Daytona Thursday Notebook

Photo: John Dagys

***IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams unloaded on Thursday at Daytona International Speedway ahead of the start of on-track action tomorrow for the Roar Before the Rolex 24. A total of 59 cars are entered for the official sessions, although there are no fewer than four additional Porsche 911 GT3 Rs in the paddock for filming purposes for the yet-to-be-named Brad Pitt Formula 1 movie.

***The sanctioning body on Tuesday issued a Balance of Performance update to the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo to “address limitations” of the the new homologation for the car. It included a 10kg weight reduction, a slight power decrease and a negative 2-degree adjustment in rear wing angle.

***Tim Keene, the 2023 GTP championship-winning race strategist for Action Express Racing, has joined Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti to call strategy on the team’s new No. 40 Acura ARX-06 of Jordan Taylor and Louis Deletraz, who are joined by Colton Herta and Jenson Button for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

***It is one of several new key hires within the expanded three-car WeatherTech Championship operation, which includes Anton Julian (GTP/overall team manager) and Matt Brogan (GTD team manager).

***WTR Andretti vice president and general manager Travis Houge told Sportscar365 that they expect more than 90 team personnel on-site for next weekend’s race, not including the nearly 40 staff from Honda Racing Corporation US. The team has six transporters on-site this weekend, including an expansive pit setup to accommodate 32 workstations.

***Veteran strategist Peter Baron, meanwhile, has replaced Keene on the pit box of the No. 31 Action Express Cadillac V-Series.R. Baron, the former owner of Starworks Motorsport, had already been with the team in a driver performance engineer capacity last year, and prior to that called strategy on the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac.

***Baron said: “Last year I was with Action Express Racing involved with driver performance and, because of my strong strategy background, providing support and recommendations to the team. I’ve been working with Cadillac, which is investing a lot with mathematically-driven tools, modeling and research. It’s good to be back on the radio with drivers calling the race.”

***Gianmaria Bruni has been confirmed as one of Proton Competition’s full-season drivers in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling-sponsored Porsche 963. Sportscar365 understands that Neel Jani, who has been tabbed for full-time FIA World Endurance Championship duty with the team alongside Harry Tincknell, will join for the Michelin Endurance Cup races, with the remainder of the lineups for both series still in flux.

***Bruni and Jani are joined by Alessio Picariello this weekend, with Romain Dumas completing the lineup for the Rolex 24. The Frenchman is currently taking part in the Dakar Rally, which ends on Friday.

***In addition to his GTP and Hypercar drives, Jani has been deeply involved with Audi’s Formula 1 project, serving as the engine development and sim driver for the program that’s slated to launch in 2025 under the direction of Jani’s former Porsche LMP1 team boss Andreas Seidl.

***The No. 81 DragonSpeed Oreca 07 Gibson is sporting a throwback Rothmans livery. Eric Lux explained to Sportscar365 that team owner Elton Julian came up with the concept. Julian’s team is seeking its fourth LMP2 class victory in the last five years, having been added as a late entry to the race.

***The Heart of Racing team principal Ian James told Sportscar365 that it was “disappointing” for the Hankook 24H Dubai to be postponed to the Rolex 24 weekend but he “understands the way of the world” given the shipping delays. The team originally planned to run both events with James, Roman De Angelis and Mario Farnbacher.

***The team’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo entry, run in association with SPS automotive performance, will instead feature former World Challenge America ace Pierre Kleinubing, team regular Daniel Mancinelli and Aston Martin factory driver Darren Turner joining Gray Newell. James said there was never planned to be any crew overlap, with its staff from its Pirelli GT4 America program allocated to the Dubai operation.

***The No. 91 Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 911 GT3 R, which was withdrawn at the last minute from the Rolex 24 due to “not being able to get a program together in time” could still appear later in the season according to team co-owner Bill Riley, who said they’re in active discussions with multiple parties.

***Riley indicated that Trent Hindman, who has been moved to the team’s No. 92 Porsche, has been earmarked in that car for the remaining Endurance Cup races alongside full season drivers Alec Udell and David Brule.

***Riley is also a part of the new Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport that’s being driven by reigning Porsche Carrera Cup North America champion Riley Dickinson and Michael McCarthy, which was announced on Wednesday.

***Gunnar Jeannette shook down both AO Racing cars, including the team’s new Oreca LMP2 chassis, at Florida International Rally & Motorsport Park in Bradford County, Fla., prior to arriving at Daytona.

***Jeannette explained the numbering of its entries (No. 77 Porsche and No. 99 Oreca) was a pure coincidence to be the same numbers traditionally used by Proton Competition, its Asian Le Mans Series partner, typically run. He stressed there’s is no association between AO and the German squad in the WeatherTech Championship.

***Jeannette told Sportscar365: “PJ [Hyett] actually owns our old Green Earth car and it’s sitting in the shop with 99 on it. I was like, ‘You know, I’ve got a lot of good memories from 99 so we wanted to do 99 and then we just wanted to have another [double] number.”

***The team will be utilizing an engineer from TF Sport for its LMP2 car this season as part of its tie-up with the British squad in the European Le Mans Series.

***Porsche Penske Motorsport, meanwhile, completed a shakedown of its Porsche 963s at the Statesville Airport in North Carolina last week.

***Paul Miller Racing’s BMW M4 GT3 is sporting new primary sponsorship from iHeartRadio, while retaining the same livery that took the team to the GTD class championship in 2023. Bryan Sellers and newly minted BMW factory driver Madison Snow have stepped up to the GTD Pro class this year.

***Entrotech, the parent company of AERO sustainable paint technology, has become a minority shareholder of United Autosports. Jim McGuire, Entrotech’s founder and CEO, is a regular driver for the Anglo-American team, which is making its full-season WeatherTech Championship debut this year.

***Track action for the Roar Before the Rolex 24 kicks off on Friday with two sessions, running from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET and from 4:15 to 6 p.m.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John