Photograph: John Dagys
***Trent Hindman’s first laps in Wright Motorsports’ Porsche 911 GT3 R got here in Thursday afternoon’s apply session, the place he logged 17 laps after getting the late name to exchange Ryan Hardwick, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the weekend on account of a concussion from an accident in Wednesday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Problem apply.
“Jan [Heylen], Klaus [Bachler] and Pat [Long] have actually helped me out a ton with determining what the automotive likes, what it doesn’t like, driving style-wise,” Hindman mentioned. “It’s quite a bit for me to study however everyone from Wright Motorsports is doing an awesome job in welcoming me into the crew with open arms. All of the stuff on monitor will kind out over time.”
***The No. 111 Grasser Racing Crew Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo rebounded from electrical points in opening apply to publish the quickest time in GT Daytona in second apply within the fingers of manufacturing facility driver Mirko Bortolotti.
***Grasser’s No. 111 quantity plate is to suggest Lamborghini’s three consecutive GT Daytona class wins in the race.
***Oliver Jarvis reacted to Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani’s claims of sandbagging from non-Cadillac DPi groups on the Roar Earlier than the Rolex 24, stating that feedback comparable to theirs is “nothing new” particularly after the annual pre-season check.
“It’s a disgrace BoP turns into a subject however apply, it’s extraordinarily shut,” mentioned Jarvis. “I feel IMSA has completed a very good job. Till we actually get into midway by way of the race we simply don’t understand how shut it truly is.”
***Harry Tincknell mentioned he feels just like the Multimatic-Mazda partnership is among the “established groups” within the DPi class this 12 months amid the quite a few low season modifications in groups and producers. It comes regardless of Mazda’s scaled again effort to a single entry.
***Affirmation of an all-pro GT3 class for the WeatherTech Championship starting in 2022 has been met with widespread approval from producers, groups and drivers.
***Chevrolet’s director of motorsports competitors engineering Mark Stielow mentioned in a press release that the introduction of GTD Professional is a “optimistic transfer ahead” for skilled GT racing in North America though got here wanting confirming a GT3-spec Chevrolet Corvette C8.R for 2022.
“We admire the management and openness from IMSA throughout this on-going course of,” mentioned Stielow. “Now that the category construction has been established, Corvette Racing and Chevrolet will proceed to work with IMSA to find out how Corvette may match into this new way forward for GT competitors.”
***In a press release, Aston Martin mentioned it’s “happy” by the change to the category construction and “seems ahead” to working with buyer and associate groups on GTD packages in 2022. The British producer presently affords buyer assist to the GTE, GT3 and GT4 platforms with Vantage fashions.
***A complete of 63 Bronze or Silver-rated drivers might be required to finish nighttime laps in tonight’s apply session. Click Here for the checklist.
***Robert Kubica mentioned that his Rolex 24 debut with Excessive Class Racing is a “first strategy” to endurance racing, though the Pole has earlier 24-hour expertise with a begin within the 24 Hours of Dubai.
***Kubica mentioned there’s “nothing clear” with reference to his racing plans past Daytona, having dominated out a return to DTM below the GT3-spec system as a result of time wanted to adapt to to the platform amid his continued reserve driver function with Alfa Romeo F1, though admitting he may see himself in LMP2 sooner or later.
“On the finish it’s fairly late within the season and I’ve my [F1] work already,” he mentioned. “Figuring out and seeing what occurred final 12 months with COVID-19, it’s laborious to mix two packages. I don’t need to compromise what I’ve already, which is F1… However I feel LMP2 is my predominant goal and the sequence I want to race if potential.”
***Steffen Hollwarth, who had been the pinnacle of operations for Porsche’s manufacturing facility IMSA program, has remained on in an analogous place this weekend amid the transition to WeatherTech Racing’s privateer effort within the GT Le Mans class.
***Porsche enters the Rolex 24 on a three-race win streak in GTLM after claiming victories within the remaining rounds of the manufacturing facility program in 2020. The German producer additionally claimed GTD class honors in final 12 months’s season-ending Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
***Former DTM ace Timo Glock is making his second 24-hour race begin following his run within the 2015 Complete 24 Hours of Spa in a BMW Z4 GT3 alongside Bruno Spengler and Alex Zanardi. Glock can be new to the BMW M8 GTE.
***Whereas BMW Crew RLL seeks its third consecutive GT Le Mans class win, crew co-owner Bobby Rahal is celebrating the fortieth anniversary of his general win within the race in 1981 on the wheel of a Porsche 935 K3.
***Austin Dillon mentioned he’ll get a tattoo if he wins the Rolex 24 within the LMP2 class, as it will be the “underdog story” of the race. The NASCAR Cup Sequence driver acquired ink after his Daytona 500 win in 2018.
***ACO President Pierre Fillon and former FIA World Endurance Championship CEO Gerard Neveu are amongst these anticipated to be in attendance this weekend because the ACO and IMSA proceed work on LMDh and world prototype convergence.
***Fillon not too long ago offered his medical apply, the place he served as a famend eye physician in Le Mans, so as to focus completely on his duties within the ACO.
***Hurley Haywood has been named to the board of administrators for the NASCAR Basis. Led by Mike Helton, the NASCAR Basis is a number one charity that works to enhance the lives of kids who want it most in NASCAR communities by way of the Speediatrics Kids’s Fund and the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award. To-date, the charity has raised $36 million for these teams.
Ryan Myrehn contributed to this report
