Your guide to Priaulx’s bid for a class win at 24 Hours of Daytona
Friday 26 January 2024
America’s biggest sportscar race takes place this weekend with Seb Priaulx sitting on pole in GTD Pro and eyeing the Rolex Watch which winners receive.
Priaulx will be joined by Laurin Heinrich and works driver Micahel Christensene to tackle the 24-hour race at the Daytona International Speedway in Florida.
It is a competition steeped in history, having first been held in 1966, and kicks off the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship.
When?
Saturday 27 January to Sunday 28 January.
Start time: 18:40 (GMT)/13:40 local time.
IMSA.tv will broadcast the entire race with its stream starting at 18:35.
Where?
The sports car course at Daytona is 3.56 miles long with 12 corners.
The lap starts with a twisty infield section before all four turns of the banked oval are tackled. There is also a "bus stop" chicane on the back straight.
Weather
Saturday daytime is expected to see a mix of sunshine and clouds with temperatures reaching 27C, before a cloudy night and then a cooler Sunday with showers in the morning.
The cars
The race takes place in four classes: Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), GT Daytona Pro (GTD Pro) and GT Daytona (GTD).
The prototype style showcases the latest technology and are uniquely designed for the race track, while the GT cars are based on road going production models.
Priaulx will be competing in GTD Pro with AO Racing in a Porsche 911 GT3 R, nicknamed Rexy.
It is the only Porsche, with other teams racing in machines from BMW, Corvette, McLaren, Lexus, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Ford and Mercedes.
AO Racing have stepped up from racing in the GTD class in their debut season and will also field a LMP2 car.
The drivers
Priaulx and Heinrich both have one WeatherTech Championship season under their belt as well as several championships in other sports car series.
For Daytona, Porsche provides factory support in the form of Christensen as the third driver.
He has Rolex 24 and 24 Hours of Le Mans class wins on his resume.
How qualifying went
Priaulx will start the race and put the car on pole in qualifying last weekend at the Roar Before The Rolex 24.
The session was disrupted by an early crash of another Porsche as it left the pit lane which led to red flags.
Priaulx recorded a fastest lap of 1:44.382 as the session drew to a close, ahead of Jack Hawksworth (1:44.462) in the VasserSullivan Lexus RC F and Antonio Garcia (1:44.786) in the Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06.
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.