Drivers React to Daytona’s New Le Mans Chicane Curbing

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers have spoken out over curbing changes to Daytona International Speedway’s Le Mans Chicane, which one driver fears that can “damage the car quite quickly.”

The section of the 3.56-mile oval/road course, formerly known as the Bus Stop, was revised following last year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, with the addition of higher curbing and pavement triangles on the inside of each curb section.

The configuration is similar to what has been seen at other NASCAR road course layouts, such as the Charlotte Roval.

“It’s definitely different, slower, and harsher on curbs,” said Wayne Taylor Racing’s Louis Deletraz. “I also find it at night, because there’s all this tarmac on the left side, you don’t actually know where the chicane is when you approach at night.

“There’s a light panel on the top-right which is flashing that gives the reference but it’s much harder to find your position because it’s so wide and so big.

“I don’t think there will be an issue with track limits due to the tarmac but there’s definitely the opportunity to cut inside on entry, which for sure would not be nice but I’m sure it will be looked at.

“If you’re side-by-side and realize the outside [car] is really committing to go, you can probably cut on the inside to avoid the curb. But it should not be an issue. No one will go flat out there and stay.”

WTR teammate Filipe Albuquerque admitted that he ‘personally doesn’t like’ the new curbing.

“The line is just not fluid,” he explained. “It has weird kinks, it’s not round. It’s very tricky. I think there will be cars having some damage, like in the past you could cut the grass a little bit.

“I think last year was much better. I don’t know why [they] made the change.

“At least for the GTP or for myself and the people I was around [at the November test], no one went over it. I think now it can really damage the underfloor if something happened and you go over it, especially the second chicane, you will damage the car a lot.

“I’m not a big fan, I must say.”

GT competitors are also expecting for the curbing to have a significant change in the way they approach the chicane.

“[The curbs] are definitely a lot higher,” said WTR Lamborghini GTD driver Danny Formal. “You cannot put the curb in your butt. If you go side-by-side there, I think it will not be OK. It will hurt someone’s car quite a bit.

“I don’t like it; for me it was one of the coolest corners that Daytona had. [There was] a lot of commitment, a lot of speed.

“Now it’s more of a brake and you can’t really do much over the curbing. In the GT car, we’re just hitting the last one.

“You can hit the last one and you’re just riding it. Before, you were putting the curbs below the seat of the car and now you can only ride the curbs.

“I’m not a huge fan. Hopefully we’ll never make a mistake there because if you do, you’ll definitely break the diffuser of the car, even in a GT, the curb is way, way bigger than last year.”

Reigning GTP champion Dane Cameron, who moves to the LMP2 class this year with AO Racing, believes the changes will produce single-file racing through the chicane.

“It will be interesting to see the way that it races because there’s quite some really big curbs now where before being able to drive over what was there gave you the ability to go two-wide, which I think will go away now,” he said.

“It will bring it one line. But then there’s also these huge paved spaces to the left and right of you. Not to say any bad words, but it’s one more thing to police in terms of track limits throughout the race when you can go around or a bit more over the curb and now you’re going to have to abandon ship and go behind stuff. Then it always gets a bit messy in terms of how you’re going to re-integrate.

“We’ll see how it goes and how it races. It will be different because there were always some games and some ability between different cars of who could use more or less curb. Now it’s going to be the same for everybody. It will be interesting.

“I didn’t mind the feel of it but it kind of takes away a small aspect of it by forcing everyone to do a bit more of the same.”

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