Read our review and check out this amazing photo essay from the recent Rolex 24 event at Daytona.
Ten years is a long time to keep a tradition going for any family these days – and yet, 2015 marks our tenth year attending the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Have you heard of it? If you watch motorsports, you’ve probably seen the 24.
This race is a yearly pilgrimage for enthusiasts around the United States, representing 24 uncut hours of everything they eagerly wait to see.
Rolex 24: 2015 coverage
This year’s Rolex 24 saw the DeltaWing Racing car set records for its own performance, the Ford Ecoboost prototype cars coming out on top, and American manufacturers taking top spots in every class.
BMW in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class and Chevrolet Le Mans Prototypes, 1 (LMP1) were very close to winning their classes, but a questionable pit strategy and the slightest mishap in the final hours took those teams out of the top spots.
Ambiguity, unpredictability, chance, and suspense.
Those terms cover what spectators and racers love about this race. One spin, one lock-up, or one bad flywheel sensor is all it takes to pick off a team from the lineup.
Watching from the sidelines, we all feel for the teams that make it almost all the way, through, a little more so than the teams that got knocked out early. That’s because the early teams pack up, go home, and start getting ready for Sebring. Meanwhile, the teams that make it all the way have the unique pleasure of sitting in the pits and watching their rivals cross the finish line after them.
From the sidelines, though, you’d give anything to be in the race for just five minutes.
Congrats and a prediction
Congrats are in order for the number 02 team of Chip Ganassi Racing – definitely not an unfamiliar group of faces in the Rolex 24 victory lane. It was great to see at least half of the dynamic 01 / 02 duo back again this year.
Maybe next year we’ll be graced with the sight of a Nissan Nismo Le Mans front-wheel-driver in the ranks. One thing, for sure: a variation of this Rolex 24-winning twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 will end up roaming the streets in the new Ford GT and that has us thinking positively for future of American horsepower.
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