Rolex 24 At Daytona - Credit: Rolex / Stephan Cooper
Ryan Dalziel led the field away for the 50th running of the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona in the #8 Starworks Motorsport Ford / Riley DP and as we pass the hour mark the team have led most of it. Just before the hour mark the Alex Gurney #99 Gainsco Corvette would lead the way after powering in to the lead on the banking.
As the hour closed out the #8 had dropped back to fourth place in the hands of Enzo Potolicchio as Oswaldo Negri Jr and Scott Dixon moved up to second and third place.
The #5 Action Express Racing Chevrolet DP hit problems early and headed in to the pitlane after the first lap, after investigation from the team the car returned to circuit and is currently running a lap down on the leader in eleventh place.
25 minutes in to the race as the #10 DP of Max Angelelli started to fade and lose positions. Agnelli would be forced to pull in to the garage for the team to check out engine problems. 6 laps down Angelelli headed back out on track, unfortunately this would be short lived as the car returned to the garage suffering from vibrations and loss of power. As the hour mark passed the team remained in the pitlane, 20 laps down on the lead lap.
In the GT class Andrew Davis lead the way in the Brumos Racing Porsche GT3 until the 43 minute mark when Andrew Lally reeled him in and made a pass for the lead. As the hour mark approached Marco Holzer had forged his way in to the lead with Davis chasing hard, followed by the Flying Lizard Porsche of Patrick Long.
There was an early scare for the #34 Orbit/GMG PorscheGT3 as Scott Rettich outbraked himself in to turn 1, thankfully he was able to run wide and avoid any major incident.
A small coming together between the two Ferrari 458's of #03 and #63 piloted by Johannes van Overbeek and Toni Vilander respectively saw the cars get loose but remain on track.
The #74 Oryx Racing Audi took a slight detour off track as it slid wide at the kink, narrowly avoiding the chasing pack as Steven Kane re-joined the circuit. A quick pitstop for new tyres would be needed following the incident.
50th Rolex 24 at Daytona DP class standings after Hour 1
1. #99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing – Fogarty/Gidley/Gurney
2. #60 Michael Shank Racing – Allmendinger/Negri/Pew/Wilson
3. #02 Chip Ganassi Racing – Dixon/Franchitti/McMurray/Montoya
4. #8 Starworks Motorsport – Dalziel/Luhr/McNish/Popow/Potolicchio
5. #01 Chip Ganassi Racing – Hand/Pruett/Rahal/Rojas
50th Rolex 24 at Daytona GT class standings after Hour 1
1. #23 Alex Job Racing – Collard/Holzer/Leitzinger/MacNeil
2. #59 Brumos Racing – Davis/Haywood/Keen/Lieb
3. #45 Flying Lizards Motorsports – Bergmeister/Long/Neiman/Rockenfeller
4. #57 Stevenson Motorsports – Bremer/Edwards/Liddell
5. #44 Magnus Racing – Lally/Lietz/Potter/Rast
