Daytona Wednesday Notebook

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

***The full field of 59 cars for this weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona assembled at the entrance to Turn 1 for the traditional group photo on Wednesday morning. Reigning class champions Action Express Racing (GTP), PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports (LMP2), Vasser Sullivan (GTD Pro) and Paul Miller Racing (GTD) occupied the front row, although Paul Miller has moved to GTD Pro for this year.

***Kellymoss with Riley has been forced to switch to a spare chassis following David Brule’s crash in qualifying on Sunday. The team will now field the chassis that it had originally planned to field as the No. 91 car before it was withdrawn prior to the event. The team spent most of Monday moving components from the crashed car to the replacement chassis, per IMSA rules.

***Proton Competition’s No. 5 Porsche 963 suffered rear suspension damage when Neel Jani hit the barriers during the sixth and final Roar session on Sunday which has since been repaired according to team principal Christian Ried. “It was a big impact, but it’s all good,” Ried told Sportscar365.

***Ried revealed that the Mustang Sampling sponsorship that adorns the No. 5 Porsche is only for the Michelin Endurance Cup rounds, with no word given on what will replace it for the five sprint rounds. When asked, Ried ruled out WeatherTech, which appeared on the car last year.

***While a number of NTT IndyCar Series drivers took part in a multi-day pre-season test at Homestead-Miami Speedway, other Rolex 24 competitors spent the two-day break since the Roar on the golf course or taking in an Orlando Magic NBA basketball game.

***Porsche factory driver Michael Christensen, meanwhile, visited the Brumos Collection in Jacksonville, Fla., a 35,000 square-foot museum that’s home to numerous historic race cars. including a large collection of Porsche machinery and memorabilia.

***While wholesale changes were made to the GTD Pro and GTD Balance of Performance, IMSA confirmed late Wednesday no changes whatsoever to the GTP class for the Rolex 24.

***AWA has been bolstered by key staff additions in its transition to Corvette Z06 GT3.R machinery in GTD, including Keith Willis as its new team manager and Jeff Braun as competition director and race strategist for the No. 17 entry.

***There’s a family divide, however, as Keith Willis’ brother, Ian, will be engineering the No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3 beginning at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Ian Willis told Sportscar365 that he’s on-site at Daytona as part of a team integration process, with David Wilcock serving as the race engineer this weekend.

***The late addition of Proton’s Mustang GT3 in the GTD class is helping pay dividends to the factory Ford Multimatic team in GTD Pro according to No. 65 driver Dirk Mueller, who told Sportscar365 that there’s been a high level of data transfer between all three of the Mustang GT3s at the Roar and into this weekend.

***Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports has retained its 2023 WeatherTech Championship team manager Ben Bode, while Corvette’s former WEC team manager Marc Maurini has been brought on board as its director of race operations.

***A number of other crew from the WEC GTE-Am championship-winning operation have returned Stateside, including Tom Kavanagh (crew chief), Tyler Neff (No. 4 car race engineer), Ben Mueller (No. 4 car performance engineer), Mack O’Brien (No. 4 car car chief), Eric Reynolds and Aaron Foust (No. 4 car mechanics) and Daniel Havens (No. 3 car mechanic), in addition to Tom Dix (No. 3 car mechanic/gearbox) and Steve Longhi (truck driver manager).

***Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports has yet to confirm its Bronze-rated driver for the two regular-season LMP2 races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Road America according to Inter Europol team manager Sascha Fassbender, who told Sportscar365 that Nick Boulle has an “option” to take on the full Endurance Cup schedule.

***Fassbender told Sportscar365: “We have a commitment [from Boulle] for a few more endurance races but not all. He has the option to take. It will be related to championship standings. For the short races, we’re looking for a Bronze driver.”

***Former Dodge and Mazda factory driver Jonathan Bomarito is on Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen’s crew this weekend, assisting team principal Bobby Oergel in various capacities, including driver coaching, data analysis and assisting on strategy. Bomarito, who retired from professional driving at the end of the 2022 season but plays an active role in Mazda’s Heritage Collection program, holds deep roots with Oergel’s team.

***Tom Blomqvist will not contest the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen in his role as Action Express’ third driver for the Endurance Cup owing to a clash with the NTT IndyCar Series, which is holding its WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca race on the same weekend (June 21-23). However, he explained it was always planned for him to skip Watkins Glen even before the recent date change created a clash with IndyCar.

***Blomqvist said he will return to the team for the Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sept. 20-22, which follows the conclusion of his IndyCar campaign with Meyer Shank Racing, as well as the WeatherTech Championship season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans.

***The Lynn family is set for a weekend of racing GT3 machinery in 24-hour races on two separate continents. While Alex will pilot the No. 13 AWA Corvette at Daytona, his father Shaun and younger brother Max share a Team Parker Racing Bentley Continental GT3 in the Hankook 24H Dubai.

***The clash between Daytona and Dubai as a result of the latter’s postponement has forced GetSpeed Performance to tweak its lineup as a result of Luca Stolz’s absence. The German driver has been replaced by another Mercedes-AMG factory driver in Fabian Schiller.

***Lamborghini has entered an agreement with Zynga Inc., the software company behind the mobile phone racing game CSR2 that will see its SC63 LMDh car be licensed into the game. Additionally, CSR branding will feature on the Iron Lynx cars, driver suits and team uniforms.

***The Rolex 24 is Acura’s first race under the technical operation of Honda Racing Corporation USA. The HRC US title has replaced Honda Performance Development to reflect the new role of the company in Honda’s global racing efforts.

***IMSA’s Twenty-Four Premier takes place this evening at One Daytona to kick off the Rolex 24 weekend. The free-of-charge fan-filled event, which runs from 5:30-8:30 p.m., will include a number of activities and race cars on-site, along with driver autograph sessions.

***A total of three sessions are on tap for the WeatherTech Championship on Thursday, beginning with Practice 1 at 10:05 a.m. ET, followed by another session at 2:10 p.m. and night practice kicking off at 6:35 p.m.

Davey Euwema & Jamie Klein contributed to this report

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