One month is complete in 2024. January moves at a good pace, but it is far slower than the month prior to it. Lack the charm and buzz of the holiday season, we are left with the chill and grey of winter, though this winter has been far friendlier than most. It is still a slow period, but spring is getting closer. February is a sprint. Once through that, the good times will soon be on our doorstep.
There is not much to review from January. A few events are happening, but only one has our undivided attention.
Breaking Down An Endurance Winner
The standout event every January is the 24 Hours of Daytona, and each year the prestigious victory goes to one team, and it is a monumental moment for a select few of drivers. However, not every 24-hour race is run the same way.
A team could consist of three or four drivers. How often each driver is in the car will vary. There is no right way to use a lineup, but how each team gets to the finish warrants an investigation. This is most true for the winner.
For the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche, it used four drivers like eight of the other nine teams running in the GTP class this year. Three of its drivers were full-time Porsche 963 drivers in 2023, whether it be in IMSA or in the FIA World Endurance Championship. It did draft in a fourth driver from IndyCar, who had only two IMSA starts to his name, and who had only raced the 24 Hours of Daytona once prior.
Felipe Nasr ran nine hours and five minutes, the most of the #7's four drivers. Matt Campbell, who will run the rest of the endurance races in this car, ran seven hours, one minute and 59 seconds. The second full-time driver, Dane Cameron, was behind the wheel for three hours and 55 minutes, while Josef Newgarden drove for three hours and 13 minutes.
Cameron did four of the first six stint, but was done after a double-stint that saw him get out of the car at 2:11 a.m. Eastern Time on Sunday. Newgarden had four stints the entire race, driving from 8:22 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Saturday and then running from 3:47 a.m. to 5:24 a.m. on Sunday. Newgarden's final run was entirely under green flag conditions.
Nasr opened the race with a double stint, leaving the car at 3:22 p.m. Saturday. He did not return to the car until 10:02 p.m. where he ran a triple stint into Sunday morning. Campbell's race began at 5:55 p.m. and he ran until 8:20 p.m. ET. The Australian's next time in the car was 2:12 a.m. and he was in the carfare just over 95 minutes.
From 5:26 a.m. through the finish of the race, Nasr and Campbell traded time in the car. Each driver double stinted until Nasr got in the car at 11:35 a.m. and drove a triple stint to finish the race, spending just over two hours and five minutes in the car.
While it is said today's endurance races are more sprints than tests of patience, they are all methodically run, and it is not a 100% all-out drive for two turns around the clock. Each driver has a role, and each driver is put in the car for specific situations. With the limited sets of tires, drivers aren't always on fresh rubber. A driver might double stint and never be a fresh set, or only have fresh left side tires for one stint and then fresh right side tires for the next.
James Hinchcliffe and Alexander Rossi made it clear on their podcast their only role in the race was to not wreck the car and have it ready for the full-time Pfaff Motorsports drivers to take it home on Sunday. They were in the car to manage the race. That is likely the case for pretty much every team on the grid. The extra drivers are there to carry the weight and not get into trouble. If they keep the car clean, they have done their jobs.
The Unfairness of Modern Times
As you may have heard, Josef Newgarden won the 24 Hours of Daytona. In doing so, Newgarden became the 17th driver to have an overall Daytona victory and an Indianapolis 500 victory. Normally, joining an exclusive club is a rather celebrated moment, but there was some push back with Newgarden's victory and some discrediting his contributions to the winning Porsche Penske team.
For starters, he spent the least amount of time in the car. His fastest lap was the 37th best fastest lap among the 39 drivers in the GTP class. It is easier than ever to say a team won in spite of a driver, and that really isn't fair.
We know basically everything about Newgarden's 24 Hours of Daytona. We know to the exact second the time of day he left pit lane for his first stint, to the time he exited the car for the final time, and every lap time run in-between. If we dug deep enough, we could find out the tire life for each rubber ring that was put on that car while he drove it. There are no secrets, no mystery to his 2024 24 Hours of Daytona run. In 25 years or 30 years, we can go back and dissect this race to the smallest details.
While Newgarden is being diminished, there is so much we don't know about past 24 Hours of Daytona winners and what they did. We don't know how many hours and minutes Al Unser spent behind the wheel of the 1985 Daytona winning #8 Henn's Swap Shop Porsche 962. We don't know how much Al Unser, Jr. contributed to Löwenbräu Holbert Racing's consecutive victories in 1986-87. We aren't sure where Dario Franchitti's fastest lap ranked among all the drivers who drove in the Daytona Prototype class in 2008. All we do is celebrate the accomplishments of those drivers. We don't look for a reason to dismiss them.
We know the data behind Newgarden's race, but it is a team sport. Every driver has a role. Newgarden went out and did his job. He didn't get into an accident. He didn't pick up a penalty that set the team back. He kept the car on the road, taking up over three hours of seat time. Those hours behind the wheel allowed Nasr to be the man in charge for the final run to the finish without any extra fatigue on his body while fending off the terrific challenge from Tom Blomqvist.
Time will likely be kind to Newgarden. People are lazy, and they won't do the research, but if we are going to be kind to Newgarden in two decades, we mind as well be kind to him now and acknowledge his value to a winning team. His co-drivers and crew members are already doing so.
Well... They Were There
With every endurance race, I think about the drivers that will be in the final box score and results, listed in a finishing position... but ultimately never turned a lap in the race. There is usually always one or a few cars that dropped out before each driver got a chance behind the wheel. It is bound to happen that someone falls out early due to an accident or mechanical failure, and some driver spent all that time preparing only never to get a chance to compete.
As written above, time will likely be kind to those drivers that did not compete. They are still listed as a participant in the race. They are not struck from the history book and lost forever. They are there, but the box score doesn't tell a complete story, and that is a shame. Not because a driver should be remembered for not participating, but because the record does not show a true representation of a driver's participation, or lack thereof.
For a 24-hour race, when a car is out after four laps, it is very likely not every driver got to participate. It is almost certain only one driver got to participate in that case. I wish there was a way the box scores and history books could at least acknowledge the drivers that were there but did not get a chance to race.
That is what we are going to do now. How many drivers entered in this year's 24 Hours of Daytona did not get to turn a lap in the race?
Well, for starters, we should acknowledge Clément Novalak, who was injured during pit stop practice on Thursday and was not able to run in the #52 Inter Europol Competition by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca-Gibson. Novalak saw Pietro Fittipaldi fill-in his place.
But Novalak aside, who didn't turn a lap that was physical able and entered to do so over Saturday and Sunday?
Steven Thomas completed 58 laps in the #11 TDS Racing Oreca-Gibson before having an accident exiting the chicane on the back straightaway. Thomas was the only of the four drivers entered in the #11 Oreca to turn a lap in the race, running an hour and 55 minutes of the 24 hours.
Mikkel Jensen, Charles Milesi and Hunter McElrea (who was making his 24 Hours of Daytona debut) never turned a lap during the race. Keep that in mind should McElrea ever return to the 24 Hours of Daytona because the first laps he turns in the race will be his first laps, one prior Daytona appearance be damned.
AF Corse was third in the LMP2 class in 2023 at Daytona. In 2024, the #88 Richard Mille AF Corse Oreca-Gibson was out after 107 laps. Nicklas Nielsen and Matthieu Vaxivière never got a shot in the race.
Two drivers in the #22 United Autosports Oreca-Gibson didn't get to race either, and it was its two most known drivers. Paul di Resta and Felix Rosenqvist will both be credited with running in this year's race, but neither turned a lap as Dan Goldburg and Bijoy Garg were the only two to run the 128 laps in this entry. An attempt to get the amateur driver's stint time out of the way kept the professional sidelined for good.
Scott Huffaker is a two-time Endurance Cup champion in IMSA's LMP2 class. This was Huffaker's fourth time competing in the 24 Hours of Daytona. He didn't turn any of the 185 laps the #20 MDK by High Class Racing Oreca-Gibson completed before its race ended just after midnight. The other three drivers all had turns behind the wheel though.
Jules Gounon had a standout 2023 season. Gounon won the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup championship for the second consecutive season. He won the Intercontinental GT Challenge championship. He even opened 2023 with a victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona on his way to finishing second in GTD Pro with WeatherTech Racing. How did his 2024 season start?
Gounon never got into the #75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG. The car broke down after 193 laps with Luca Stolz behind the wheel. Every other SunEnergy1 driver ran at least an hour and 27 minutes.
Nine drivers suited and booted to run in the 2024 24 Hours of Daytona did not turn a lap in this year's race. This will be lost in the box score, but it will live on here.
February Preview
From one endurance race to the next, the Bathurst 12 Hour is the highlight for the sports car season next month, and it is taking place a little later than usual. This year's event will be run on February 18.
There are 21 cars entered in the GT3 class, and not all the lineups are filled out at the moment. One that was just announced will be the #912 Porsche for Manthey EMA Motorsport. With his Daytona victory, Matt Campbell became the first driver to have overall victories at Daytona and Bathurst. He wil be paired with Laurens Vanthoor and Ayhancan Güven.
Jules Gounon has won the last three editions of this race and SunEnergy1 Racing has won the last two years. Gounon's entry has not been announced yet, and he is the only driver to win the Bathurst 12 Hours three consecutive times. The Andorran driver is tied with John Bowe for most victories in this event. SunEnergy1 is on the entry list with the #75 Mercedes-AMG, one of a class leading nine entries from the German make.
Triple Eight Race Engineering has two Mercedes-AMGs entered, the #88 Mercedes-AMG for Jamie Whincup, Jordan Love and Prince Jeffri Ibrahim with Broc Feeney, Will Brown and Mikaël Grenier in the #888 Mercedes-AMG. The American Heart of Racing Team has the #27 Mercedes-AMG entered for Ross Gunn, Ian James and Alex Riberas. Craig Lowndes is aiming for his third Bathurst 12 Hour victory in the #222 Mercedes-AMG for Scott Taylor Motorsports with co-drivers Cam Waters and Thomas Randle. Team GruppeM has the #120 Mercedes-AMG listed on the entry list but has yet to confirm any drivers.
Along with the #912 Porsche, there are three other Porsches in the class. Manthey's sister #911 Porsche has Alessio Picariello, Harry King and Yasser Shahin listed as its drivers. Team75 Bernhard has Joel Eriksson, Jaxon Evans and Bastian Baus in its #13 Porsche. HubAuto Racing has Kévin Estre, Patrick Pilet and Klaus Bachler in its #39 Porsche.
BMW M Team WRT has two entries in this year's race. The #32 BMW has Dries Vanthoor, Charles Weerts and Sheldon van der Linde as its drivers. The #46 BMW features new BMW factory driver Raffaelo Marciello, Maxime Martin and Valentino Rossi.
The 2024 Bathurst 12 Hour will start at 1:45 p.m. ET on February 17.
Other Notable February Events:
NASCAR season begins with the Clash and then the Daytona 500.
The Asian Le Mans Series concludes with three races in eight days.
Supercross season continues.
