The 2022 edition of the 24 Hours of Daytona, race that opens the season of the IMSA championship. The iconic US endurance race, the 60th since its founding in 1966, will be the last for the premier-class DPi cars before making way for the new Hypercars and LMDhs.
In addition to the DPi, there will be four other classes that will animate the Rolex 24 and make traffic one of the most important factors to manage for this challenge. As happened in 2021, it is also an open challenge for two other “prototype” classes, the LMP2 and the LMP3, while for the GT sphere there will be a significant novelty: the GTD-Prowith cars belonging to the GT3 regulation, effectively replaces the GTLM category, promising great battles between different manufacturers such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Audi, Porsche, Mercedes-AMG and Chevrolet. Also present is the GTD class, comparable to the GTE-Am of the WEC.
Qualifying Race. The starting grid was decided on January 23, with the team’s # 10 Acura (Honda) Wayne Taylor Racing (winner last year by breaking Cadillac’s four-year dominance) which will start in front of everyone. The quartet made up of Filipe Albuquerque, Ricky Taylor and former F1 drivers Will Stevens and Alexander Rossi therefore starts with a small advantage given by pole, but the past teaches us that absolutely nothing should be taken for granted.
The PR1 / Mathiasen Motorsports team will lead the way in LMP2, with the Keating / Huffaker / Jensen / Lapierre crew ahead of Bomarito / Thomas / Pierson. In LMP3 pole is Andretti’s with Jarrett Andretti, Burdon. Chaves and Lindh, while the GTD-Pro will restart from the challenge between Lamborghini (with the TR3 Racing quartet of Bortolotti / Caldarelli / Mapelli / Ineiche) and Porsche. Finally, the class GTD will see the Mercedes of Winward Racing lead with Ward / Ellis / Grenier / Auer the McLaren of Crucial Motorsport with Holton / Bergstein / Miller / Gallagher.
The track. The Rolex 24 theater will obviously be the traditional Road Coursea 5729-meter circuit that takes advantage of part of the tri-oval that houses the Daytona 500 and characterized by very high speeds with only 12 curves and a few really driven sections.
The 24 Hours of Daytona can be followed entirely in streaming on the IMSA official website.
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