Pierre Fillon Named Rolex 24 Honorary Starter

Pierre Fillon, president of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), will have the honor of giving the start of the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 25-26. David Hobbs will serve as Grand Marshal.

Fillon, the eighth president of the ACO, which created the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1923 and will celebrate its 82nd edition in 2014, has been given the honor of starting the 2014 Rolex 24 At Daytona. President Fillon will wave the starter’s flag to launch the event.

This honor highlights the indispensable role played by the ACO in the merger between the American Le Mans Series and GRAND-AM in the creation of the new TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, the opening round of which will be at Daytona.

This June, Pierre Fillon invited Jim France, Chairman of International Speedway Corporation, GRAND-AM founder and Vice President of NASCAR to serve as Honorary Starter for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The ACO, which is investing all its passion in the development of endurance throughout the world, is the promoter and organizer of the FIA World Endurance Championship and was also the creator of the American Le Mans Series in 1999 with its partner, Don Panoz, the European Le Mans Series in 2004 and the Asian Le Mans series in 2013.

British sports car legend and racing commentator David Hobbs has been named as Grand Marshal for the 52nd running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Hobbs, a versatile driver, who competed in many forms of motorsport including sports cars, NASCAR, IndyCar and Formula One, took part in all the major events worldwide starting with the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, the 500 Miles of Daytona, the Indianapolis 500 Miles and the Le Mans 24 Hours.