2012 stars taking part in Daytona 24 Hours
Photo: Photo : Stephan Cooper - © ROLEX
Back

2012 stars taking part in Daytona 24 Hours

 

The Daytona 24 Hours takes place this weekend, traditionally the opening event of the season and which this year celebrates its 51st anniversary. Many competitors from the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship season – manufacturers, teams and drivers – will be competing in the legendary endurance race, all with hopes of victory.

Audi, FIA WEC LMP1 Manufacturers World Champions, will be present in the GT category with the Audi R8 GT Grand Am, as will LMGTE Manufacturers World Cup winners Ferrari and its adversaries Porsche and Chevrolet Corvette.  The American manufacturer has designed a prototype (DP) and takes part in the whole Grand Am championship.

The Starworks Motorsports team, best team in the LMP2 class in 2012, will take the start with a Riley-Ford hoping to do as well or better than the second place overall gleaned last year. Ryan Dalziel and Allan McNish, 2012 Vice-World Champion, will be in the game once again, but Dalziel’s teammate in 2012, Enzo Potolicchio, will now be their rival in his own team. He will be supported by pillars of endurance such as Anthony Davidson (Toyota Racing), Pedro Lamy (Larbre Competition), Nicolas Minassian (Pecom Racing) and Stéphane Sarrazin (Starworks Motorsports).

AF Corse, best team in the LMGTE Pro class, will also be present in partnership with Michael Waltrip, the latter taking part himself with along with Rui Aguas and Robert Kauffman. They will be up against Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander, regular members of the AF Corse squad, plus Nic Jönsson and Tracy Krohn, who have traded their Ferrari for a Porsche for the occasion. They will have prestige teammates in Emmanuel Collard (Pescarolo Team) and Romain Dumas, winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2010 and a Porsche factory driver.  Fellow Porsche drivers, Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz (Team Felbermayr-Proton), will also be participating in the event.

The race will start Saturday, January 26 at 15 h 30 hours local EST at the Daytona track, and will use part of the impressive and famous oval banking.

Cécile Bonardel (translated by Fiona Miller)