Autometrics Motorsports

Daytona International Speedway, Grand-Am Finale

November 8-10, 2002

The final race of the Grand-Am season brought out an unusually high level of competition. In addition to all of the usual competitors, it seems many teams used this race as a warm-up for next year's 24. Forty-three cars took the green flag, 15 of which were GT cars. There were 8 Porsche GT3Rs in attendance, and given the success of the car at Daytona, all were sure to be strong competitors. Marcus Motorsports brought out its pair of M3s with a slightly modified driver line-up. Since the last race at VIR, the 4-door #69 car received an upgraded rear suspension and a wider front track. At the hands of Autometrics' Cory Friedman and David Murry, we were very optimistic and believed a podium finish was attainable despite the stiff competition. Bryan Dobyns continued to drive the #9 2-door BMW along with Chris Mitchum. The Autometrics Motorsports RSR also took to the track intending to put on a strong showing despite the fact that it was outclassed by all of the competition.

As has been typical this season, the GT qualifying field was lead by the Mosler and Ferrari. Behind them were two Porsches and David Murry in the M3. The top 5 cars were all within one second. Marcus' other BMW pulled a time good enough for the top 10 in class, and the Autometrics RSR rounded out the qualifiers with a very respectable time not far off the qualifying time from the 2001 Rolex 24; it sat 15th in class and 41st overall.

Our high expectations for the David and Cory's #69 failed along with the car's engine after only 3 race laps. The cause of the failure has yet to be determined, but was too severe to attempt to repair in a 3-hour event. The disappointment continued when the 2-door car met a similar fate and also retired due to an engine failure after 37 laps. At this point, the air-cooled #14 Porsche was still running strong, and continued to do so for over half the race when a severe vibration developed on the banking and forced an unscheduled stop. A second unscheduled stop and rear tire change finally remedied the problem, which was determined to be the tire slipping on the wheel causing a dramatic imbalance on the heavily loaded right rear tire. The race concluded without any further complications, and Jim Hamblin and Bransen Patch were able to position the car in the top 10 in the GT category and 25th overall. A respectable accomplishment for all parties involved considering the unusually fierce competition at this event.

Water-cooled Porsches held all of the top 5 positions and 7 of the top 10, but Autometrics Motorsports showed that while not entirely competitive, the now-retired air-cooled 993 can still display speed and reliability capable of putting up a good finish. While we are disappointed with the misfortune of the M3s, the RSR's last chance to run in the highest level of sportscar competition was certainly successful.

Photos by Juha

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