I have been to the Daytona 24 hour race three times, and each time was a phenomenal experience.  This year, however, I’m watching from my armchair, and while the sights and sounds are a little muted, and I won’t have the photographs to add to my archives, this is still quite a nice experience.  I’ve got the Fox broadcast on one screen, I’m bouncing my two laptops between a number of different onboard internet streams, and I’m using my desktop to follow timing and scoring, and all of the action on Twitter and Facebook.  

The start of the race was an amazing experience, with four classes of very disparate cars all starting at once.  The start of the racing season is an exciting moment.  It is a surreal feeling knowing that this is the first time of the year that anyone in major American based sports cars will hear the words “Drivers, start your engines.” 

The start was relatively uneventful, though the CORE autosport PC car did have a quick spin on their first trip through the infield, they continued without issue.  The real action started 12 minutes in, though, when Charlie Putman smashed up the Fall Line Racing Audi R8 after a failure under breaking that threw the car into the wall at pit-out going into turn 1 [EDIT: Audi Motorsport claim the car had no failure]. 

After that shunt, everything seemed to settle down into a rhythm, and everything sort of settled down.  There were a number of spins, and some minor contact between cars, often of different classes.  The #07 Mazda prototype, which was running very slow from the outset, pitted for engine issues.  Both Mazdas are well off the pace, and will need to find a lot of time this season.

The Deltawing and the Muscle Milk Nissan prototype came together, spinning and continuing.  The Muscle Milk car later came back in for a flat tire.  Around an hour in, within minutes of each other, the Extreme Speed Racing prototypes both spun, with Ed Brown spinning the #2 into the bus stop and driving away, and the #1 of Scott Sharp spinning in the same spot after contact.  Brown later drove away slowly, and the evasive maneuvers taken by a GTD car avoiding the slow LMP were deft and impressive.

One of the biggest problems happened in the pits, with Scott Pruett’s Ganassi Racing Ford Riley came in for tires and refueling.  There were a few changes to the pit procedures this year, including only two wheel guns allowed over the wall.  As such, the normally spot on team had some issues, releasing the car before the rear-left wheel was bolted on.  In the process, one of the crewmen was caught by the rear wing, throwing him to the ground.  He did walk away from the incident, but it was a good thing that he was wearing a helmet.

After a few hours, a number of cars had headed to the pits for engine, transmission, or other issues.  The Deltawing had transmission issues, as did the #1 ESM LMP car.  The RSR PC car was in the pits for a number of laps fixing some cylinder head issues.  The #07 Mazda prototype has had two lengthy stops now, one with the high-pressure diesel engine blowing off a pressure tube, and later for a cracked intercooler.

The story of the first 6 hours, however, was the contact between the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari GTLM car of Matteo Malucceli and the #99 Red Dragon Corvette DP of Memo Gidley.  Malucelli was reported to have lost power on the infield section, and was coasting to a stop when Gidley caught up to the back of the dead-stick Ferrari.  With Gidley looking into the setting sun, it looked like he didn’t see the Ferrari until it was much too late.  His DP slammed into the Ferrari at a speed differential of at least 70 miles per hour, launching it into the air and smashing the front of his car.  Gidley’s Daytona Prototype had to be cut apart to get him out, and both drivers skipped the infield care center and were taken directly to the hospital.  We’ve heard reports that both drivers are conscious, but not much is known at the moment.  More information will follow.

The red flag and yellow flag periods resulting from this crash lasted nearly an hour and a half.  

http://youtu.be/BymOht1DVSk

At just before the 5 hour mark, the RSR LMPC car of Duncan Ende returned to the track and promptly spun off the track at turn 4 on the infield.  The car could not get back to the track, and required extrication.  As such, IMSA issued the third full course yellow period of the race.  

As of about 3 minutes ago, the race is again under caution for debris, as a tire carcass is sitting on the racing surface.

Leaders at the 6 hour mark – 

 Prototype – #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Daytona Prototype – Memo Rojas (1st overall)

GT Le Mans – #93 SRT Viper GTS-R – Rob Bell (10th overall)

Prototype Challenge – #25 8Star Motorsport Oreca FLM09 – Enzo Potoliccio (19th overall)

GT Daytona – #48 Paul Miller Racing Audi R8 LMS – Rene Rast (26th overall)

For updates, follow me on twitter @bcbrownell and @bavariandrive.

After the first six hours, I’ve concluded the following: The DPs are definitely going to win this one (Ganassi is looking pretty good, if they can keep their Ford motors together.  Also, the BMW Riley of Starworks is going to be strong with a great driver lineup.).  In GTD, the Porsches and Vipers are the ones to watch, and it’ll come down to the wire between them, assuming they keep their noses clean.  GTD is still anyone’s race, but the Paul Miller Audi R8 is looking pretty good.  LMPC is a complete gamble, but CORE autosport is pulling pretty strong.      

 We’ll be back with a 12 hour update at just after 8PM EST/11PM PST.

Photos provided by IMSA.com

Bradley C. Brownell is an Editor with Hooniverse.com, but he also contributes to his own site “BavarianDrive“. Head over there for more of his work.