been easy to
get into trouble," Maassen said. "We had some problems, but we were always
able to keep the car in the lead group. The Brumos Porsche team didn't make
any mistakes."

 

The Rolex 24 at Daytona was held Jan. 28 and 29 on the 3.56-mile Daytona
International Speedway infield road course in Daytona Beach, Fla.