24 Hours of extreme sports car racing.
Motorsports takes a toll on every component in a vehicle and their drivers. Endurance racing multiplies these stresses and forces acting upon man and machine, weeding out those that are too weak to finish. The Rolex 24 at Daytona is one such race that pushes the limits of man and machine, and only the best survive and celebrate victories. Motegi Wheels found themselves on the podium thanks to spectacular driving from a few teams, but setbacks and driver errors led to a few other teams finishing off the podium.
The Rolex 24 at Daytona proved to be a fiercely competitive series right until the final lap. The Motegi Wheels supported No. 555 Level 5 Motorsports Ferrari 458 Italia driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi and No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Audi R8 piloted by Markus Winkelhock provided some of the most exciting action of the endurance race. In the final 20 minutes, the two racers exchanged leads three times.
During the final lap, the two cars were battling for the lead and went two-wide into a corner. Winkelhock tried to take the inside lane but didn’t have room due to Guidi defending his line, and thus drove the Audi R8 into the grass. While there was no contact between the two cars, IMSA officials immediately issued a 75-second penalty to the No. 555 Ferrari 458 Italia, thus dropping it from first to fourth place in the GT Daytona class. After a lengthy review, the call was reversed and the No. 555 Level 5 Motorsports Ferrari 458 Italia with Motegi Wheels was given the class victory.
“A full post-race review of the incident on the last lap of the 52nd Rolex 24 at Daytona was completed by IMSA Supervisory Officials,” read a statement provided by IMSA. “The decision has been made to reverse the decision by the race director, rescind the penalty against the No. 555 Level 5 Motorsports Ferrari 458 Italia team, and reinstate drivers Scott Tucker, Bill Sweedler, Townsend Bell, Jeff Segal and Alessandro Pier Giuidi as the GT Daytona class winners. We regret the confusion following the race, and appreciate the patience by our fans, drivers, teams and the media so we could properly review and subsequently report this decision.
The victory for Level 5 Motorsports and their No. 555 Ferrari 458 Italia was the first time since 1998 that a Ferrari had achieved a victory at the endurance race at Daytona. It also was the first for the Level 5 Motorsport customer car program supported by Motegi Wheels.
The other team utilizing Motegi Wheels to reach the podium was the No. 91 SRT Viper GTS-R driven by Dominik Farnbacher, Marc Goossens and Ryan Hunter-Reay. The team finished third in the GTLM class, which is impressive considering they were down by six laps after a power steering line.
In total, there were 15 cars using Motegi Wheels out of the 67-car field at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Many of the other Motegi-supported teams were not as successful as the No. 555 Ferrari or No. 91 Viper GTS-R.
The No. 93 Viper GTS-R had a six-lap deficient after spinning out on cold tires after a pit stop, and finished sixth in the GTLM class. The No. 556 Level 5 Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia finished sixth in the GT Daytona class. Finishing in 13th in the GT Daytona was the No. 27 Porsche GT America driven by Patrick Dempsey, Joe Foster, Andrew Davis and Marc Lieb. The No. 22 and No. 23 Porsche GT Americas of Alex Job Racing finished 8th and 15th in the GT Daytona class, respectively.
Lastly, the two Mazda Skyactiv-D prototypes that were technology partners with Motegi Wheels both had mechanical issues in their racing debut at Daytona. The No. 07 Mazda finished 56th, and the No. 70 car finished 57th.
While two of the teams using Motegi wheels were able to reach the podium, the other 13 suffered setbacks and were not able to achieve the success they had anticipated. Luckily, the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season has just begun and will provide many opportunities for these teams to capture the checkered flag.
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