Rolex 24 at Daytona

January 25-28, 2007

Autometrics Motorsports has been entering cars in the Rolex 24 since 2001, but the 2007 race marked a new first for us. This year, we entered two GT3 Porsches in the competitive GT class.

The #14 car is the car we took to 3rd place in the 2005 Grand Am Team Championship. It was driven by car owner Bransen Patch, Mac McGehee, Wes Allen, Jim Hamblin and Cory Friedman. The 996 is essentially 2 models away from being the fastest Porsche available, but speed alone does not produce results in a 24. We were looking for a solid top 10 finish.

Our new Grand Am spec 2007 997 GT3 Cup was run as #89 by Barry Ellis, Fraser Wellon, Frank Rossi, Owen Trinkler and Mike Grande, all Grand Am Cup Regulars.

Through Testing earlier in the month, we had both cars running pretty comfortably on the new for '07 Hoosiers. The drivers did an excellent job of keeping the cars together through practice, and with only minor adjustments, both cars we prepared for qualifying. Barry assumed qualifying duties in the 89 car, and started 23rd with a lap of 1:54.6, the fastest the car had been so far. Just behind the 997 was Cory in the 14 car, who put down a 1:54.8, among the fastest times ever turned by a 996 GT3 Cup.

The race started on Saturday morning in good conditions and without much drama. Both cars ran as scheduled in the early hours, running as high as 15th position before the first round of pit stops. Daylight started fading at around the 4-hour mark with both cars just outside the top 15. Jim got caught out over some DP debris, and he was forced to come in to replace a leaking tire. About a quarter through the race, we had begun the second round of driver stints, and shifting was becoming increasingly difficult on the 89 car's sequential transmission. Before 7:30 rolled around the 997 was forced to go back ot the garage to go into the transmission.

The 14 car continued to run like clockwork, moving back into 15th position at the 8:00 mark. Some light rain threatened around 9 hours, but weather would not be a factor for a while longer. Some minor damage to the front end at the 10th hour did not warrant repair to the 996, but the 997 transmission was beyond repair. Fortunately, we were able to secure a transmission to lease, and 89 was back on course 10:30 into the race with approximately 85 laps and over 3 hours lost. Halfway through the race was the first time rains went on. The race was plauged with constant yellows in this phase, but with 9 hours to go, we went back to drys and back to racing.

Frequent yellows continued through the night with 14 running around 15th position and 89 in the mid-20's. With less than 7 hour to go, a GT car made major contact with a concrete wall, and Wes had nowhere to go but over part of a broken crash bar. This ripped out the power steering lines, requiring a trip to the garage for repair. The repair took just over an hour and a half, so 14 dropped only a few positions, but the top-10 pace we had going was shot.

Less than 5 hours remained in the race, and both cars were back to turning laps as the fans began to fill the speedway again. Neither car experienced any issues until the end and generally maintained their positions from that point. At the checkers, Bransen brought the 14 car home in 16th position, and the 89 held onto its starting position of 23rd.

It is a phenominal effort to run 2 cars in the Rolex 24, and we were very proud of our entire crew for performing all tasks virtually flawlessly. The few issues we ran across were developed on-track, and we'd like to thank everyone involved for their contribution.

The drivers also did an excellent job of keeping both cars safe. Contact was negligible and offs were rare, despite some pretty poor conditions.

It was totally realistic to expect both cars to finish in the top 10 of the 42 car GT field, but a single problem with each car made that impossible. Still, both cars had good races and ran strong all the way through to the end, which anyone who has run the race will tell you is an accomplishment in itself.