Wide Array of IMSA-Related Entries Will Compete
By Godwin Kelly
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – If you’re not paying close attention while roaming the garage area at Daytona International Speedway this weekend, you would swear you were attending an IMSA racing event.
Nearly 200 sports cars, including a healthy group of prototypes, will occupy Daytona, capped by the seventh running of the Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) Classic Daytona presented by IMSA. The classic 24-hour race starts Saturday and gets the checkered flag on Sunday.
This isn’t a normal 24-hour racing event. The HSR Classic Daytona features seven run groups competing in succession for a full 24 hours.
The various period-correct classes within each group combine to make just about any closed-wheel competition sports car from the last 60 years eligible for the HSR Classic Daytona.
Daytona’s 3.56-mile road course started seeing action on Wednesday with a day of optional practice sessions. Thursday and Friday were devoted to qualifying and sprint races.
IMSA is well represented for the event. Dozens of cars sport IMSA decals while several drivers are sporting IMSA patches on their driver suits. But the cars are the stars, with Corvette getting plenty of attention from spectators and competitors alike.
Here are some of the entries with ties to IMSA racing.
Corvette C7.R: This car, owned by Tom Mueller, raced in the Rolex 24 At Daytona and 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2014 and ‘15. The car was wheeled by Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Ryan Briscoe, who took home class wins at Daytona and Le Mans in 2015. It is joined by a similar sister car for this event.
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP: David Porter took the cover off this 2007 prototype for this year’s classic. This car achieved the majority of its career success in the U.S. a decade ago. Chassis No. 10, one of the final 908 HDi race cars built, Porter’s Peugeot scored the last of its three race wins in its prime in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts in 2011 with Team ORECA Matmut. The Peugeot closed its career later that year with a second-place finish at Petit Le Mans.
Doran JE4: A group highlight will be the return of the Doran JE4 of Forest Barber and Terry Borcheller, who joined Christian Fittipaldi and Andy Pilgrim in winning the 2004 Rolex 24. “It really does seem like it was only yesterday, but it has been 17 years, which is hard to believe,” Barber said. “It’s very exciting to be back. Terry and I have kept in close touch, and we both look back at our years together in this car as really great memories. I have owned this car since Day 1.”
FLM09 ORECA LMPC: This former CORE autosport Prototype Challenge was driven to the class win in the 2014 Rolex 24. The team backed the win up with a class victory at the Twelve Hours of Sebring less than two months later. The car is now driven in HSR competition by the father-and-son team of Chris Ronson and Chris Ronson Jr., who called on professional sports car driver Colin Braun to help set up the car earlier this week. Braun was on the roster of the winning teams in 2014.
Jaguar XJR-16: Ross Motorsports owns a pair of mighty Jaguar Grand Tour Prototypes (GTP) that were debuted by Tom Walkinshaw Racing in the IMSA Camel GT era. Davy Jones won from the pole at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in his car. Raul Boesel, who finished third behind Jones in a Jaguar XJR-10, was upgraded to his own XJR-16 a month later at Lime Rock Park. That is the No. 3 Jaguar Ross Motorsports that team owner/driver Malcolm Ross will race at Daytona.
Porsche parade: The featured marque of this year’s HSR Classic Daytona, every possible make and model of Porsche is in attendance this weekend. The lineup includes a few tribute 935 “whale tails,” a huge cluster of 911s and some 962s, which was Porsche’s answer to the great prototype wars from the mid-1980s to early ‘90s.
The Classic 24 Hour will start at 1 p.m. ET Saturday. The event is open to the public. Tickets may be purchased at Daytona International Speedway’s Gate 40 off of Williamson Boulevard. For more information, visit hsrrace.com.