IMSA Race Daytona 24 Hrs - Roarlex Act ii

[seanyb505]

Meant to start this thread last week as to encompass the Roar immediately before the 24 and the actual 24 Hr race taking place within a 7 day time span. Following a brief 2 day intermission, cars will be on track starting Wednesday January 27.

In a new season that I personally feared might be the first of two lame duck seasons before the LMDh regs in 2023, there's still things worth looking forward to and noting.


- Mazda MX-5 Cup will run with IMSA again starting this year and will be present at Daytona. Their two races will be Thursday evening and Friday morning around brunch.
- New Acura teams. WTR and MSR will campaign the two Acuras in 2021. I don't think either team had a necessarily strong Roar or qualifying race, but both teams feature strong line-ups and patience to keep in contention over 24 hours when not quite featuring at the speedy end of the field.
- That Cadillac. I'll be the first to admit I yawn when media outlets lose their mind of nascar drivers entering sportscar races. Having said that, the 48 Cadillac feels like a huge hail mary of a lineup and it'll be interesting to see what result they can achieve.
- P2 class has 10 entrants, probably the largest number of P2 entries in IMSA in a long time (I may fact check this during the race unless someone in the class knows the answer). Quality looks to be about 50/50, and the class wasn't ignoring during the Motul 100. The more professional teams should be entertaining to watch. Also of note on the entry list, one Robert Kubica is listed with "?" as his nationality. I may also look that up during the race.
- P3 in the big show. There's some decent talent sprinkled in this class. I'll be interested to see which Am drivers throw this one away and in what fashion. I know some may lament the inclusion of the class. It's definitely helping shape the 50/50 blend of prototypes and GT cars in the field. IMO the P3 V8s do have a pleasant in person exhaust note. Enjoy it if you're track side!
- GTLM Maybe the racing will be good? It's difficult to be excited for the current 6 car field knowing it'll eventually drop to Corvettes & Cooper. Could be worse, and maybe the P3 cars will add some spice to the GTLM pace and race management. Hope all teams can keep it clean. At least at the green flag, these two classes in particular will be separated by quite some real estate if the same protocol is followed as the Motul 100.
- GTD is by far the largest class with 19 of the 49 entries. Lots of familiar faces here. Potentially surprising there's only 1 NSX on the entry - wasn't it touted as the car to have as 2020 drew to a close? The strength in numbers award goes to 911 teams with 4 entries. Would have been 5 before the Tim Pappas withdrawal. Otherwise there's decent variety in the class, usually one of my favorite aspects of GT3 racing.


- Michelin Pilot Challenge is usually decent racing and helps me get excited for the main race. This year's 4 hour race takes place during second-lunch and dinner appetizer hours of 135-535 on Friday.
-GS has decent variety and will host the debut IMSA race for the Toyota Supra GT4 in the states. (Has it raced anywhere else yet?)
- TCR should be an interesting watch as this class usually features fairly close racing, at least for a while. Hyundai represents about a 3rd of the class, and I'm surprised to see the next numerous car is the Honda. I've felt that car has struggled with the tire the most over the last few years. It was reported there has been an evolution of the S9M dubbed S9M+ for the front axles of TCR cars.

Overall the Daytona track doesn't really get me going as a track, but the start of the season and being back to racing has got me looking forward to the weekend. Links of various shapes and sizes to help follow the event:

Schedule - Daytona 24 green flag at 3:40PM EST


Entry List

Weather

Session Results

Spotter Guides

Link to this thread

Live Timing - A few different options here. theracingline.net/timing/ utilizes the alkamel systems feed a lot of us are used to and love. I know you can also download a desktop app with that feed which includes some additional options. IMSA tweaks the feed into a different presentation which I feel doesn't quite allow you to geek out as much. Your mileage may vary.

Streaming and other watching - NBC proper will air the start and end of the race. It'll flip over to NBCSN during various points. I'm not 100% of their broad casting schedule. All races during the event should be available on Trackpass as was the case last year. International viewers should be able to utilize IMSA.tv with the RLM commentary. A few tenthers reported spotty streaming during the Motul 100. I'm sure at some point the internet will stick a stream on youtube.

Daughter's birthday was yesterday, so no now 2yo party shenanigans to deal with on race day this year. That'll allow me to focus on food and drink.

Seanyb505's 2021 Daytona 24 Hotdog/drinking game:
- Driver's Start engines - start pouring your drink
- Race starts - start your hotdog (This assumes you have adequately cooked your hotdog of whatever national heritage you choose)
- First yellow flag caused by a P3 car - drink
- It's a super long yellow relative to the actual incident - finish your drink, start another hotdog
- Lack of rain causes commentators to start calculating record distance - finish your hotdog, start another drink
- 4 hour green flag run - take a nap
- Any lull in the race filled by discussing how there's so many drivers from other disciplines - take a shot of whatever national drink dictated by the nationality of your favorite special appearance driver's
- Overnight fog red flag - sleep
- Sun rises on Daytona - breakfast hotdog with eggs (skip breakfast if it's cloudy)
- 24 1 hour sprints and just needing to make it to the last hour mentioned - take a drink for every remaining hour of the race (This may also be a finish your drink if it happens early enough in the race)


Bring on the racing!

[GriffM3]

thanks for putting this together and looking forward tot he granddaddy of motorsports races in North America!!!

Forza BMW!!!

[Racing Harz]

The Supra GT4 raced 2020 on the Nordschleife, in British GT, GT4 European Series, DTM Trophy, FFSA GT4, in Japan...

[seanyb505]

Well good on them then. Hope their first Floridian Atlantic coast outing is a positive one!

[joeb]

Originally Posted by seanyb505

Well good on them then. Hope their first Floridian Atlantic coast outing is a positive one!

Fantastic opening post as always! I feel like there should be a part in your game where you drink if somebody says hi to your family at home or mentions Scott Pruett at all. Possibly another drink if someone mentions the Daytona 500 coming up.

[WyldStallion]

Wow a 3:40 pm race start on Saturday afternoon. That has to be the latest ever. I don't know if I like that or not. Sleep in on Saturday morning and get nap on Saturday evening if you can.

Not attending race in person this year unfortunately. Wife has internship stuff going on plus with a family you feel like going to the theme parks down in Florida but not this year with mask mandates.

Will probably use NBC Track Pass for start, but in the night time I enjoy just having the engine noises from the on-board streams and the live timing and that's it. Saving the TV/IMSA Radio commentary for the daylight. I follow the GT classes mainly so that allows me to do that more.

[ATLFalconsFAN]

Originally Posted by joeb

Fantastic opening post as always! I feel like there should be a part in your game where you drink if somebody says hi to your family at home or mentions Scott Pruett at all. Possibly another drink if someone mentions the Daytona 500 coming up.

Another one would be doing a shot anytime Shea Adam mentions it being cold. Or Rodney Sandstorm or Taylor's dogs name is mentioned.

[seanyb505]

Hey man I don't make the rules I just play by them.

I honestly forgot about hi to my family at home. Feels like as far as family at home communications go, he went to the grocery store for some milk after Sir Bill Auberlen passed him in the IMSA wins column.

Re: Shea, maybe I'll add some food/drink rule for whenever they spend 3 hours developing some story line without speaking to the driver in the car, and then upon exit of the car the driver has no idea what's going on and Shea just looks like a mean girl throwing inside jokes at innocent bystanders.

[GriffM3]

BMW M8 handed 20kg weight increase by IMSA. Well their goes a competitive race in GTLM. Corvette assured or victory.

[seanyb505]

Yikes they must be the heaviest car in class now to match the size..

Wait no, still 20kg lighter than Corvette and Ferrari. 25kg lighter than the Porsche. Well now they're assured to beat cooper.

[Gingers4Justice]

Always surprised how light the M8 is. Body shell must be made out of rice cakes.

[GriffM3]

no doubt, for as big as the M8 boat is its amazing BMW was able to shave as much weight off of it.

They wont have that issue with the M4 GT3 next year though.

[justracing]

Is the race streamed live please?

[GriffM3]

Yes it will be streamed on imsa.tv I believe.

[justracing]

Many thanks, just found their You tube site. Just wondering if any of the qualifying sessions will be streamed also, trawling around their site is like wading through treacle!

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by justracing

Many thanks, just found their You tube site. Just wondering if any of the qualifying sessions will be streamed also, trawling around their site is like wading through treacle!

The website is very difficult to navigate, and the stream begins with the formation lap, in which the build up is "Welcome to the Rolex 24 here at Daytona, andthecarsareliningupanditsgreenandawaywego!!"

Qualifying is already uploaded:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4SNtOdEdaE

[justracing]

You're a star

[GriffM3]

They already had a qualifying race last Sunday at the ROAR which set the grid for the race. Just 4 practices this year and that's it.

[justracing]

Thanks for the heads up guys, desperate to watch something over here! I don't know how things are over the pond but we are in lockdown with little hope of an early reprieve.

[WyldStallion]

The times in practice 1 this morning were faster than the grid time trial for the Q-race last Saturday it seems. Teams are stepping it up now.

Amazingly the slowest car overall was the #42 Audi R8 at a best a lap of 1 min 47.7 sec. That would have been the pole position for the overall grid in the race during the mid 2000's in the early Daytona Prototype days. GTD is the slowest class in this field. But they are NOT slow cars.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by GriffM3

BMW M8 handed 20kg weight increase by IMSA. Well their goes a competitive race in GTLM. Corvette assured or victory.

I believe that is their "reward" for now signing up for the whole season!

Originally Posted by justracing

Many thanks, just found their You tube site. Just wondering if any of the qualifying sessions will be streamed also, trawling around their site is like wading through treacle!

Originally Posted by Gingers4Justice

The website is very difficult to navigate, and the stream begins with the formation lap, in which the build up is "Welcome to the Rolex 24 here at Daytona, andthecarsareliningupanditsgreenandawaywego!!"

Qualifying is already uploaded:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4SNtOdEdaE

The Imsa website has been absolutely dreadful for years. I try my best not to go there.



Practice 2 results

[WyldStallion]

Well the best part of the endurance races today is obviously the ability to follow it on the internet, Tv, live timing, and discussion boards like this. One reason why sportscars is the only form of auto racing that I am MORE interested in now in the 2020's than I was in the 1990s. My interest in NASCAR, F1, and Indy car is decreased significantly over the years.

Le Mans is awesome and is most people's favorite. Daytona is my favorite though. I talked about what is great about modern day endurance racing, so to flip it, what do you miss about sportscar endurance racing in the past then? That answer is easy for me....it is the fragility of the cars. Especially the prototypes. Created an aura of unpredictability in ever race that is not on the same level today. I would love it if the LMDH cars for instance have this in them in some way. Cars like the Cadillac are just TOO reliable now honestly.

[GriffM3]

[QUOTE=joeb;4031757]I believe that is their "reward" for now signing up for the whole season!

I suppose you are right...$$$ is everything and if you aren't fully committed then enjoy being a backmarker.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by Gingers4Justice

The website is very difficult to navigate, and the stream begins with the formation lap, in which the build up is "Welcome to the Rolex 24 here at Daytona, andthecarsareliningupanditsgreenandawaywego!!"

Qualifying is already uploaded:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4SNtOdEdaE

I like how it's on their YouTube channel but can't be bothered to actually add it to their Roku app. That's fine, casting from YouTube on a hand held device to my TV works better anyways!

They did just recently upload 2020 Rolex stuff so I can watch it all on a 12 month tape delay. That's nice!!

[belt driven]

http://livescoring.us/2021/imsa00/ has never failed (stateside). An added benefit at times is being able to blank classes (P2? P3?).

Trackpass was working fine for the Pilot Challenge for about 15 minutes; then the announcers just stopped talking like it was a commercial with faint background sounds. They never came back. Had to use IMSA radio.