TUSC: Westbrook, Bird, Gavin, Winkelhock top final day of Roar test - MotorSportsTalk

Richard Westbrook took the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP to P1 overall and among the Prototype class in Sunday’s final run of testing in the Roar Before the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway.

Westbrook logged a lap of 1 minute, 39.748 seconds (128.484 mph) in the No. 90, which he’ll share with full-time teammate Michael Valiante and Mike Rockenfeller for the Rolex on Jan. 25.

Altogether, it was a much better time at Daytona for SDR, which avoided disaster in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship tire test this past November at the track. During that session, Westbrook got airborne after suffering a tire failure at high speed but, thankfully, walked away from the incident.

“That was the worst possible start for our 2014 campaign,” Westbrook said in a statement. “Ironically, it’s helped turn everything around. Now, we’ve got a brand new car, the guys are on top of it, and I’ve got two great teammates.

“It’s still early, but we had a fantastic, trouble-free test and a nice car. Daytona is a fantastic place to drive when you have a nice car.”

Sam Bird continued to set the pace in the Prototype Challenge category. After topping the PC charts on Saturday, he did it again Sunday with a lap of 1 minute, 42.704 seconds (124.786 mph) in the No. 8 Starworks Motorsports ORECA FLM09.

In GT Le Mans, Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin was fastest on Sunday with a time of 1 minute, 45.915 seconds (121.003 mph) in the No. 4 Corvette C7.R. However, in regard to the entire weekend, that wasn’t enough to supplant Nick Tandy of Porsche North America, whose lap of 1 minute, 45.564 seconds on Friday was the fastest GTLM lap throughout the Roar.

Marcus Winkelhock and the No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Audi R8 LMS was today’s fastest in GT Daytona, posting a lap of 1 minute, 48.462 seconds (118.161 mph). Another of the No. 45’s co-drivers, Spencer Pumpelly, had logged what would be the best GTD time all weekend on Friday (1:47.981/118.688 mph).

SUNDAY TIMES

COMBINED TIMES

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In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

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