RNW Staff

Porsche customer teams will field one 911 RSR in the GTLM class and four 911 GT3 R in the GTD category at the season-opening round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in Daytona on 30/31 January. After the successful performance at the first-ever qualifying race last Sunday, expectations are high for the 59th edition of […]

Performance Tech Motorsports is on the hunt for its second Rolex watch at the 59th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Joao Barbosa will return to the Rolex 24 At Daytona for the 19th time in 2021, racing a new car with a new team in an all-new class. However, the Portuguese driver will bring the same approach he’s carried throughout his career when he drives the No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Exelixis Ligier JS P320 Nissan in the LMP3 class in America’s premier endurance race.

The 2021 racing season kicked off on the Daytona circuit in the United States where the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship started with the ROAR, the official practice sessions for the iconic Daytona 24-Hour race, which will take place this coming weekend on 30-31 January 2021.  Six Ligiers, five JS P320s and a JS P217, took part in the four practice sessions and the qualifying race that would decide the grid lineup for the Daytona 24-Hour race.  The teams’ objective was clear: to familiarise themselves with the Ligier JS P320 and allow the drivers to get to grips with the new car that was making its debut in the American championship.  In the final two sessions the Ligier JS P320s set the three fastest times.  When the moment arrived for the qualifying race it was raining and the majority of the Ligier teams erred on the side of caution and did not take part or shortened their participation in the session.  Yet there was still enough time for the #38 Performance Tech Motorsports and the #33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier JS P320s to give a glimpse of their performance by waltzing away at the head of the field for more than one-third of the race.  The #54 CORE Autosport Ligier JS P320 also put on a stunning performance to clinch a third-place finish.  The #51 Ligier JS P217 entered by Rick Ware Racing and Eurasia Motorsport saw the flag in eighth spot in the category.

BMW Team RLL began its final preparations for this coming weekend’s 24 Hours of Daytona (USA) with the ‘Roar before the 24’. The team spent three days at ‘Daytona International Speedway’ with the two MOTUL BMW M8 GTEs. The official test ahead of the first GT highlight of the year had a new format; as well as the test sessions, the programme also included a qualifying race, in which the grid positions were determined for the endurance classic.

Very real hopes of victory, and at the very least a deserved podium finish, dramatically ended for Finlay Hutchison and Attempto Racing midway through the Hankook 6H Abu Dhabi on Saturday, 23rd January, after the No.99 Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO stopped on track while in second place.  

Whelen Engineering Cadillac drivers Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani won today’s running of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Motul Pole Award 100 qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway. Their victory puts them on pole for next weekend’s Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Motorsport rising star Daniel Harper will be moving up to the highest class in modern GT racing this season as he prepares to race a BMW M6 GT3 during his second season as a manufacturer-backed driver in the BMW Junior Team.

Performance Tech Motorsports opted to retire from the Motul Pole Award 100 after a weekend of success.

Meyer Shank Racing full-season drivers Dane Cameron and Olivier Pla combined to compete in the first-ever qualifying race during the Roar Before the 24 on Sunday. The pair raced in a 100-minute shootout to finish fourth, which will place the No. 60 SiriusXM / AutoNation Acura ARX-05 on the second row for the 59th annual Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Ally drivers Jimmie Johnson (Mooresville, N.C.) and Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) finished sixth in Sunday’s Motul Pole Award 100 qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway. As a result of their finish, they will start from the third row on the DPi grid for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Rolex 24 At Daytona Jan. 27-31.

The Porsche customer team WeatherTech Racing has successfully concluded its first campaign with the Porsche 911 RSR in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Works driver Kévin Estre from France and the American Cooper MacNeil claimed the third podium step in the GTLM class at the qualifying event for 24 Hours of Daytona. In the GTD category for vehicles complying with GT3 regulations, Pfaff Motorsports achieved an even better result. The Belgian works driver Laurens Vanthoor and his Canadian teammate Zacharie Robichon planted their Porsche 911 GT3 R on second place in the race over one hour and forty minutes.

The No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) SiriusXM / AutoNation Acura ARX-05 will start fifth for Sunday’s 100-minute Motul Pole Award 100 at Daytona which will determine the Motul Pole winner and grid positions for next weekend’s Rolex 24 At Daytona.

The Porsche customer team Wright Motorsports secured pole position for the qualifying race at Daytona (USA). Ryan Hardwick from America lapped the 5.73-kilometre sports car track in Florida in his No. 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R in 1:46.831 minutes, thus beating the strong GTD class competition. In the GTLM category, his compatriot Cooper MacNeil concluded his first qualifying session at the wheel of WeatherTech Racing’s Porsche 911 RSR in sixth place. The experienced amateur racer improved steadily over the course of the session and slashed the gap to the competition cars driven predominantly by professionals.

Paul Miller Racing’s Madison Snow secured the third place starting position in this afternoon’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship qualifying session for Sunday’s Pole Award 100 at Daytona International Speedway.

Cadillac Racing is at the Daytona International Speedway for the traditional IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Roar Before the 24 weekend, Jan. 22-24.

COOL Racing will expand its European Le Mans Series programme in 2021, continuing in LMP2 with the Oreca 07 and entering a Ligier JS P320 in LMP3 as well.

GT World Challenge Silver Cup race winner and 2020 GT4 European champion Valentin Hasse-Clot (F), has become the latest rising GT star to graduate from the Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy, following in the footsteps of 2019 winner Tom Canning (GB), Ross Gunn (GB) and two-time Le Mans class winner Jonny Adam (GB). 

PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports is ready to kick off the 2021 season with a packed field at the annual Roar Before the Rolex 24 test this weekend in preparation for the Rolex 24 At Daytona, to be held on January 27-31st. The team and defending 2020 LMP2 Champion, will debut a new driver lineup consisting of drivers Ben Keating, Nicolas Lapierre, Mikkel Jensen and Scott Huffaker, and a brand-new livery design showcasing the colors of the team main sponsor, in the #52 Oreca 07 LMP2.

The Paul Miller Racing team is primed to kick off the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at the annual Roar Before the 24 at Daytona International Speedway.