AIM/Doncaster - Rolex 24 12hr

Veterans of the Rolex 24 At Daytona know a lot can happen during the night hours. AIM Autosport caught a mid-race gremlin when the No. 61 Lexus-powered Riley Mk XI would not restart after a race stoppage at 11h26. Although the car required a push-start to continue, it still held sixth place at half-distance, with Mark Wilkins, Brian Frisselle, Burt Frisselle and David Empringham handling driving duty. The Doncaster Racing car lost a lap to the pace car during a a caution period at 9h25, but regained track position to move up to third after 12 hours. Lance David Arnold, Tom Papadopoulos, Johnny Mowlem, Dave Lacey and Greg Wilkins continued to alternate driving stints.

class race position

 

car             start              6h             12h             18h
24h

 

17 GT          10                 5                 3

61 DP         17                 8                 6

                  

race report

 

car          time             driver                  action

 

17             7h15           change                 pit – Arnold in, tires,
fuel

                 8h25           change                 pit – Papadopoulos
in, tires, fuel

                 9h37           change                 pit – Mowlem in,
tires, fuel

               10h40           Mowlem                pit – fuel, tires

               12h10           Mowlem                pit – fuel, tires

               12h56           change                 pit – Lacey in, fuel,
rain tires

 

61             7h18           change                 pit – Brian Frisselle
in, tires, fuel

                 8h25           change                 pit – Empringham in,
tires, fuel

                 9h45           change                 pit – M Wilkins in

               10h50           M Wilkins             pit – fuel

               11h26           M Wilkins             engine won't restart

               12h25           change                 pit – Burt Frisselle
in, tires, fuel

 

Ian Willis, AIM co-owner: "We haven't had any problems 'til now. We were under yellow, Burt checked up and the engine stalled. It looks like we've lost either the ring gear or the starter piston because it won't turn over when he engages the starter. Now we'll have to bump-start on each restart, but the SunTrust team has been doing that for a couple of hours. If they can do it, we can do it! We started 27th because the car stalled on the grid, so we're doing all right."

Mark Wilkins: "At the half-distance, I can't believe where we're at. Our main focus is to just keep running the car and hope that luck's on our side. The crew are doing a great job, and Burt, Brian and Dave are just driving the wheels off the car. It's awesome."

Lance David Arnold: "I'm driving consistently and that's important for the first part of the race. We're in a good position, we have good speed, so we'll see what happens in the night."

– aimautosport.com –