BMW Team RLL’s #25 Z4 GTLM driven by Bill Auberlen, Dirk Werner, Augusto Farfus and Bruno Spengler finished a close second in the GTLM class in the 53rd running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The car was strong throughout the 24 hours of the race. Werner, at the wheel at the end, was on the tail of the class winning #3 Corvette after a very late full-course yellow, but the Corvette had a very slight edge. The margin at the finish was less than half a second after 24 hours of racing.
Team RLL’s car #24, driven by John Edwards, Lucas Luhr, Jens Klingmann, and Graham Rahal, finished fourth in class. The car was competitive, but it was hit from behind and shoved into another car on a restart just after the nine-hour mark. The repairs set the car back 29 laps. Both Z4s had good top speed on the banking at Daytona; the off-season aerodynamic changes appear to have done their job.
The winning Vette was driven by Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen, and Ryan Briscoe. The #4 Corvette driven by Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Simon Pagenaud finished third.
In the GTD class Turner Motorsport’s Z4 driven by Michael Marsal, Markus Palttala, Andy Priaulx, and Boris Said suffered a huge setback early in the race when it lost several gears on Marsal’s stint. After a long stop for transmission repairs the car returned to the track and soon lost two gears again. After another long stint in the garage it returned to the track, but it was 100 laps down to the class leaders. It ran well for the balance of the race, persevering while other competitors fell by the wayside, and finished twelfth in class at the end. The GTD win went to Dominic Farnbacher, Ben Keating, Al Carter, Kuno Wittmer, and Cameron Lawrence in the #93 Dodge Viper SRT.
There were three Riley-BMW Daytona Prototypes in the race. The best finisher of the three was the RG Racing prototype driven by Robert Gewertz, Shane Lewis, Mark Kvamme, and David Cheng, coming home eighth in class. The Highway to Help prototype, driven by Jim Pace, Byron DeFoor, Dave Hinton, Doug Smith, and veteran commentator and race driver Dorsey Schroeder finished ninth, and the Starworks car, with a stellar driver lineup that included Formula One veteran Rubens Barrichello, Brendon Hartley, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Scott Mayer, and Tor Graves, exited the race in the overnight hours with engine problems. The overall and prototype class win went to Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Kyle Larson, and Jamie McMurray in the #02 Ganassi Racing Ford-Riley.
The Rolex Series continues with the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 21.—Brian S. Morgan
