2015 Rolex 24 Preview: GTLM class - MotorSportsTalk

We continue our look at the field for the 2015 Rolex 24 at Daytona, and now shift to the GT categories. The GT Le Mans class is wide open with 10 cars entered, even despite the loss of the two factory Vipers.

2014 RECAP

WINNERS: No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR, Nick Tandy, Patrick Pilet, Richard Lietz

PODIUM: No. 55 BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE, Bill Auberlen, Andy Priaulx, Joey Hand, Maxime Martin, No. 91 SRT Motorsports SRT Viper GTS-R, Dominik Farnbacher, Marc Goossens, Ryan Hunter-Reay

POLE: No. 91 SRT Motorsports SRT Viper GTS-R, Marc Goossens

2015 FORECAST

ROAR RECAP: Aston Martin and Porsche traded places at the top of the Roar, with the Aston now with a more favorable performance outlook after shedding its high-downforce package which it was saddled with a year ago. BMW, Corvette and Ferrari were never session leaders, but were close enough to the pace to where they aren’t out of it.

RACE OUTLOOK: More attrition than normal struck the GTLM class a year ago, and so the leading Porsche was rarely hassled en route to the win in its North American debut with the new 991-spec 911 RSR. They won’t have it easy this time around. Corvette has a year’s worth of development on the C7.R, the Aston Martin is on par, there’s two race-winning capable Ferraris and even BMW – notoriously bad in terms of straight-line speed – could be reliable and consistent enough in the hands of its two cars to pose a threat. If P will go to a DP and PC almost certainly to CORE, GTLM is a far more wide-open category.

WIN CONTENDERS: Ever so slightly, Porsche’s defending champion lineup of Tandy, Pilet and now LMP1 factory ace Marc Lieb could be in good shape to defend. Corvette, undoubtedly, will figure into the equation with either of its two cars, and as mentioned above either BMW could factor into win contention on consistency and reliability more than outright pace. You could strongly suggest at least six, if not eight of the 10 GTLM runners have a realistic shot at winning.

PODIUM SPOILERS: The second Porsche features Earl Bamber and Fred Makowiecki in their Daytona GTLM debuts, and both should star in their first outings in the pre-eminent GT class. Risi is poised to bounce back after its disastrous 2014 race; Aston Martin can actually challenge and AF Corse has a lineup that should contend most of the race. Team Falken Tire is the wild card, the team in its Rolex 24 debut even though most of the players have achieved success in this race elsewhere on the grid. Getting their tires in the right temperature range will be key; seems hard to believe, but this will be Falken’s first 24-hour race with this particular program since entering the American Le Mans Series in 2009.

CLASS ENTRY LIST (10 cars)

3 Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia, Ryan Briscoe, Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R
4 Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, Simon Pagenaud, Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R
17 Wolf Henzler, Bryan Sellers, Patrick Long, Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 RSR
24 John Edwards, Lucas Luhr, Jens Klingmann, Graham Rahal, BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE
25 Bill Auberlen, Dirk Werner, Augusto Farfus, Bruno Spengler, BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE
51 Emmanuel Collard, Francois Perrodo, Gianmaria Bruni, Toni Vilander, AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia
62 Giancarlo Fisichella, Pierre Kaffer, Davide Rigon, Olivier Beretta, Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia
98 Darren Turner, Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy, Mathias Lauda, Stefan Mucke, Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage GTE
911 Nick Tandy, Patrick Pilet, Marc Lieb, Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR
912 Jorg Bergmeister, Earl Bamber, Fred Makowiecki, Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR

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Vicki Golden has earned a career worthy of a thousand stories and 805 Beer tells at least one of them, as “Inverted Perspective” premiered March 30 on the company’s website and YouTube channel.

Golden did more to break the glass ceiling in SuperMotocross than she ever thought possible. She knows this because riders have never felt the need to explain any of her accomplishments with the disclaimer, “for a girl”.

At this point in Golden’s career, she’s been the first woman to finish top 10 in AMA Arenacross Lites, the first woman to qualify in the Fast 40 in Monster Energy AMA Supercross and the first woman to compete in freestyle Moto X competition, earning a bronze medal by doing so.

Her love for moto came from childhood while she watched her dad and brother ride. By seven she was on her bike and making waves throughout Southern California.

Golden, 30, is still madly in love with the sport and has no plans on moving away but her career is already one to talk about. 805 Beer’s film series wanted to do exactly that.

“I’m taken aback by it all,” Golden told NBC Sports about the documentary. “It’s just crazy to see your story, it’s one thing to live your life and battle everything that comes about but it’s another to just sit there and talk about it.”

805 approached Golden about the feature by asking, “Do you even realize that what you do, and your story is special?”

Golden took the question as a blank canvas to map out the highs and lows of her career and life.

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The title “Inverted Perspective” came from a brainstorming session with Dominick Russo and it highlights Golden’s outlook on the sport of SuperMotocross and her life in general.

“My whole life, my whole career was thinking differently and looking at things that shouldn’t be done and aren’t there, while being able to make a place for myself, where no one thought there should be a place,” Golden said. “It’s inspiring someone to think in different ways. It sums up my life.”

*Vicki Golden is not “fast for a girl”; she’s just fast. – 805 Beer*

While Golden is no stranger to the spotlight, this was the first time she’s been fully involved with the storytelling and creation of a feature about herself.

“It’s not like a full new experience,” Golden said. “Obviously, you get your standard questions about your upbringing and accomplishments, but I’ve never really put into perspective things that happened in my past with my dad and putting that to light. Also, certain other things that maybe got overlooked in previous interviews or films. I wanted to touch on these and Dom wanted to create a story. It’s just cool to see it come to light, it’s a nearly impossible thing to tell somebody’s life story in 40 minutes.”

Golden’s father was left paralyzed after an ATV accident, robbing him the opportunity to ride again. This happened a few months before the father-daughter duo was set to compete in the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur Nationals when Vicki was 12. While she might have been unable to grasp the severity at the time, it’s something she carries with her. Golden continues to ride in his honor.

Years later, an accident in 2018 nearly sidelined the then 25-year-old Vicki when a freestyle accident almost resulted in the amputation of her lower leg.

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Golden 805 Beer — *Vicki Golden has ridden a variety of disciplines in SuperMotocross, which gives her a unique perspective. – 805 Beer*

“Inverted Perspective” highlights her father’s diligence in helping Vicki continue with her career and the kindness and strength he carried while fighting his own battle.

“My dad was the entire reason that I started riding in the first place,” Golden said. “So, to honor his memory and to honor what we went through and how hard he pushed to keep our dream alive and keep everything going – in that sense then, it was really special to be able to honor him and talk about him.”

The 40-minute feature was filmed entirely in black and white, a stark contrast from the oversaturated world of motocross where the brighter the suit the easier it is for fans to find their rider and follow him in the race. By filming in monochrome Russo and Golden had the chance to focus on the race and track from a different perspective.

“It was cool to be able to film it differently,” Golden said. “It created a challenge in the sense of what was going to be more visually impactful for the film.

“I couldn’t be here without the companies that back me but at the same time, it’s not like the logos or colors disappeared, it’s just different lights shed on different spots. It’s just a cool way to do it and to take color away and still be impactful. When you think of black and white, you think of old school, the OG way of doing things.”

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