24 hours at Daytona report

A little cut and paste from an email one of the drivers in the race, Michael Auriemma, sent out.

Five respectable amateurs arrived in Daytona on January 23rd ready to do battle with some of the greatest drivers in the world. We had one of only a dozen brand new cars built specifically for this series by the Porsche factory. We had a top notch team and a very capable crew willing to do whatever it took to help us put up a good fight.

Winning was out of the question. With competitors in our class like Lally, Pumpelly, Doornbas, Collard, Dumas, Westbrook, Said, van Overbeek, Matos, Pobst, Werner and others just in our class, we knew we couldn’t match the pace of the top teams. But, we were no slackers. Our goal was a top 10 finish. Given our abilities, and the pace we showed at the test earlier this month, we believed this was a reasonable goal. It would mean running a respectable and consistent pace. It would mean not making any mistakes. Clean driving, clean pit stops, flawless driver changes, and some good luck would help us accomplish our mission.

On Thursday morning, we started practice with a car that handled very differently than what we wanted. Changes that were made back at the shop were quickly reversed – and we found ourselves back on form. There was very little time to settle in, as qualifying was Thursday afternoon. John Mayes, who would qualify and start put down a great time in qualifying. One of his best laps ever. Unfortunately, most of the cars were piloted by pros and ringers. We slotted in at 35th of 40 cars. Perhaps not what we hoped for, but certainly nothing to worry about. There was no way the faster cars could keep up that pace in the race.

Saturday’s driver meeting was another star studded affair. More celebrity drivers than you can imagine all gathered for this race. How cool to be a part of it? As the meeting wrapped up, I found Alex Gurney (you may remember that name from my report of last year’s race!). He was talking to his co-driver Jimmie Johnson, two time NASCAR champion. I tapped Alex on the shoulder and introduced myself for the first time… I said ‘I’m the poor bastard who’s hood flew up last year...’ No sooner had he said ‘That sucks’ than Jimmie got a big smile, stuck out his hand and said ‘Hey man! Nice to meet you!’ I cracked up! It was like I was the famous one!

At the start of the race… after the autographs, photographs, prayers, national anthem and a military fly-over, John’s orders were clear. Lay back and watch the show. Others will make mistakes. Let it happen. Stay clean. Stay alert. And he did. For about 40 minutes. Then, while attempting a pass heading into the bus-stop, he got caught out. In too hot, he missed the second apex and went “agricultural.� He ripped the front splitter off the car and punctured the radiator. This meant a trip to the garage for repairs.

What an idiot. How could he be so careless? What was he thinking? No, I’m not being mean. I’m foreshadowing.

Forty minutes in the garage. Nearly 20 laps lost to the leaders. We were now dead last.

Yours truly suited up and entered the cockpit in the garage. I had a good run… perhaps one of my favorites of all time. Several caution periods kept the field tight and allowed for some thrilling racing and passing opportunities. After being behind the wheel for 1 hour and 45 minutes, we had picked up 7 or 8 spots and were on the mend. After cycling through our first driver rotation, we were up to 28th in class. Things were looking better.

Well, until I got back in the car, that is. At first, everything was fine. Lap times were good and consistent. More caution periods meant continued exciting racing and wheel to wheel combat. One of those passes (a little after midnite) was going to be over the #14 car. It was for position and we both knew it. I got a run out of Turn 6 and drafted him down the back straight. At over 160 miles per hour, I popped just before the brake zone to pass on the inside. He crowded me. I went to the brakes, but was in the marbles and couldn’t brake efficiently. I made three of the four apexes of the bus-stop. The one I missed, the second, was costly. Behind the apex curbing, the car was unsettled. The nose dug in and the splitter ripped off. I was able to keep racing, and even turned a 1:55 lap without the nose of the car. But, at the next pit stop it was determined that I too had punctured a radiator.

Back to the garage. What an idiot. How could I be so careless? What was I thinking? They say, ‘if you don’t study history, you are doomed to repeat it. I guess I should have paid closer attention.

My teammates put on a good show of understanding. “It can happen to anyone.� Yeah, but it happened to me, and I didn’t like it. After another 40 minutes in the garage, we resumed our driver rotation. Slowly and steadily, we regained ground. By 5:30am, after several rain stints, we sat in 19th place in class.

My rain stint in the wee hours of the morning was another thrilling affair. Rather than the downpour John had to endure, I was challenged by lessening rain and a drying track. These are challenging circumstances for a driver, as the conditions change on each successive lap. Where will the track have dried? How much additional grip will be there? How much later can I brake? How much more speed can I carry through the corner? My first two laps were both 2:20. I checked with our strategist and learned that our nearest competitors were running 2:18 – 2:22. But, Andy Lally was running 2:14! Ok, more speed available! My next lap was a 2:16. I worked my way own to Andy’s 2:14, but by then he was at 2:12. By the time I got to 2:10, he was at 2:08! At one point, while patting myself on the back for driving so fast in the rain (have you ever done over 160 in the rain? I don’t recommend it at home!) a car whistled by me like I was stalled. Wow, that deflated my ego! But not for long, as the strategist quickly came on the radio and said, ‘Don’t worry about the guy that just passed you.. that is Formula 1 driver Robert Doornbas!’ Ok…. I feel better! By the end of my stint I turned a few 2:08s, while Andy was at 2:06. I was proud…my rate of improvement mimicked his in the changing conditions. I’ll never be as quick, but it doesn’t mean I’m not pushing myself just as hard!

As a side note, the first 16 hours were being kind to many of our friends and teammates. Andy Lally, Ted Ballou and company were leading the GT race. Spencer Pumpelly et al were sitting in 3rd and the J-Lowe car was a strong 5th. At the same time, our bad luck didn’t look so bad to our friend Ron Yarab. Ron never got in the car for his Daytona debut. After 70 minutes, his engine expired. Their car became the first of many casualties of this race.

Our misfortune continued after the sun came up. During Michael Gomez’ stint, an errant Ferrari spun in Turn 3 and bunched up a pack of cars that raced all the way to Turn 5. One of those cars gave Dr Gomez a hard shot in the rear causing a spin and significant damage. Another hour in the garage. More laps and positions lost.

I was fortunate enough to get to finish the race. As several cars on our TRG squad were experiencing significant and concerning water temps, I was ordered to drive at 7000 – 7200 RPM max (as opposed to 8300 or so). This limited straight line speed to 155 mph instead of the 175 mph we had been running. Funny thing is, after running at 175 for that long, 155 feels boring and slow!

At the end, I was told to slow dramatically to let the other TRG cars catch me for a photo. I slowed to 75 mph on the straights, but it wasn’t enough. I slowed to 45 mph! Have you ever had cars pass you with a 140 mph differential? Yee ha! Finally, we lined up and crossed the finish line in formation. This would have been cool under any circumstance, but was particularly special in this case as my wing-mates were Andy Lally’s second place car and Spencer Pumpelly’s third place finisher! What an honor to be in that group photo.

All in all, the Rolex 24 at Daytona was another fabulous experience. Simply negotiating traffic is a challenge in this event. Just finishing is a major accomplishment. The amateurs weren’t the only ones to screw up. Among the long list of pros that had ‘incidents’ were 2-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves and recent Formula 1 racer Justin Wilson!

We logged nearly 2000 miles in about 22 on-track hours. There are so many things that can go wrong in a race like this. Of the 70 cars that took the green flag, only about 2/3 took the checker. And among those are countless stories of how minor mistakes, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or mechanical issues cost a competitor the possibility of a win… or at least a significantly improved finish.

All of the training and effort was worth it… despite the worse than hoped for outcome. We’re already making plans for 2009. Stay tuned!

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