The 2019 24 Hours of Daytona (formally the 2019 Rolex 24 at Daytona) was an International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned endurance sports car race held at the Daytona International Speedway combined road course in Daytona Beach, Florida, on January 26–27, 2019. It was the 57th running of the race, and the first of 12 races in the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, and the first of four rounds of the 2019 Michelin Endurance Cup.
The race was ended ahead of the 22nd hour, due to heavy rainfall. The race was won overall by Renger van der Zande, Jordan Taylor, Fernando Alonso, and Kamui Kobayashi in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R. The LMP2 class was won by the #18 DragonSpeed Oreca 07, piloted by Pastor Maldonado, Roberto Gonzalez, Sebastián Saavedra and Ryan Cullen. The GTLM class was won by the #25 BMW Team RLL BMW M8 GTE of Connor de Phillippi, Augusto Farfus, Philipp Eng, and Colton Herta. The GTD class was won for a second consecutive year by the #11 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo of Rolf Ineichen, Mirko Bortolotti, Rik Breukers, and Christian Engelhart.
Background
Preview
NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., who built the Daytona International Speedway in 1959, conceived the 24 Hours of Daytona as a race to attract European sports car endurance racing to the United States and provide international exposure to Daytona. It is informally considered part of the "Triple Crown of Endurance Racing" with the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2019 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2018. It was the sixth consecutive year it was part of the IMSA SCC, and the 57th 24 Hours of Daytona. The 24 Hours of Daytona was the first of twelve scheduled sports car endurance races of 2019 by IMSA, and the first of four races of the Michelin Endurance Cup MEC). It took place at the 12-turn Daytona International Speedway combined road course in Daytona Beach, Florida, from January 26 to 27.
Regulation changes Prior to the 2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, a raft of regulation changes were made, which saw significant changes to both Prototypes and GT3 cars entered in the 2019 event. The Prototype class, which previously combined Daytona Prototype International cars, alongside Le Mans Prototype LMP2 cars was now split into 2 separate classes, the Daytona Prototype International (DPi) class, and the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class. The DPi class would be the top class of the Championship, and will feature teams with full Professional Lineups running Daytona Prototype International cars, with its own class-based Balance of Performance (BoP). The LMP2 class would be the lower prototype class of the 2, featuring Global Specification LMP2 cars, and Pro-Am lineups, with no BoP being applied to the class. The Pro-Am classes in the Championship (LMP2 and GTD) were also now required to adhere to driver rating requirements, with each car being allowed only 2 Platinum/Gold rated drivers for the Rolex 24, and one Platinum/Gold rated driver for the other Endurance Races, alongside the requirement of 1 Bronze/Silver rated driver for every Sprint race. Bronze or Silver rated drivers would also be required to start the race in these categories. Cars in the DPi, LMP2, as well as the GTD classes will also run on Michelin tyres, instead of Continentals while the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class would continue to be an open-tyre class.
Entry list Ahead of the Roar Before the 24 tests at the track, IMSA released an entry list of the teams due to participate in the compulsory 3 day tests. The entry list listed 47 teams across the four classes: 11 entries in the DPi class, 4 in the LMP2 class, as well as 9 in the GTLM class, featuring Group GTE Cars, as well as 23 in the GT Daytona (GTD) class. Each car was driven by two drivers who were to complete in the whole WeatherTech Sportscar Championship season, alongside 1–2 additional drivers, with one of the two additional drivers participating in the whole Michelin Endurance Cup season. These drivers came from a variety of categories, such as the FIA World Endurance Championship (Fernando Alonso, Kamui Kobayashi, Harry Tincknell), the IndyCar Series (Simon Pagenaud, Alexander Rossi), the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (René Rast, Loïc Duval).
Testing
Pre-testing Balance of Performance (BoP) Ahead of the Roar Before the 24 Tests, IMSA issued a pre-test BoP, on December 21, 2018, aiming to create parity in each class among the cars, as well as to separate the performances of cars in each class. The DPis were given a 10 kg weight reduction, as well as increased boost pressure for Turbocharged Engines, while Naturally Aspirated Engines received a larger air restrictor. The LMP2 cars were given a 10 kg weight addition, alongside a five-litre reduction in fuel capacity, and a 4 second increased refuelling time. Changes were also made to both the GTLM class, with the BMW M8 GTE, and the Porsche 911 RSR getting a weight break, with the Ferrari 488 GTE was given a 5 kg weight increase, the Ford GT a 20 kg weight increase, and the Corvette C7.R remaining unchanged. The GTD class saw several changes
Roar Before the 24 Tests The Roar Before the 24 tests occurred from January 4 to 6, 2019, with all cars participating in the test. The first session on Friday morning saw the #77 Mazda RT-24P entered by Mazda Team Joest top timesheets with a 1:35.989 lap, while the #52 Oreca 07 entered by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports topped the LMP2 category with a 1:39.828 by Gabriel Aubry. GTLM was topped by #911 911 RSR, with Patrick Pilet at the wheel setting a 1:44.866, while Jeroen Bleekemolen set a 1:47.188 in the #33 AMG GT3. The second session on Friday afternoon had the #10 Cadillac DPi-V.R of Wayne Taylor Racing top the session with a 1:36.596 by Kamui Kobayashi, while Gabriel Aubrey topped the LMP2 category again with 1:39.575. Davide Rigon set a 1:44.718 in the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, to top GTLM, while the #33 topped GTD once more with a 1:46.452 from Jeroen Bleekemolen.
The first session on Saturday morning saw the #55 Mazda RT-24P set the pace, with Harry Tincknell setting a 1:34.925. The #52 Oreca 07 topped the timesheet again in LMP2 with a 1:38.107 from Matt McMurry. The #912 Porsche 911 RSR topped GTLM, with a 1:43.862 from Mathieu Jaminet, while the #540 Black Swan Racing 911 GT3 R topped the GTD category with a 1:45.919 from Matteo Cairoli. The Afternoon session was led by the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R with Renger Van Der Zande setting a 1:34.534, with LMP2 being led once more by Gabriel Aubry in the #52 Oreca with a 1:37.083 lap. GTLM was led by the #67 Ford GT with Richard Westbrook setting a 1:43.148, with GTD being led by Trent Hindman in the #86 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Acura NSX GT3, with a 1:45.533 lap. The Night session saw Jonathan Bomarito set the pace in the #55 Mazda RT-24P, with a 1:34.533, while the #52 led LMP2 once more, with a 1:36.990 from Gabriel Aubry. GTLM saw Nick Tandy set a 1:43.402 in the #911 Porsche 911 RSR, with GTD led by the #13 Via Italia Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo with a 1:45.842 from Victor Franzoni. GTD had a Qualifying session on the day itself, which was meant to allocate garages for the teams, with Ana Beatriz securing the top spot with a 1:45.537 in the #57 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3, after P1 Motorsport was disqualified from the session for using a gold driver (Dominik Baumann), in spite of it setting the fastest time.
The morning session on Sunday saw Harry Tincknell top the lap times in the #55 Mazda RT-24P, with a 1:34.224, while Ben Hanley led LMP2 with a 1:35.975 in the 81 DragonSpeed Oreca 07, and GTLM was led by Richard Westbrook in the #67 Ford GT with a 1:43.083. The Last Session on Sunday, where only 14 cars ran, saw the #54 CORE Autosport Nissan-Onroak DPi top the times with a 1:35.176 from Loic Duval, while LMP2 was led by the #81 DragonSpeed Oreca 07, with a 1:36.188 from Nicolas Lapierre, and GTLM led by the #911 Porsche 911 RSR, with a 1:43.848 from Patrick Pilet. The Qualifying for DPi, LMP2 and GTLM saw Oliver Jarvis earn the top spot for Mazda Team Joest in the #77 Mada RT-24P, with a 1:33.398 which also unofficially broke the track record, while the #52 topped the LMP2 class with a 1:35.930 from Gabriel Aubry, while GTLM was led by the #3 Corvette C7.R with a 1:42.651 from Jan Magnussen.
Post-testing Balance of Performance adjustments On January 16, 2019, IMSA released a technical bulletin with regards to the Balance of Performance of the cars competing in the Rolex 24. Unlike previous years. there were only minor tweaks to selected cars, and saw no significant performance related adjustments. In the Daytona Prototype International class, 3 of the 4 cars saw changes to their fuel capacity, with the Acura ARX-05 and Mazda RT24-P each losing 2 liters and the Cadillac DPi-V.R being reduced by 1 liter. The Nissan-Onroak DPi, meanwhile, has an adjusted Lambda, while the Mazda RT-24P was mandated to run its high downforce rear wing package instead of “2019 Opt. 1” that was outlined in the initial pre-testing BoP. In GT Le Mans, the BMW M8 GTE received a 2-liter fuel capacity increase, while an adjustment was made to the Ferrari 488 GTE’s RPM redline. The GT Daytona class saw the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo get a 1 mm larger air restrictor, along with a related 2-liter increase in fuel capacity, while the BMW M6 GT3 received a 15 kg weight break. Fuel capacities were also adjusted for the new-for-2019 Porsche 911 GT3 R (+3 liters) and Acura NSX GT3 Evo (−3 liters), while IMSA elected to not slow down the GTD Class.
Practice Four practice sessions were held before the start of the race on Saturday, three on Thursday and one on Friday. The first two sessions on Thursday morning and afternoon were 45 minutes and 75 Minutes in length, while third held later that evening ran for 90 minutes, and the fourth on Friday morning lasted an hour.
In Practice 1, which was held in damp conditions, Felipe Nasr set the fastest lap, in the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R, with a best of 1:36.108, in a session which saw just four of the eleven DPi cars set flying laps on slick tires during the damp session. Behind Nasr was Filipe Albuquerque, who gave the Action Express Racing a 1–2, in the #5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac, with a best of 1:36.707. Tristan Vautier's 1:37.595 effort in the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac and Jonathan Bomarito’s 1:38.561 in the No. 55 Mazda RT-24P were the only other competitive times set on Thursday morning. The 5th best time, and the top time in the GTLM class was set by Frederic Makowiecki, in the #911 Porsche 911 RSR on slick Michelins putting a gap of eight-tenths over Mathieu Jaminet in the German manufacturer's No. 912 car, whilst Joey Hand moved Ford Chip Ganassi Racing up to third late on, although his final effort was over a second off the Porsche pace up front. In GTD, Corey Lewis ended the morning quickest with a 1:46.577 in the #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo. This lap came during the 15-minute extension of the event's first practice session dedicated to silver and bronze drivers in the secondary GT class. Henrik Hedman topped the charts in LMP2 for DragonSpeed with a 1:46.657 in the team's FIA World Endurance Championship Oreca 07 Gibson.