After a 16 month engagement the Rolex 24 at Daytona truly will be the big day. The day when the two sides of sports car racing in the US – formally at best isolated from and at worst at war with each other – come together for the first race in the new TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.
When it was announced in the first days of September 2012 the news that the American Le Mans Series and the Grand-Am Rolex Series were to be merged into a single series was a huge surprise, one that sent the sports car following world into concerned frenzies. Would this be a true merger, or – it was opined – would this be a take-over in all but name.
The best elements of the two halves of the new championship are maintained – though some will disagree, pointing to the ALMS having to give up its P1 class to create new ‘P’ class that sits at the summit of the TUDOR Championship, a class that best sums up the true merged nature of the series. There is none, or very little, of teams from one series having to bend to breaking point to satisfy the demands of the other.
In terms of the product and people that will appear on track at Daytona International Speedway, and the people behind the series it is a true merger, a marriage of the two series.
So as theCheckeredFlag.co.uk and the rest of the sports car following world prepares to help celebrate the union what better way to look forward to the 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona than with an old wedding rhyme?
