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United State: Tudor United SportsCar Championship Explained

2014 Rolex 24 Hours The 46th edition of the Daytona 24 Hours, known universally these days as the Rolex, after its title sponsor, was arguably the most significant in the history of this Floridian Endurance Classic. Sure, the race was part of the World Championship back last century, its international importance diminished considerably in the past decade. However, after 14 seasons of rivalry, the American Le Mans Series merged with GrandAm -more concisely, NASCAR bought them out. Whatever the semantics of the matter, there was a new start for endurance racing in North America with the Tudor United SportsCar Championship and the 24 hour race at Daytona International Speedway was the first step along the road. 2014 Rolex 24 Hours Some saw the merger as bringing problems, NASCAR has a reputation for doing things in their own fashion, but most in the paddock chose to view it as an opportunity, a chance to bring some financial stability to a form of racing which was becoming unsustainable. Endurance racing must be a business in order to flourish - so stable regulations, good tracks and sound financial underpinning are essential for the success of the venture. It is a difficult balancing act to reconcile the interests of the well heeled drivers, the small teams, the factory efforts and last, but not least, the paying spectator. 2014 Rolex 24 Hours The other important opportunity that is up for grabs is the chance for the new series to align itself with the ACO and the FIA to create a common set of regulations for the cars to allow teams to compete globally. This aim was given some physical presence by the shows of diplomacy between Pierre Fillon, President of the ACO and Jim France, Executive Vice President of NASCAR. Mr. France waved Le Tricolore to get the 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours underway and NASCAR invited Mr. Fillion to do the same at the 2014 Rolex. Both organisations are working with the FIA to draw up new technical regulations for the LM P2 and GTE classes for 2016/2017. It is an encouraging sign for the future of the sport... 2014 Rolex 24 Hours So looking back to the events that unfolded in Volusia County...what are the conclusions? Positive on the whole - considering the scale of the task of combining the two entities together. There was a full grid with a high quality of teams, cars and drivers. There were four classes covering the 67 cars that made the start. For those not as tuned in to this segment, perhaps a brief explanation of these categories  is in order. 2014 Rolex 24 Hours The LM P1 class had been dropped by the new series as it was unlikely that sufficient numbers of these cars could be found to make the class viable. Also there were stories around a while back that Porsche would bring their new LM P1 project to North America, their $100 million annual budget would dominate proceedings and discourage other prototypes. In addition NASCAR was determined to reward the loyalty of the Daytona Prototype teams, so they would be somehow combined with the LM P2 cars. The fun then began trying to balance the performance of these very different cars. 2014 Rolex 24 Hours

Prototype

Leading the way in the Prototype class are entries such as this Riley chassis with a Ford EcoBoost engine. There is direct factory involvement in this programme. 2014 Rolex 24 Hours There was another Detroit backed set of contenders in former DP ranks, this backed by General Motors and branded Corvette. It was widely expected that the overall winner would be drawn from this set of cars, a right royal V8 rumble was in prospect. 2014 Rolex 24 Hours Included in the Prototype class are the open LM P2 prototypes, which run in all the ACO sanctioned races, this being a Nissan powered Oreca. 2014 Rolex 24 Hours There are also closed LM P2 cars, such as the Lola Mazda running the SKYACTIV-D diesel engine. 2014 Rolex 24 Hours And just to confuse things there is also the DeltaWing that ran in the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours as Nissan Garage 56 entry. It is now part of the former ALMS owner Don Panoz' empire, it was bundled into the top class, a welcome addition. 2014 Rolex 24 Hours

Prototype Challenge

The second prototype class are all Oreca chassis powered by V8 Chevrolet, a spec class designed to promote close racing on a budget, a laudable aim. 2014 Rolex 24 Hours

GT Le Mans (GT LM)

So much for prototypes, there are also two GT classes, GT LM which are run to the same basic rules as the GTs that run at Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Factory teams as well as privateers and in North America the GT racing class is considered by many to be the stars of the show. Local favourites are the Corvette team run by Pratt & Miller and for the Rolex they brought out a new car, the C7.R with a 5.5 litre V8 engine, a lighter, stiffer chassis, they were pre-race favourites for many observers. 2014 Rolex 24 Hours However it is held that in any form of long distance racing, Porsche should never be discounted and this is certainly always the case at Daytona, 18 outright wins attest to that. Two factory type-991 911 RSR cars were on hand and would be contenders from the get go. 2014 Rolex 24 Hours And where Porsche goes, Ferrari will be found also. The 458 Italia is always a threat to the opposition. 2014 Rolex 24 Hours A pair of BMW Z4 GTE coupés were on hand with Rahal Letterman Racing running the cars for BMW North America. 2014 Rolex 24 Hours The other contender from Detroit was the SRT Viper GTS-R with a fearsome 8.0 litre V10, giving prodigious amounts of power and torque. 2014 Rolex 24 Hours Final factory effort on the banking at Daytona International Speedway was from Aston Martin who brought a solo Vantage V8 to Florida. 2014 Rolex 24 Hours

GT Daytona (GTD)

The final class was GTD, basically GT3 and other former GrandAm GTs and this is a pro-am class requiring at least one gentleman driver per car. So it was the usual suspects such as Ferrari on parade, this Russian 458 Italia being one of 8 on the grid. The GTD class also had to run Continental Tires, in common with the two Prototype categories, GT LM allowed a freedom of choice allowing manufacturers to run tyres that are best suited to their cars. 2014 Rolex 24 Hours Strongest numerically was the Porsche 911 GT America contingent, 11 starting the race. 2014 Rolex 24 Hours Audi also had a serious effort on hand with five examples of their latest R8 LMS racers. 2014 Rolex 24 Hours The scene was set for a great race, and up next will be that story along with some of the undercurrents that surfaced during the opening round of the 2014 Tudor United SportsCar Championship. The next race will be the Sebring 12 March 12-15, followed by a showcase done beside the Long Beach Grand Prix April 11-12.
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