2020 Daytona 24 Hours preview

What to expect from the 2020 24 Hours of Daytona

Held annually at Florida’s Daytona International Speedway over either the last weekend of January or first weekend of February, the race welcomes sports endurance cars in a 24-hour test of their mettle (and indeed metal), on a 3.56-mile course utilising portions of the NASCAR tri-oval combined with an infield road course.

Kickstarting the American automobile racing season, the 2020 event, officially the ‘Rolex 24 at Daytona’, will take place this coming weekend, on Saturday 25^th and Sunday 26^th January. The race starts at 1:40pm local time, or 6:40pm UK time.

A number of driver regulation changes have been introduced since 2019, mostly regarding driver eligibility for the LMP2 class, with each team only allowed to enter one Platinum-rated driver (a professional racer who meets certain FIA criteria) across the entire season.

Forty cars will compete across the four classes. There are eight cars in the DPi class, seven in the LMP2 class, seven in the GTE Le Mans specification GTLM category, and 18 cars in the GT3-specific GT Daytona (GTD) class.

Noticeable absences will come in the form of Fernando Alonso, who turned his efforts to the Dakar Rally this year, and the whole Chip Ganassi Racing team, whose factory support from the Ford GTLM program was withdrawn at the end of last year.

Where to watch the 2020 24 Hours of Daytona

In the UK, when it comes to TV Eurosport 2 will broadcast the first 50 minutes of the race on Saturday and the final hour of the race on Sunday – less than ideal coverage. However, the whole race can be watched on IMSA’s website and app.

In the USA, NBC will be broadcasting the race using a combination of TV coverage and NBC website and app coverage.

Wherever you are in the world, the whole race will be broadcast on IMSA radio.

24 Hours of Daytona – a history

Its roots lie in a six-hour, 1,000km USAC-FIA sportscar race held shortly after the then 3.81-mile track opened on 5^th April, 1959. Count Antonio Von Dory and Roberto Mieres won the race in a Porsche 718 RSK. Three years later, a three-hour Daytona Continental sportscar race was introduced, forming part of the FIA's new International Championship for GT Manufacturers. The first Continental was won by Goodwood legend Dan Gurney, in a 2.7-litre Coventry Climax-powered Lotus 19.

In 1964, the event was stretched to 2,000km – a similar length to fellow Floridian event the 12 Hours of Sebring before, in 1966, it was extended to the same 24-hour length as Le Mans.

After six years as a 24-hour, roughly 2,500km event, it regressed to a six-hour, 740km race for 1972 before the 24-hour race as we know it began in 1973. With the exception of 1974 –

due to an energy crisis – it has taken place every year since.

The 24 hours of Daytona has held many names, thanks to frequent changes in sponsorship. But the essence has remained the same, with powerful sportscars pitted against one another in earnest. Three or four drivers share a car, racing through day and night in pursuit of victory.

Famous historic winners include American Scott Pruett, Mexican Pedro Rodríguez, Columbian-American Juan Pablo Montoya and Brits Brian Redman, Andy Wallace and Derek Bell.

Porsche is the most successful constructor and engine manufacturer, with a huge 18 wins as the former, and 22 as the latter. The road based 911, 935 and 996 contributed to its huge list of constructors wins, which includes a record 11 consecutive titles from 1977 to 1987, and 18 out of 23 race wins from 1968 to 1991. Riley is second in the Constructor stakes with 10 wins, while Ford sits behind in the engine manufacturer stakes, with six wins. Ferrari is third, with five titles in both.

What happened at the 2019 24 Hours of Daytona?

Last year marked the 57^th edition of the race. It formed not only the first of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship’s 12 races, but also the first of the four round Michelin Endurance Cup. Ahead of the event, rule changes were introduced, affecting the Prototypes and GT3 cars. The Prototype class was split into two separate classes, the professional driver championship-topping Daytona Prototype International (DPi) class, and the Pro-Am Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class. The tyre supplier in the DPi, LMP2 and GTD classes switched from Continental to Michelin tyres, while the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class remained an open-tyre class.

Due to heavy rainfall, the race ended prematurely, ahead of the 22^nd Hour. The no. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R. piloted by Fernando Alonso, Renger Van Der Zande, Jordan Taylor and Kamui Kobayashi took the overall win, while the LMP2 class was won by the no. 18 DragonSpeed Oreca 07 of Pastor Maldonado, Roberto Gonzalez, Sebastian Saavedra and Ryan Cullen.

Meanwhile, the GTLM class win was secured by the no. 25 BMW Team RLL BMW M8 GTE, shared by Connor de Phillippi, Augusto Farfus, Philipp Eng, and Colton Herta. Finally, the no. 11 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo of Rolf Ineichen, Mirko Bortolotti, Rik Breukers and Christian Engelhart took the GTD Class win for the second year running.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.