The Rolex 24 has been run and won with American engines winning all four classes at Daytona International Speedway in the opening round of the 2015 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.
Chip Ganassi Racing earned the Prototype win with their Ford-powered Riley DP, Corvette Racing took the C7.R to victory lane in the GTLM class, PR1 Motorsports crossed the line first with its Chevy-powered Oreca in PC and the Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper triumphed in the GTD class.
Ganassi became the winningest team owner in the history of the Rolex 24 At Daytona with his sixth victory. The No.2 car was taken to the flag by Scott Dixon who drove the final three hours. The former IndyCar Champion and IndyCar winner was teamed with Tony Kanaan, Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray in the winning car.
Action Express Racing took second after winning last year while Wayne Taylor Racing suffered heartbreak at the end when they were forced to make a driver change when the pits were closed with only 10 minutes remaining because Jordan Taylor was about to exceed the mandated maximum driver time of four hours of seat time over a six hour period.
The Corvette Racing squad of Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Ryan Briscoe took the GTLM victory after a faultless display. Antonio Garcia withstood enormous pressure from the No.25 BMW late in the race to take the checkered flag.
The No.3 Corvette started fifth and Magnussen quickly moved towards the front. While the Dane set the fastest GTLM lap of the race, the secret to the team’s success was perfect execution. While other cars had mechanic issues or on-track contact, the Magnussen/Garcia/Briscoe car finished the race without a scratch.
BMW finished second with Dirk Werner, Bill Auberlen, Augusto Farfus and Bruno Spengler while the second Corvette of Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Simon Pagenaud finished third.
The PC class was a heartbreak story for CORE autosport. Colin Braun suffered contact with a GTD car late in the race and suffered an off track excursion. While recovering and heading back to the pits for a precautionary tire change, he suffered a large impact exiting the bus stop on the back straight. The car for the 2014 Rolex 24 champions was heavily damaged and caught fire. Braun was able to exit the car uninjured.
PR1 Motorsports was ready to pounce to take the win with Tom Kimber-Smith crossing the line to win with Michael Guash, Andrew Palmer and Andrew Novich.
In GT Daytona, while the pin may have been pulled on the factory Dodge Viper GT Le Mans program after winning the championship last year, Viper fans still have something to cheer for with the Riley Motorsports GT Daytona class version of the Viper taking the victory today.
Dominik Farnbacher took the car across the finish line to win with former GTLM teammate Kuno Wittmer, plus Ben Keating, Al Carter and Cameron Lawrence
The post American power wins all four classes! appeared first on Michelin Alley.