Rolex 24 restarts after 98-minute red flag

By Jan 27, 2019, 8:01 AM EST
COURTESY OF IMSA
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Because of persistent rain and standing water around the course, officials put out the red flag at 7:22 a.m. on the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona.

There were just more than 7 hours remaining when the 24-hour race was stopped during an intensifying downpour. The clock continues to run during the red flag.

The red flag was lifted at 9 a.m. for the yellow. The green flag flew again at 9:07 a.m. with just more than 5 hours and 30 minutes left.

Two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso was leading in the No. 10 Cadillac DPI at the red flag.

“I mean, conditions are certainly bad,” Alonso said in an NBCSN interview. “Now it’s raining a little bit heavier. I don’t know. For me, it’s maybe OK for the cars in front. Fifth or sixth onwards, it’s probably going to be a problem with the standing water. It’s not easy to fix.

“Now it’s raining heavier. Let’s see. As long as we’re not doing laps behind the safety car, which I guess looks bad for spectators, it’s better to stop and then when it’s ready, let’s go racing.”

Alonso’s car owner, Wayne Taylor, had been lobbying IMSA officials for the red flag after the race was under a yellow for nearly an hour. “Anyone can look at the radar and see this is getting worse,” Taylor told Parker Kligerman on NBCSN. “Someone sitting in an office looking at the track needs to take the advice of drivers on the track. It’s just silly. I’m not even mad. It’s just, ‘What are they doing?’ ”

In a social media video, race director Beaux Barfield said IMSA decided to stop because of the unrelenting rain.

“We made our best efforts; there was no way to get the track back,” he said. “We decided to sit for a while and get a break and let the daylight happen and go back with the cleaning and drying program.”

Alex Zanardi, whose BMW M8 was last among the GTLM cars, also agreed with the decision to stop the cars.

“It’s difficult to stay in line” under yellow, Zanardi said. “Right now, obviously, it’s raining too much. Some corners it’s incredibly slippier. Very difficult to keep control of the car. Can’t imagine if we had gone back racing.

“That was the right call from the race director. As everybody, I hope the rain will fade a little and we can race again.”

The rain was still coming down heavily at 8:20 a.m. with just more than 6 hours left in the time allotment, which left many driver and teams demoralized.

“We’re all looking at the radar, and it doesn’t look like there’s any end in sight,” Chip Ganassi Racing driver Joey Hand said.

Ganassi managing director Mike Hull said the team was “prepared to race this way if we have to” in the rain.

Ben Keating, an amateur driver with the Mercedes-AMG No. 33 team, was hoping the race would be green-flagged after his team pitted from the GTD class lead shortly before the red flag was thrown.

“I’m loud when it comes to giving opinions to IMSA,” Keating, who was part of the winning team in the 2015 GTD class at the Rolex 24, said in an NBCSN interview with Krista Voda, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. “I’m already texting, emailing. I’m scared to death they caused us to pit from the lead and we won’t get lead the back. I want another watch.

“We’ve raced in worse conditions than this. The Michelin tire is really strong in the wet. Absolutely amazing the times we can do in the wet, even in puddles. It’s baffling to me we’re not green-flag racing.”

Eric Curran, driver for the Welen Engineering DPI Cadillac, said a lack of drainage in sectors of the infield course made drying the track difficult.

“The Bus Stop is just puddles,” Curran said in an NBCSN interview. “Coming back up the banking, it’s a big challenge. This is tough.”

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).