A Look Back At Daytona Endurance Racing
<http://www.caracingnews.com/admin/newsletter/Images/logo_caracingnews.gif> July 27, 2010 <http://www.caracingnews.com/event.asp?id=235> <http://www.caracingnews.com/event.asp?id=235> Rolex 24 At Daytona Daytona (FL), USA <http://www.caracingnews.com/admin/newsletter/Images/pr_leaf_right.gif> T-MINUS 19 MONTHS: A LOOK BACK AT DAYTONA ENDURANCE RACING 1967 - 1979 Eagerly anticipated by drivers, auto manufacturers and race fans everywhere, the Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona is always the first major race of the world's motor sport season. Every January, the Daytona International Speedway (Daytona Beach, Florida, USA) comes to life in celebration of this incredible endurance race, recognized by leading drivers as one of the most difficult in the world to win. Building anticipation for 2012 50th Running The 2012 edition will mark the 50th running of sports car racing at the Speedway, home of the Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona. Leading up to this unique anniversary, we will be presenting a once-a-month look back through the history, people and events that have made this famous race what it is today. For this month, (July), we trace a twelve-year window within the history of the Daytona race, highlighting important key events and some trivia, all part of the lifeline of endurance racing at the Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona. An important period for Daytona: 1967 - 1979 Beginning where we left off in May, with a look back to the early days of the Rolex 24 <http://www.caracingnews.com/pressrelease_lifestyle.asp?pid=1949&lang=1> Hours At Daytona, we now find ourselves in. 1967: Over 27,000 spectators enjoy the 58-car start of the 24-hour race, unaware that only 29 cars will still be running at the finish. After a tough race, led by the new high-winged Chapparel 2F, Ferrari stuns the crowd with their beautiful 330 P4 cars. They take the first three places, crossing the line in formation for a photo finish with an average speed of 106 mph, while the Ford GT40s struggle throughout with "transmission problems". This victory led the media to unofficially name the 1968 Ferrari 365GTB/4 cars "Daytona", a name still used today for these cars that are amongst the most sought after by car collectors everywhere. 1968: The FIA, as governing body of international endurance racing, limits engine displacement for prototypes for "safety reasons" before this edition of the race. This sidelines the Chapparal, Ford GT40s, Ferraris and others, but gives Porsche the chance it needed to enjoy its first 24-hour race victory and the first three finish positions. The lead driver behind the wheel of their 907 was Daytona rookie Vic Elford (GBR), fresh from winning the Monte Carlo rally the week before. Finishing 33rd was George Waltman (USA), who drove the entire 24 hours and 338 laps alone in his Morgan sports car. 1969: Porsche enters five 908 cars, up against two Ford GT40s and five Lola T70s. Every Porsche breaks down with the failure of the same small part, the intermediate drive shaft. "Four inches long and only $8 each," explained Gianrico Steinemann, Porsche factory team manager. "But we could not replace them, and that killed us." Problems abound for most, but Mark Donohue (USA) and Chuck Parsons (USA) win the race by 30 laps in Roger Penske's Chevrolet-Lola. TV and film actor James Garner's Lola finished in 2nd, marking the first time a Lola had gone the distance of a 24-hour race and the first time Chevrolet had won an international endurance race. 1970: More than 35,000 turn out to watch the clash of the supercars. The John Wyer Gulf Porsche 917, driven by Pedro Rodriguez (MEX) and Leo Kinnumen (FIN), was up against Mario Andretti in a red Ferrari 512S. Rodriguez took the lead after just two hours and 35 minutes and held it to finish with a 45-lap lead and an average speed over 114mph ahead of the other Gulf Porsche 917 and Andretti in 3rd. Little known Gianpiero Moretti from Milan drove his Ferrari 512S to 29th place and in 1998, nearly 30 years later, he would win his first Daytona endurance classic in a Ferrari 333SP after fifteen attempts. 1971: The John Wyer Porsche 917K, driven by Pedro Rodriguez and Jackie Oliver (GBR), won in the closest finish since 24-hour racing started in Daytona. The Porsche reached 225 mph on the back straight as it entered the 31-degree banking, and Rodriguez had to catch the Ferrari in the closing laps by 10 seconds to win. The top two cars were running just over a lap apart at the finish, with the leading Porsche trailing smoke and the Bucknum/Adamowiez Ferrari, with a valve problem, belching flames each time it decelerated. 1972: FIA engine rules change from a five-litre to a new three-litre Formula One based concept, rendering the mighty Porsche 917, Ferrari 512, and Ford GT40 obsolete. In an experimental move to attract more crowds, and due to lack of engine reliability over long distances with the three-litre rule, the Daytona race is shortened to six hours. Ferrari enters three 312PBs to challenge three Alfa Romeo T33s - an all-Italian battle. Mario Andretti (USA) and legendary Le Mans driver Jacky Ickx (BEL) win at an average speed of 124 mph, with the Alfa in 2nd. Hurley Haywood (USA) wins the Sports Touring Class in a 911S Porsche. Over 26,500 people were in attendance, according to National Speed Sport News. 1973: After the six hour race failed to boost attendance, the FIA approves Bill France's request to return to the 24-hour race format. A record crowd celebrates the return of round-the-clock racing, despite the fact that neither Ferrari nor Alfa Romeo teams were participating in this race as the distance did not favour their cars. Five special prototype cars - Mirage and Matra from France, Lola from Britain and Porsche from Germany - rise to the challenge but all fail. Brumos Porsche wins by 22 laps in a new Carrera RS, driven by Hurley Haywood and Peter Gregg (USA), the first overall victory for a 911-based Porsche in international competition. The venerable 911 would dominate sports car racing for the next decade, and Hurley Haywood would go on to win the Sebring 12-hours a few weeks later. 1974: An OPEC oil embargo late 1973 leads to an international gasoline crisis. Escalating gas prices and long fuel lines mean drastic action: the speedway proposes to shorten race time to 12 hours along with a date change to July in order to still run the race. Unfortunately, the sanctioning bodies do not agree to the date change and the Daytona speedway has no choice but to cancel the event. 1975: The race is sanctioned for the first time by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) and becomes the opener for both the IMSA Camel GT Series and the FIA World Championship of Makes. Early morning fog worried race officials who considered red-flagging the race until Hurley Haywood radioed in that they time his next lap. He then ran the fastest lap of the race and asked officials, "How was that?", effectively ending all thoughts of bringing out the red flag. 51 cars started the race, 25 made it to the finish. Gregg and Haywood led six Porsche Carrera RSRs home in their second straight Daytona 24 Hour victory in the Brumos Porsche. 1976: Endurance racing traditionally continues "rain or shine", only extraordinary conditions can bring racing to a halt. This was an edition full of surprises: new BMWs ran at the front, eight NASCAR stock cars in the field, water-tainted fuel and an unprecedented "turning-back of the clock" during racing. Around 9am the leading BMW, driven by Brian Redman (GBR), Peter Gregg and John Fitzpatrick (GBR), began having inexplicable engine problems. These then hit other teams and water-tainted fuel was found to be the culprit. The race was stopped for 2 hours and 40 minutes so that teams could purge their fuel lines and replace fuel cells. The clock reverted to 9am and the standings at that time. The BMW driven by Redman/Gregg/Fitzpatrick took the win and the doubled purse of $100,000, thanks to a joint promotion with Le Mans. 1977: Turbos make their appearance on the Daytona circuit with the factory-entered turbocharged Porsche 935, driven by Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass (GER), rumoured as the car to beat. However that tremendous power wears down the tires, lowering the cars' reliability, an essential factor in endurance racing. Ecurie Escargot's Porsche Carrera 911, driven by John Graves (USA), Dr. Dave Helmick (USA) and Hurley Haywood, takes the win by just 53 seconds. "It's a team of snails," said Helmick. "We may be slow, but we're still faster than you." Hollywood star Paul Newman placed 5th in his Ferrari Daytona, driving with Elliot-Forbes Robinson (USA) and Milt Minter (USA). 1978: This edition of the race features 29 foreign drivers from 11 different countries, and 16 international teams, including the first-ever Japanese team Mazda Auto Tokyo with their rotary engine Mazda RX-3s. Twelve Porsche 935 Turbos, two with twin-turbos, dominate the entries. They sweep up 14 of the top 15 finishing positions and manage an all-Porsche victory procession of the top five finishers, with the Brumos Porsche twin-turbo 935 driven by Rolf Stommelen (GER) and Antoine Hezemans (NED) finishing 1st. American actor David Carradine drove his Ferrari Daytona to 8th place to break up the otherwise entirely clean sweep for Porsche. 1979: The turbocharged cars were still facing issues: all 13 turbocharged Porsche 935s had problems and only four made it to the finish. Paul Newman, in a turbo-car for the first time, led in Dick Barbour's Porsche until retiring just before dawn with a blown head gasket. The Michelin tires on the Ferraris failed to handle the speeds on the banking. Ted Field's Interscope Porsche 935 just wins the race, with Haywood and Hawaiian drag racer Danny Ongais, as their turbocharger fails with just 10 minutes remaining. Under IMSA rules they would win the race, but to secure FIA world championship Group 5 points the car had to be driven over the line. Ongais parked the crippled Porsche on the apron and waited for the 24 hours to expire, then slowly rolled across the finish line, winning the race and setting four new records: 684 laps, 2,626.56 miles, a 49-lap margin of victory and an average speed of 109.409 mph. More to come next month, but if you just can't wait, be sure to pick up a copy of J.J. O'Malley's book, Daytona 24 Hours: The Definitive History of America's Great Endurance Race. It is a "must read" for any fan and a great source of information on the history of the Rolex 24 Hour At Daytona. In Current News: Repaving has officially begun On Monday, 12 July, Darrell and Michael Waltrip, the only brothers to win the Daytona 500, took a backhoe to the daunting Turn One high banks of Daytona International Speedway. This was the ceremonial groundbreaking of the historic repaving project at Daytona International Speedway. "I've tried to knock the walls down but I've never tried to tear the track up," said 1989 Daytona 500 champion Darrell Waltrip. "That was a first for me." "I'm going to get me a chunk of that and take it back to North Carolina," said Michael Waltrip, the 2001 and 2003 Daytona 500 champion. "This place is special to our family. It's part of who we are. I don't come through that tunnel and not think about what this place means to me. I'm a traditionalist. I love Daytona and I love this being the Mecca of NASCAR racing." The repaving project officially began on 5 July, with crews removing light poles, SAFER barriers and safety fences, and beginning to mill asphalt on the Superstretch and the Frontstretch. Daytona International Speedway's entire 2.5-mile tri-oval will be repaved in addition to the skid pads, apron and pit road. Concrete will be used for the pit stalls. All of the existing asphalt will be removed, right down to the original 52-year-old lime rock base, which will be leveled before paving will begin. An estimated 50,000 tons of asphalt will be used to pave nearly 1.5 million square feet, or about 33 acres. The repaving has a target completion date of 1 January 2011. Daytona International Speedway is posting project updates at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/repave and on its social sites on Twitter <http://www.twitter.com/DISUpdates> and Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/daytonainternationalspeedway.com> . Rolex Cosmograph Daytona: Optimize your machine The Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona is a world-class race, rewarding all its deserving winners with a place in motor sports history and a steel Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, named "the world's rarest watch" by WatchTime magazine. The Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona is the reference for those with a passion for driving and elegance. It was designed as the ultimate tool for drivers in endurance races. The central second hand allows an accurate reading of 1/8 second and the two counters at 9 and 3 o'clock respectively measure time in hour and minute increments. This allows the driver to capture his course times accurately and thus determine what speed he must drive in order to win the race. For more information about the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, please visit www.rolex.com. About the Rolex 24 At Daytona The Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona, America's most prestigious sports car race and one of only two 24-hour sports car events in the world, will mark its 50th running at Daytona International Speedway in 2012. The twice-around-the-clock challenge kicks off the international motor sports calendar, as well as the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, and features a star-studded line-up of drivers from around the world on Daytona's demanding 3.56-mile road course. 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