A problem with VAVEL near the end of the race caused this LIVE to never be closed out, apologies for that. A recap of the race is coming! Thank you.
Barbosa, J. Taylor, Kanaan continue to be the top 3 overall. The black Wayne Taylor Racing car is once again all over the back of the white Action Express Racing car. Can Jordan Taylor make the pass for the lead?
For the GTLM class, it's Magnussen, Farfus, and Gavin the top 3. GTLM has been a source of great racing.
The top prototypes are still running in a tight train around the track, led by No. 5 Action Express Racing driven by Barbosa currently.
The race has gone green! Barbosa still leads the stacked field of prototypes - who are all flying right behind him.
Under this caution, Oliver Gavin is back on the GTLM lead lap in his Corvette. A good effort to bring it back; Corvette has a great shot at a GTLM win.
Back under caution/yellow flag conditions. The field will bunch up once again - notably Barbosa, Taylor, and Kanaan, the top few in the overall and prototype standings.
Barbosa, J. Taylor, Kanaan still the overall and Prototype leaders.
Macneil, Lawrence, Lazzaro the GTD leaders. Under 5.5 hours remaining now.
The No. 5 Action Express Racing car is being pursued by the car that runs second overall: #10 of Wayne Taylor Racing, currently being driven by Jordan Taylor.
5.5 hours remain.
The number 24 BMW assumed the GTLM lead after the blown tire by Oliver Gavin in the Corvette, but he has just had some major problems. Bruno Spengler overshot the bus stop section, then things just got worse as he tried to cut through the grass to rejoin onto the track - but the front of the car dug into the grass, throwing dirt and turf everywhere, all over the car. The BMW Z4 GTE also lost its rear wing, at the very beginning of the incident. A rough ride for Spengler. Driver change coming up for the car.
Oliver Gavin and the No. 4 Corvette losing loads of time after that blown tire. It is now shown 2 laps behind the other Corvette, but still P3 in GTLM. Still on pit lane.
Contact and some trouble for the class leading Corvette. The #4 Corvette is now on pit lane getting fixed up. It lost the lead of the GTLM class, unfortunately.
Back to green!
This Rolex 24 at Daytona is shaping up to have an incredible finish. I see a 6 hour sprint race coming up. 5 hours 58 minutes remain, still under this caution. Barbosa leads the overall field and Prototype class; J. Taylor, then Tony Kanaan run P2 and P3.
After such a great effort, the No. 5 Action Express Racing car is up to the lead, coming back from a -3 lap deficit. They can go for a win! #10 of Taylor will restart right behind, as well as one of the Ganassi cars.
Full course yellow for oil on the track in turns 3 and 4. The field will bunch up once again. This may be Action Express' chance to surge to the lead, after making it through the night laps down.
The No. 5 Action Express Racing car is now on the lead lap! After hours and hours of being 4... 3.... 2.... 1 laps down, all through the night after being stopped on track when the night hours began, Joao Barbosa is going fast.
14 IndyCar drivers were in the field when the race began, reports Next Gen Indy. Very impressive. Check out the article linked above.
17.5 hours in, and three cars are racing within a second for the lead. If that doesn't tell you how fantastic of a race this has been, I'm not sure what will.
Back to green! The first restart since the sun had come up. Ricky Taylor leads both Ganassi cars.
Joao Barbosa and Action Express Racing were just communicating over the pit radio; they have a plan in place in regards to how they plan on making a lap back up.
01 and 02 on pit lane for Chip Ganassi Racing. Hand and Kanaan stay behind the wheel. Work going on on the 02 car; the front is off. Shouldn't be much longer on pit lane for the car. Nose going back on, sending Kanaan back out.
Pit stops about to begin under the 14th full course caution that has taken place in the race so far.
The top 3 overall:
1. 01 Joey Hand
2. 10 Ricky Taylor
3. 02 Tony Kanaan
Chip Ganassi Racing continues their dominant race, with both of their cars still running in the top 3 overall.
Also, Colin Braun, leading the PC class, has a long way to go to make it to pit lane with a shredded left rear tire. This is the second left rear that he has blown in the race already. Into and out of the pits, back onto the track. Full course caution continues.
Problems for the #33 Viper. Full course yellow, with just under 7 hours remaining in the race.
A pit stop and some brake-work for the 02 Chip Ganassi Racing car. Tony Kanaan stays behind the wheel. Tires being changed now. Kanaan peels out and heads back out on track.
Joao Barbosa into the No. 5 Action Express Racing car, which runs P4, 2 laps down (before that pit stop).
7 hours and 1 minute left until this eventful race comes to an end. What are your thoughts of the TUDOR United SportsCar Series 2015 season opener? My Twitter is open for you to tweet at me: @DoubleA291
Coverage picked back up on Fox Sports 1, who will take you straight to the checkers - as will I! The sun has come over Daytona International Speedway, with the track suddenly bright. Fantastic racing to come.
Less than 5 minutes until coverage picks back up on Fox Sports 1. Coverage will be continuing here on VAVEL as well!
A bit of action off pit lane between the 01 and 10 prototypes.
Sun is beginning to come up, with a large part of the distant sky transitioning to a solid orange-yellow color. 7 hours 20 minutes remaining.
The No. 10 car of Ricky Taylor is right behind the overall and Prototype leader Joey Hand. Great battle brewing, perhaps!
The first glimpses of sunrise can be seen in the area of Daytona International Speedway.
Nearing the 500th lap of the race. Both Action Express Racing cars have come in for fuel only stops. Now, the leaders are in the pits.
The cars look so spectacular under the lights at Daytona. Enjoy it if you're able to watch while it lasts, as in about an hour, night racing during the Rolex 24 at Daytona ends until this time in a year. A few rays of sunlight can be expected within the hour, ending the spectacular night racing until next year.
Seems like the No. 5 Action Express Racing car is losing more time, more and more off the lead lap. That's exactly the opposite of what they need.
7 hours 48 minutes remain.
Chip Ganassi Racing runs 1-2. That's something to be proud of, making it 2/3 through the race, with the checkers almost in sight, and having both of your cars at the front of their class and in the overall standings. CGR has run strong in these opening 16 hours.
Ricky Taylor climbed into the No. 10 car, which is now just under a minute behind the new leader: 02 Jamie Mcmurray of CGR.
P6-10 is the top 4 in the GTLM class. P5 in GTLM is all the way down in P22 overall.
8 hours remain in the 2015 Rolex 24 at Daytona. These final 8 hours will be fully covered here at VAVEL.
Leader Max Angelelli just set a lap within 0.5 secs of the quickest lap of the race. Very impressive, given the time of day... night.... er, morning. Just past 6am EST, but the sun is yet to rise at the Daytona International Speedway.
No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Honda HPD Ligier JS P2 now runs P5, after Oswaldo Negri Jr got by Rockenfeller.
The first Prototype Challenge (PC) entry runs P11 overall, 15 laps behind leader Max Angelelli. It is being driven by James Gue.
Racing continues in Daytona. No changes to the running order, as it is the point of the race where major catching up is necessary to make a pass.
477 laps have been completed by the 3 cars that are on the lead lap. These cars are the top 3 in the overall running order:
1. Max Angelelli #10 Corvette DP
2. Joey Hand #01 Ford Ecoboost DP
3. Jamie Mcmurrary #02 Ford Ecoboost DP
Just over one hour until coverage on Fox Sports 1 picks back up. I'll be here, from 5am when I came back, straight through to the checkers at 2pm. Hopefully you're following along here on VAVEL.
Green flag!
The Corvette C7.R's run P3 and P4 in the GTLM class. Both of them recently pitted under this caution, both had front and year brake replacements. It was an incredibly fast pit stop, even though the brakes were all changed.
Still running under caution. This restart should be fantastic, though.
Six P class cars, then four GTLM class cars make up the overall top 10. GTLM racing has been superb. The top four in the flagship GT class that round out the overall top 10 are:
1. #25 Dirk Werner - BM4 Z4 GTE
2. #17 Wolf Henzler - Porsche 911 RSR
3. #3 Antonio Garcia - Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
4. #4 Simon Pagenaud - Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
The Honda Racing HPD Tequila Patron ESM entry is officially retired. A strong effort by the team, as they ran on the lead lap for a good part of the race.
This caution will allow for the No. 5 Action Express Racing car to become only 1 lap down. Perhaps if the 5 car could stay consistently fast, it can be on the lead lap battling for the lead of the overall and Prototype class leads.
Unnoficially, 339 of the 470 laps completed so far have been led by Chip Ganassi Racing's Corvette DPs.
Another quick stop for CGR.
Where is the pole sitter currently running? Oswaldo Negri Jr. has the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ligier in P6, four laps down.
Full course yellow for a car stopped on the apron of the NASCAR turn 2. It will need a tow. This 13th full course yellow of the race comes with just under 8 hours 37 minutes remaining in the race.
Antonio Garcia is doing all he can to pull his Corvette C7.R away from Dirk Werner's BMW Z4 GTE.
10 seconds separate each of the top 3 cars. Then, it's two laps back to fourth position of No. 5 Action Express Racing car of Bourdais. Fifth and sixth of Rockenfeller and Negri. Jr are then 3 and 4 laps back respectively.
The GTLM battle is nothing short of fantastic. It has been that way all race long.
Tight racing onto and off of pit lane for the GTLM class, as Corvette and BMW go head to head; the Corvette crew was able to keep the Vette ahead!
Leaders in each of the four classes:
P: #10 Max Angelelli
PC: #54 James Gue
GTLM: #4 Tommy Milner
GTD: #64 Andrea Bertolini
No. 5 Action Action Express car in for four tires and fuel. IndyCar driver Bourdais in the car, racing hard, trying to get the lap back.
Top three overall leaders and time behind leader with 8 hours 58 minutes remaining:
1. 02 J. Mcmurray
2. 01 Hand -58.761
3. 10 Angelleli -79.266
01 Chip Ganassi Racing in for a fast stop. Joey Hand climbs back into the car.
A major story line of the racing that's gone on in the last hour and a half or so is the official retirement of both of the diesel-powered Mazda entries. The No. 60 Michael Shank Racing car couldn't slow down in time to turn right into the International Keyhole corner on a restart, and ended up headed straight into the grass - and straight into the wall. Racing continued under green flag conditions, one of many smart decisions made by the race officials during the race so far. Soon after, news broke that the #60 had retired from the race.
I've watched the race continue all night long, and the race pushes forward, continuing to be an exciting and interesting race at that.
Picking my coverage of the Rolex 24 at Daytona back up here, at 5am EST. Hopefully a few racing fans come across this LIVE and use it as a tool to follow the race until the checkers at 2pm!
This ends my coverage of the race today... The field is racing into Sunday. I will return tomorrow morning to close out the race! Thank you for following LIVE here on VAVEL.
Only four cars are on the lead lap.
Larson beat Dixon's fast lap in the 02. He's been increasing his lead.
Only two cars in the 1:39's: the 60 and the 02.
Larson by Kimball.
Back to green flag! Lap 282.
The No. 24 BMW Z4 GTE is being worked on in pit lane by the Rahal Letterman Lanigan crew. Co-driver Graham Rahal just tweeted: "Unfortunately we had heavy contact on a restart. Wasn't Edwards fault, but car is pretty beat up. Long repairs ahead."
Back to full course yellow once again. No. 38 Prototype Challenge car stopped on track.
Back to green flag racing! Corvettes had their front brakes changed during their pit stop under caution.
The No. 5 Action Express car has rejoined the race; P7, 3 laps down. Driver Joao Barbosa says, "we'll get it back."
Tony Kanaan steps out of the 02 Ganassi car, Kyle Larson in.
All of the leaders are pitting.
The car stopped on track required a tow. Action Express Racing will take it into the garage.
No fuel pressure; No. 5 Action Express car won't restart. Caution continues.
The 7th caution of the race is out. No. 5 Action Express car is stopped on track; problems getting it refired it seems. Frustrating for the team, as they have run strong until this point.
Colin Braun puts the #54 into the PC class lead.
Antonio Garcia takes the No. 3 Corvette to the GTLM lead in traffic.
Also from Next Gen Indy, their qualifying article is one that you should refer back to if you'd like to see how things all got started in Daytona today.
Next Gen Indy has a live tweet on their website, taking all of their tweets that contain the hashtag #Rolex24 and putting them in the article. Very neat; check it out here for even further coverage of the race:
Tony Kanaan continues to make up time in the 02 Chip Ganassi Racing car.
911 to the front in GTLM and the 8 is pitting. But it looks like they had enough of a lead to keep first in PC; the No. 8 car rejoins the race in the lead.
Already some changes to those class leaders...
Class leaders with 15 hours 41 minutes to go:
P: No. 10 - R. Taylor
PC: No. 8 - Popow
GTLM: No. 911 - Pilet
GTD: No. 93 Farnbacher
No. 3 Corvette leads GTLM
No. 8 leads PC
No. 93 Viper leads GTD
Kanaan has cut his deficit to 29 seconds after being a lap down earlier
Barbosa is 12 seconds behind Taylor.
Current top three: Taylor Barbosa Kanaan
Kimball pits. He's been 1.5 to 2 seconds off the pace of his co-drivers
The race is not even 1/3 over yet. Who is your pick to win the race this year? Let me know on Twitter: @DoubleA291
The overall leaders at 15 hours 56 min:
10 @RickyTaylor_10
5 @BourdaisOnTrack
02 @TonyKanaan
60 @mcmurrymatt
01 @charliekimball
The night hours have officially begun!
The Prototype Challenge (PC) class has been the source of most of the action, mostly negative at that. Whoever comes out standing through the night will have a great shot at a win in the Pro-Am version of the prototype category.
D. Farnbacher, Goossens, S. Van Gisbergen the top three in the Pro-Am version of the GT cars, GT Daytona.
Magnussen, Tandy, Gavin are the top three in the GT Le Mans class as they run now.
Ryan Hunter Reay pilots the No. 7 now, running P8.
Bourdais locked up going into the bus stop... came to a complete stop after not even turning left into the chicane. Only dropped to second because third overall Valiante is way way behind.
Cars look and sound fantastic on the track.
Top 3 in the Prototype (P) class:
1. Bourdais
2. Ricky Taylor
3. Valiante
Another restart and more spinning and touching - once again specifically between the Prototype Challenge (PC) class. Bourdais lost the overall and prototype class lead to Ricky Taylor. Very tight racing.
Past the 6 hour mark! The first points of 2015 have been paid out to the leaders.
IndyCar driver Sebastien Bourdais in the Action Express Racing No. 5 gets by the 02 that is currently being driven by Tony Kanaan.
Are there any SportsCar fans following along here? If you're following, let me know on Twitter: @DoubleA291
Full course caution. Time remaining in the race: 18 hours 22 minutes and 10 seconds
Tony Kanaan into the 02 CGR car. The No. 10 piloted by Max Angelelli leads the field as the overall and prototype class leader.
Top 3 overall:
1. 01 Hand
2. 10 Angelelli
3. J. Mcmurrary
Night has completely fallen over Daytona International Speedway; the track and the cars are all lit up, which really makes it all look so nice.
Other than a few scheduled pit stops throughout the entire field, plenty of drama took place. A few spins happened, with a few cars off track and one blowing a tire. The sun has begun to go down, which means a section of the NASCAR oval has very limited visibility for the drivers.
First, Chip Ganassi Racing had both of their cars pit from first and second overall, just before I left this LIVE. Much more recently, Action Express Racing's 5 car was brought in by Joao Barbosa, who stepped out of the car after running from the start of the race.
Just over 21 hours remain in the race. A few notes of what has happened since I left this LIVE for that short amount of time are coming above.
Taking a break from this LIVE blog of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Coverage will return here soon with a summary of what happened while I wasn't here. Thank you for following LIVE on VAVEL.
Prototype and overall leader Scott Dixon brings the 02 car in for it's second pit stop of the race. In and out beautifully.
Second stop for the 01 car; Scott Pruett in. This car came in a lap earlier than team-mate car of Scott Dixon.
Coverage has begun on Fox Sports 2! Remember if you're following my LIVE coverage here on VAVEL, let me know via a tweet. @DoubleA291
Richard Westbrook by Olivier Pla for 7th in the P category.
3 minutes until coverage begins on Fox Sports 2! If you are following the race here on the LIVE, please let me know by sending me a tweet on twitter @DoubleA291. I'd love to know you're following along! Thank you.
No 2. prototype by Tequila Patron ESM is headed to the garage; was going very slow on the apron. Otherwise, great prototype battle going on up front.
Hoshono is getting back into the Flying Lizard car. Remember he was stopped on track to cause the first caution of the race.
Corvette Racing runs 1-2 in the GTLM class. Their cars have looked strong through these first two hours.
2 of 24 hours are nearly in the books. My coverage will get better from now until late tonight, as I have tv coverage of the race in 10 minutes!
Action Express Racing's number 5 is up to second overall and in the P class. Barbosa still at the wheel.
Green flag racing restarted, but back to a full course caution now after separate incidents between the #0 DeltaWing and #81 Porsche. The DeltaWing has been pulled behind the wall after a fantastic first stint to its race.
Caution continues. Here are some team Twitter accounts now:
Wayne Taylor Racing: @WayneTaylorRcng
Tequila Patron ESM: @PatronESM
Flying Lizard: @FlyingLizard_MS
Action Express: @AX_Racing
CORE Autosport: @COREautosport
Porsche NA (North America) Racing: @PorscheNAracing
Corvette Racing: @CorvetteRacing
Chip Ganassi Racing: @CGRTeams
While we are under our first caution, here are the Twitter accounts you MUST follow for updates all 24 hours long:
Official TUDOR Championship: @UnitedSportsCar
Beck Duggleby: @BDuggleby
Next Gen Indy: @NextGenIndy
Aaron Durant (myself): @DoubleA291
The field will bunch up, grouping together behind the safety car, and a restart will get things going again. The entire field will be closer together at the restart of course; a great opportunity to make up some track position has been granted to the field.
FULL COURSE YELLOW. Flying Lizard driver Hoshono is stopped on track. The first full course caution of the 24 hour race is out.
Scott Dixon and Scott Pruett the overall first and second. Dixon conserving fuel, as he is notorious for doing. 30 laps in the books in Daytona.
GTLM leaders pit; new leader: John Edwards in the BMW Z4 GTE.
The Porsche is by the Vette! Into turn one, Nick Tandy made the pass for the GTLM class lead.
Tandy has his Porsche still all over the back of Gavin's Corvette. A bit of a rough ride through the "bus top" for them, passing a car and managing the curbs. The Porsche is as close to the Corvette as it has been in some time; I'm expecting some great battling soon. Prototype cars are also in the mix and... Ricky Taylor of Wayne Taylor racing. What has happened to him - he's back in 14th overall.
The prototype leaders come in for their first scheduled pit stops; Rubens Barrichello in the BMW Power Riley DP takes the overall and prototype lead.
Nick Tandy is driving superbly in his Porsche 911 RSR; sticking with the No. 4 Corvette of Oliver Gavin, who leads the GT Le Mans class. These two are the frontrunners of GTLM, but 20 and 21 in the overall running order.
Great racing back in the GT field, with a couple prototype-category cars in the mix.
Barbosa in the No. 5 Action Express Racing entry took P4 away from Olivier Pla.
From 4pm-10pm, my coverage of the race here will be much better, as I don't currently have tv coverage of the racing. Until then, I also have lots of coverage on my Twitter account (also at the top of this article under the title).
No. 0 DeltaWing car in the pits; it was smoking. Doesn't seem to be a scheduled pit stop.
12 laps and over 20 minutes into the race, Ricky Taylor of Wayne Taylor Racing has gotten the car back into P7.
AJ Allmendinger, co-driver of the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ligier prototype that started on pole had this to say about Oswaldo Negri Jr.: "Ozz is just pacing himself, we know we have a good car." The 60 car runs second just behind the 02 CGR Ford EcoBoost-powered car of current driver Scott Dixon.
Remember, it's still early in the race. It would be a great time to check out the Next Gen Indy United SportsCar news, including the great qualifying article that I continue to use as a reference.
Last year's winners at Action Express Racing run fifth; Joao Barbosa is currently behind the wheel.
Scott Dixon continues to lead the entire field in the Chip Ganassi Racing Ford EcoBoost Daytona Prototype.
The first spin out of the race has occured, but no caution flag. Racing continues.
Corvettes with a great start, Scott Dixon to the lead for the prototypes.
GREEN GREEN GREEN! The #Rolex24 is go!
It's time for the 53rd Running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona!
30 minutes until the green flag! Stay with us for all updates.
In case you're new to the United SportsCar racing, I'll quickly explain each of the four classes. The four classes are the result of a ALMS and Rolex Grand Am merger, as I mentioned below. The flagship and most elite class of the four is the Prototype (P) class, then a similar class made up of a Pro-Am field of drivers, named Prototype Challenge (PC). Then come two GT classes - one pro and one Pro-Am, just like for the prototype categories.
These have been the summaries of each of the four class’ final attempts at fine-tuning their cars for the season opener. This final practice session was the final on-track session the drivers, cars, and teams will see until Saturday’s race.
In the Pro-Am version of the GT classes, GT Daytona, Kuba Giermaziak earned his Tully’s “Coffee Rocket” a spot on the top of the timesheets in the 81-numbered Porsche, with a lap of 1:47.970. Two other manufacturers took the second and third spots within the class (No. 93 Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper GT3-R & No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrar 458 Italia were second and third quickest). A completely diverse top three, in terms of manufacturer, was also seen in the GTLM class.
Turning to the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class, the stronger of the two GT classes, the number 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia led the field, with driver Giancarlo Fisichella turning a quickest lap within the category that was just barely slower than the quickest Prototype Challenge time, at 1:44.572. The number 3 Corvette and two factory Porsche North America 911s were third and fourth quickest.
Staying with the prototype cars but instead focusing on the Pro-Am version of the class, Prototype Challenge, Bruno Junqueira turned a 1:44.361 in the number 11 Oreca FLM09 machine, leading his class in the final practice.
For the Prototype class, the flagship class with a field of fully-professional racing drivers, AJ Allmendinger had the fastest time in both of the two final practice sessions for the class, turning laps faster than the rest of the stacked Prototype category. The number 60 Michael Shank Racing car has been quick since the event began this year, with Allmendinger quickest in Thursday’s night practice, and co-driver Ozz Negriled leading practice sessions himself and securing the aforementioned Prototype class pole position. The 60 car will be one to look when the green flag drops in Daytona - pending a clean race all 24 hours long. The number 2 car of Chip Ganassi Racing was second quickest in the final practice session for the P class, with last year’s winners Barbossa, Fitiipaldi, and Bourdais at Action Express Racing trailing just behind, finishing third in the session; both of these second and third quickest cars turned laps in the 1:41 range.
The drivers of each class took to the track one final time before the race begins on Saturday - the final practice session.
That is how qualifying ended up for each of the four classes. Look for the drivers mentioned above to be strong, pending a safe and mistake-free 24 hours on-track in Daytona.
Pole for the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class was secured by driver Oliver Gavin of the No. 4 C7.R Corvette with a fast lap of 1:43.488.
Lastly, in GT Daytona (GTD), James Davison in the No. 007 TRG-AMR Aston Martin V12 Vantage earned pole position with a time of 1:47.272.
In the Prototype Challenge (PC) class, the No. 16 BAR1 Motorsports Chevrolet-powered ORECA FLM09 driven by Johnny Mowlem will start first, after a 1:42.318 lap in qualifying.
The starting order for the 53rd Rolex 24 at Daytona was decided in Thursday's qualifying session. Pole position for the Prototype (P) class was secured by Oswaldo Negri Jr. in the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Honda-powered car, as reported by Next Gen Indy, who had a quick story of qualifying for all four classes. Starting behind the Michael Shank-supported entry will be some heavy competition; the Chip Ganassi Racing entries of the Felix Sabates Riley Ford driven by Scott Dixon (No. 02 car) and the second Felix Sabates Riley Ford driven by Scott Pruett (No. 01 car) qualified second and third respectively, and the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP driven by Joao Barbosa, who closed out Action Express's 2014 win, will start fourth in the Prototype class. Next Gen Indy also reported that the No. 0 car, the DeltaWing DWC13 entry piloted by Andy Meyrick, had an impressive qualifying effort; the car will start fifth Saturday, after struggling in practice sessions.
The race that is set to begin in only hours will be the 53rd running of the race - the second annual, after the American Le Mans and Rolex Grand Am championships have collided at full force, spawning the United SportsCar Series. The new championship contains four separate classes, all racing on the same track, at the same time (for some races of the season, others field only two classes, for example). These four classes start with the elite and flagship class of the Prototype (P) cars, then the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class, then lastly two Pro-Am classes, Prototype Challenge (PC) and GT Daytona (GTD).
Each class has its roots in either the American Le Mans Series or the Rolex Grand Am championship.To start, a short article has been written on Next Gen Indy that perfectly summarizes the qualifying results of the four classes. Their article should be one to refer back to all race long, as it also includes a full starting order in a neat searchable start. So if you would like to familiarize yourself with the starting grid of the race, I recommend their qualifying recap here.
I wrote a full preview of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, but until the race is closer to green flag, you will find some news and notes and learn what's important to look for in the 2015 edition of the race.
One hour left to race time! The drivers of the United SportsCar Series have been signing autographs for most of the day, after attending the drivers meeting. It won't be long until they are called to their cars and their 2015 season begins with a grueling 24 hour race.
This begins VAVEL's LIVE coverage of the 2015 Rolex 24 at Daytona, the grueling day-long season opener for the Tudor United SportsCar Series.