Rolex 24 At Daytona - 2009

[Easy Drifter]

So between 6 and 7 hours each. Just guessing but she must have been off the pace, especially in her second stint.

[Damon]

So between 6 and 7 hours each. Just guessing but she must have been off the pace, especially in her second stint.

Not really, she was doing fine out there and had just gotten up to 15th in the second stint before she to pit under green because the door flew open while she was driving, so the team just decided to put Wallace in the car at that point.

[rob01]

great result for joao barbosa! third for brumos porsche

[beachbum]

Not really, she was doing fine out there and had just gotten up to 15th in the second stint before she to pit under green because the door flew open while she was driving, so the team just decided to put Wallace in the car at that point.

Interesting analysis. Every other driver double stinted every time. I think there was one session where Findley single stinted, but why pull out a driver after 45 minutes if they are doing the job, even if they had to pit to fix the door? Danica was, by her own admission, fresh after hours out of the car.

All of the cars they "passed" were GT cars that were 10 seconds a lap slower or cars that fell out or had problems. With the exception of the AMA car, they were often the slowest DP car in the field. The only fair judge is how each of the 4 drivers on the team ran relative to each other.

I watched all of the TV coverage with timing and scoring up on a computer, as well as watching timing and scoring late into the night after the TV coverage was over until I couldn't stay awake (hey, it the first major race of the year and I love endurance racing). Almost all of the teams were turning their best average times early at night as the track was cool and the cars and drivers were still somewhat fresh. I was curious about how she would do, so I watched the team's progress on timing and scoring.

Mears ran some of the team's best lap times, including the team's fastest lap at night. When Danica got in around 10:30, she did run a couple laps only about a second off Mears, who she replaced. But the times quickly fell off and were very erratic. In traffic, Mears would sometimes lose a second to a second an a half. She would lose 2 to 3 seconds a lap and never put together any consistent times. On average, she was a couple seconds slower. She was about the same overall pace as Findley, but not as consistent. She might have one fairly quick lap, but the next would be seconds slower.

The morning stint was a surprise to me as it was so short. She was running about the same pace as during the night, with an equal lack of consistency. When Wallace got in, he was immediately up to 2 seconds faster and much more consistent. Justin Bell got it politically correct in an interview with her in the morning after she got out. Her times were "respectable". Unfortunately, the same could be said about Findley, and he is definitely a "gentleman" driver, not a pro.

At the end, Mears appeared to triple stint and he was turning lap after lap within a few tenths of each other in the heat of the day with traffic at a pace that was as quick as her best. She was "respectable", but not up to the pace one might expect from an open wheel pro. All of the other open wheel drivers and open wheel alumni were the fastest drivers on their teams. She was the slowest on hers.

I was a crew chief in motorcycle endurance racing, and the very best at it were very consistent, even in traffic - like Mears. Since they were normally running a second or so off qualifying pace, they could make up time in a lap if they got balked. The key in endurance racing is rhythm and consistency. You could see it in Mears and the other top drivers as they could run off a string of laps all fairly close together (unless someone really blocked them). l learned very early that a fast racer who is erratic in their times is often slower in average speed that one a little slower in ultimate speed, but very consistent. The winners, like Donahue, are both fast and consistent. Danica was basically neither. "Respectable", but not what an endurance team needs to run well.

[FormerFF]

I watched all of the TV coverage with timing and scoring up on a computer, as well as watching timing and scoring late into the night after the TV coverage was over until I couldn't stay awake (hey, it the first major race of the year and I love endurance racing).

Not to worry, you're among friends here.

[Danske]

Why can no one spell Donohue?

A bit cruel for SPEED to replay the 59 breaking while in the lead last year and the 58 running out of gas at Montreal. Some of us were well aware that Brumos has been oh-so-close to a win in the series for a while now, and didn't need the reminder. It was just excruciating that David couldn't pull more of a gap once he had the lead, and when he switched to reserve fuel on the last laps...arrrgh.

[beachbum]

Why can no one spell Donohue?

A bit cruel for SPEED to replay the 59 breaking while in the lead last year and the 58 running out of gas at Montreal. Some of us were well aware that Brumos has been oh-so-close to a win in the series for a while now, and didn't need the reminder. It was just excruciating that David couldn't pull more of a gap once he had the lead, and when he switched to reserve fuel on the last laps...arrrgh.

Simple typo. I had the pleasure to meet Mark Donohue the year before he was taken from us. If David is half as nice as his father, he is a very nice person and deserves any accolades given to him for the victory.

It was an impressive win. Not many drivers could hold up the pressure provided by Montoya without making a mistake.

[anthonyvop]

25 Cautions.
Over 6 hours under yellow.
Mysteria Debris Cautions.
1/4 of the race was at parade lap speed.

Yep.....NASCAR owns the Grand-Am.

[beachbum]

25 Cautions.
Over 6 hours under yellow.
Mysteria Debris Cautions.
1/4 of the race was at parade lap speed.

Yep.....NASCAR owns the Grand-Am.

I take it you didn't like the race, or don't like Grand-Am. Fair enough - don't watch.

Rather reminds me of the statement I read somewhere about how to reduce the number of cautions. Easy, just stop blown tires, don't allow people to crash or spin, equipment failures aren't allowed, and if parts are laying all over the track, just tell the drivers to go around them. With that many cars of different speeds and drivers of wildly diverse skills, the fact there weren't more says a lot.

The only questionable one I saw was the one with an hour to go. No reason was ever given. But it really didn't change anything, other than give the fans a change to go to the bathroom.

[Shifter]

I don't understand the feeling of some in this thread that it isn't worth watching because they didn't bother to find out when it was on, and then, having admitted that they don't watch, go ahead and call the racing lame.

Also, it's been dubbed a 'spec' series, even though the different chassis and engines clearly have different advantages and weaknesses.

Yes, I'd probably like it more if the cars were a bit faster, but you must understand, in the US we never get LMS coverage, and the races are too long to pilfer off the net. Instead we get ALMS, which due to the economy has been deemed too expensive vs its current competition portfolio. We lost Audi, and Peugeot only bothered to bring its sexy prototype stateside once. If there were Audi and Peugeot alongside Acura and BMW, yes, P1 would be FAR superior to DP.

Until then, these kinds of finishes are entertaining enough: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugGMPPj8fyA