DAC Lamborghini Repaired; Set for Race Start

The DAC Motorsports team has had to thrash to make its dream of a Rolex 24 at Daytona debut a reality, but after hours of work, the team is set to make the grid.

Their No. 18 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 was heavily damaged in an accident in final practice, and according to team owner Anthony Massari, the initial prognosis was not positive.

“Right when we heard [the crash] and they told me it was our car, I knew we were going home. You could hear the impact, it was so bad,” Massari told Sportscar365.

“The guys said they saw the deck lid flying in the air. Everything, especially the back of this car when you hit at an angle at that speed, there’s no way to fix it at the track because the car actually needs a new tub.”

Despite the setback, the team endeavored to find a way to stay on the grid.

When IMSA granted the team permission to run a separate chassis in the race, Massari said the team began searching for a replacement.

What they found was a Change Racing show car which they immediately began prepping for the race.

“This was a show car on display which hadn’t been ready for the race at all,” he said. “We got the car at p.m. [Friday], the guys went to work, and I worked right alongside the guys.

“We worked until 11 p.m. last night knowing that we were going to be up 36 hours today, the guys got about six hours of sleep, and the guys got right back at it.

“Last night we did a clutch, we had to change the gear stack, both axles, swapped the fuel-fill side, did the fuel volume which took us five hours in the shop but we did it in three hours last night.

“Then we had to put all the wiring, the transponders, the radios, the telemetry system, everything from the other car and put it on this car. I couldn’t be more impressed with the team. It’s really a feat.”

Massari is set to share driving duties with Emmanuel Anassis, Brandon Gdovic and Zach Claman DeMelo, in the team’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut.

“Realistically, if we finish this race, it’s a win for us,” Massari said. “Even if we had done it with the other car it would be a win for us, but now? I don’t even know what I’m going to do if I finish this race. I’d be crying in pit lane.”