What an incredible event! My first HSR Historics err… Classic 24h of Daytona and it’s been a hell of a ride.
First things first, the pictures: (lots and lots of them)
Future European entrant into the TCR series in IMSA and PWC:
Trans Am pre-grid:
Walk thru the garages:
Ferrari 333SP
Ferrari F40
Group C race cars
Porsche 962 street version
Amazing event!!! And I can’t believe they let me work the entire 30+ hours Saturday/Sunday… great stuff!
Exciting new episode now live… with a guest!
Marshal Radio – The Roar Before the 24 at Daytona International Speedway
Summary:
John Gamble and I worked the Roar Before the 24 at Daytona International Speedway, where he was my corner captain and took a load of pictures of me in pit lane while we tried to chase down the new Mazda DPi prototypes.
We really enjoyed watching the Cadillac DPi machines, all the new GT machinery including the Mercedes-AMG SLS, mid-engine Porsche 911 RSR, Acura NSX, Lexus IS-F, etc.
Besides Daytona we talked a lot about Watkins Glen International since this is where we first met and where we worked together for many years now.
John and his wife Jeree are not just Motorsport volunteers but big Racing fans as well. They travel a lot to follow the NASCAR racing series and many of it’s famous drivers.
I thoroughly enjoyed having this chat with John and hope I could do more in the future!
This year’s Sebring 12 hour was one of my most enjoyable events I’ve done recently. So many things went right I couldn’t believe my luck and certainly took it all in with pleasure.
Sebring was the second stop on my trip to Florida following the GP of St. Pete. I wasn’t in a particular rush to drive down to Sebring as the weather in St. Petersburg was amazing and me and my CouchSurfing host went to the beach enjoying the sun. But after arriving and setting up my tent (I dread camping whenever I have to) it wasn’t half bad. I was surrounded by friends and we took advantage of the opportunity to spend time together, go out for some drinks and dinners and generally have a good time.
The weather cooperated nicely for the start of the event right until race day. But even then I was very much prepared having packed all my weather gear and having a few pairs of shoes to change into in case it got to that point, luckily I stayed very dry. I’m also happy they red flagged the race for lightning because I definitely saw a few bolts connecting, looking out from our station towards the airport.
So all in all a great time. My corner captain Larry Joseph Morgan or Captain Morgan for short, was really amazing. I enjoy his management style and working with him and the whole team was a breeze, natural and enjoyable. Nobody was budding heads, nobody arguing, things went smoothly and efficiently. Like they should.
I had a few opportunities to make it down to the paddock and even check out the pits during the IMSA feature group’s practice session, which was amazing. One of the Mazda crew invited me to take a closer look and take some shots of the Mazda LMP2 pit stop… I truly enjoyed that opportunity. I’ll definitely keep Sebring on my to-do list for the future. In the meantime, enjoy the pix:
Turn 13 while pretty straight forward was quite challenging for a number of race groups, especially the Porsche GT3 Cup, we had a number of cars spin, slide off and bury it into the tire wall.
Some interesting signage from previous year’s race, which we modified slightly:
And luckily the spectators camping besides our station were happy to oblige. We got fed by multiple groups of spectators which was especially awesome. Some delicious food to be sure. The BBQ pork and ribs were especially appetizing.
Certainly beat the lunches we were provided by track services.
The SCCA number signaling system which I had confused in a bad way for St. Pete by switching where the location for #1 and #3 signals are. Luckily Nancy Digh corrected me (but I still found myself struggling to remember it when it counted).
The race got a little dicey with water collecting in our apex, but NASCAR did a great job blowing it off the track.
Best part was checking out the paddock:
The dummy grid for the support races: (lots of Miazda’s!)
HSR group brought some neat cars like ex-DTM Audi, and a fire-breathing Porsche turbo:
Of course checking out pit lane during practice was incredible:
This year’s Sebring 12 hour was a blast, to be sure!
Great news!
I just submitted my application for my first Sebring 12 Hour race this March in Florida. And you should too!
I have missed the last two Sebring events because I was on the other side of the world volunteering for the Australian Grand Prix. It’s a shame there are overlapping motorsport events, but such is life, you can’t be in two places at once. This year I’m choosing to cut back on my F1 marshalling in favor of both: Sports Cars and Endurance Racing. These two things have become my favorite form of racing.
So to register visit the Central Florida SCCA web site: http://www.cfrscca.org/
And check out my latest video about Sebring and Autosport Calendar which features the majority of global racing series in a very usable calendar form to help you plan your next event to participate it. I love this web site and use it often!
Autosport Calendar web site: http://autosportcalendar.com/
