Mustangs at Daytona???

[Roger Davis]

Only one Mustang entered for the 24 hrs.WTF.......

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 23, 2007) -- Champ Car pilot Alex Tagliani is looking forward to a busy 2007 season, which he will kick off with his debut run in the prestigious Rolex 24 At Daytona on January 27-8. Tagliani has signed with Blackforest Motorsports to run a select 2007 schedule co-driving with Tom Nastasi in the new Ford Mustang Cobra GT in the GT class of Rolex Sports Car Series competition.

The 45th running of the Rolex 24 has once again brought out a roster of all-stars and champions from across the sport, and with the Fox Channel carrying the opening ninety minutes of live coverage into over 111 million homes, the race is expected to reach the largest audience in its history.

Tagliani will have his work cut out for him, as the sole Mustang Cobra GT entry will carry the flag for Ford against 40 other GT-class entries while also sharing the track with nearly 30 Daytona Prototypes. The new Mustang Cobra GT has shown well in early pre-season testing, consistently posting times in the top five of the ultra-competitive class, and even though the 2007 24 will be his first, Tagliani knows that outright speed rarely wins this race.

"I'm looking forward to being a part of this Mustang effort and making my first start in the 24," said Tagliani. "It's going to be a busy week for me, testing the new Champ Car and then coming over to Daytona for the 24, but I can't wait. This is a brand-new car, but the team is very experienced in this kind of race, and we've been pleased with how the car has performed right off the trailer. This is an entirely new kind of challenge for me as a driver, but I am really looking forward to it."

The Rolex Sports Car Series 2007 schedule will also feature the Series' debut running at the famed Circuit-Gilles Villeneuve on August 3rd, something Tagliani is looking forward to as he keeps his long streak of driving Ford-powered machines going.

"It is a great opportunity for me and for the Rolex Series to be racing in Montreal," said the Quebec native. "I really think people are going to enjoy the racing and I'm really excited to race in front of my home town fans again, nothing pumps me up like a Canadian crowd."

Tagliani won't be just serving to spool up his home-town crowd this season, as his skills as a test and development driver will be put to use as he works with Blackforest Motorsports head Brian Nott to get the most out of their new package.

"We've really enjoyed working with Alex," said Nott. "Alex really has a fantastic mechanical ability and I can relate to him so easily. That's why we work together so well and we can achieve our goals a lot faster by working with him."

During the Daytona Test Days, Tagliani also took the chance to get reacquainted with another Mustang, the FR500c Koni Challenge machine he qualified on the front row in last years Grand Prix du Trois Rivieres. It seemed like old times, as Tags took the Mustang to the top of the timing sheets his first time out as he made the most of the opportunity to get even more familiar with the 3.56-mile layout at Daytona International Speedway.

The 45th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona will start at 1:30 PM EST on January 27th. The Fox broadcast will open with ninety minutes of coverage at 1:00 PM before the race coverage is continued live on Speed Channel, which recently added 500,000 new homes to reach nearly 70 million subscribers in the US and Canada.

 

[Robert M]

Cool!!, Very Cool!!^^^^^^^^^^

 

[1995COBRA-R]

There are 13 Mustangs in the Koni Challenge (formerly GAC).

The #54 car on the top of the leader board with a blistering 2:01.920.

The go out for qualifying as I type this. You can can check this site for the race results of the race tomorrow.

Here is the last practice:
http://www.grand-am.com/Events/SessionResults.asp?SessionID=792

 

[1995COBRA-R]

 

[93SVTCobra]

104 cars!!! DAMN!

Should be a great race to watch if we ever get to watch it. Interesting thing to note is that the GTO's were at the top of the time board during testing a few weeks ago and seem to have fallen to mid back at best.

 

[1995COBRA-R]

Qualifying results for the Koni Challenge:

http://www.grand-am.com/Events/SessionResults.asp?SessionID=793

Joe Foster put the #55 Mustang GT on the pole with an even better 2:01.846. The 3 hour Koni race is at 2:15pm today.

Tom Nastasi qualified the Blackforest Motorsports / Mustang Cobra GT in the 46th position in the Daytona 24 Hour event's first qualifying session (with a 1:54.230).

It's going to be an uphill run for the Mustang in the 24. There are a bunch of Porsche GT3 Cup cars that qualified ahead of them. The Porsche GT3 has a lot of laps and experience in long endurance races.

I predict that a 24 hour race is equal to a complete season of racing in the Koni Challenge (as it relates to wear and tear on the car).

The Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona starts tomorrow at 1:30pm. The broadcast will start on Fox TV before going to SpeedTV.

 

[griffined]

This picture was taken by me during quailfying on Thursday, for the Koni race.

I'll try and get some pics of the Cobra that's running in the 24.

Ed

 

[Cobra R Man]

Just a little info.

George Biskup, the original owner-racer of my '95R, qualified 23rd in a BMW.

Just thought it is kinda cool to see that. Well, maybe just for me. Oh well.:sleeping:

 

[1995COBRA-R]

http://www.grand-am.com/Events/SessionResults.asp?SessionID=795

The #5 Mustang won the race. It was driven by Nastasi and Empringham. The #55 Mustang of Foster and Maxwell put up a fight but finished second. Please note the fast lap times. The 5 car did theirs on lap 62 of 64 while the 55 car turned a slightly faster lap of the next to last lap!

George Biskup, the original owner-racer of my '95R, qualified 23rd in a BMW.

Gene,
I think he should let you drive the BMW. Tell him you'll run a better lap. ;-)

 

[Roger Davis]

Just too bad Jack Roush no longer is involved with the 24 hour race. Roush Mustangs owned that race (their class) for many years.

 

[ShelbyGuy]

The lone mustang in the Rolex race finished 32nd in class, 59th overall. Fastest lap was a 1:54.902.

Overall race winner's best lap was a 1:44.395. (lexus riley) Sssssssmokin'.
GT class winner's best time was a 1:53.764. (porsche gt3 cup)

Highest finishing Ford was the Kodak Ford Doran daytona prototype with a fastest lap of 1:45.563. It finished 7th overall.

 

[griffined]

The lone mustang in the Rolex race finished 32nd in class, 59th overall. Fastest lap was a 1:54.902.

It had a deep sounding exhaust note compared to most of the other cars.

 

[1995COBRA-R]

The #154 car decided it would find the tire wall in T-1.

 

[Robert M]

What happen to all of the spectators?? I turned on the TV a couple of times during the Daytona 24 race and noticed the stands were empty. As I had mentioned in other threads, it sure seems like NASCAR and the likes, have taken over as the American autosport of choice over the past 15+ or so years. It is sad!!

Were the stands full, or even half full at the beginning and everyone went home? Maybe it was the camera angles from the infield looking at the cars running around the circuit with the stands in the background??

R

 

[03'Darin]

I just got back from the weekend. Sorry but I didn't have time for any pictures. I was crewing on the 37 & 137 Koni Challenge Mustangs. We ended up finishing 7th and 11th. We had cars and drivers to finish better but pit decision and yellow flags proved otherwise.

The 154 Mustang in the tire wall was a brand new team at their first race. I didn't see any of the wreck until now but heard the car took a pretty good hit. Thanks for the picture.

I spoke to a guy that stopped to ask questions about our cars. He said he has an FR500C that he bought but doesn't race it. He took it to last years test day at Daytona but said he's afraid to race it. I couldn't imagine having one of those cars and not doing anything with it.

I think if I remember correctly the Rolex Mustang is putting out 650 hp out of the 5.0 cammer motor. I saw the car driving through the pits a couple times but never had time to go take a closer look at it. I didn't stick around for the Rolex race.

 

[93SVTCobra]

What happen to all of the spectators?? I turned on the TV a couple of times during the Daytona 24 race and noticed the stands were empty. As I had mentioned in other threads, it sure seems like NASCAR and the likes, have taken over as the American autosport of choice over the past 15+ or so years. It is sad!!

Were the stands full, or even half full at the beginning and everyone went home? Maybe it was the camera angles from the infield looking at the cars running around the circuit with the stands in the background??

R

The stands are never full at Daytona for the Rolex race.....to damn long for most people.

 

[93SVTCobra]

It had a deep sounding exhaust note compared to most of the other cars.

Anyone notice anything strangely missing from this vehicle?

 

[ShelbyGuy]

All the spectators? How many are you expecting at a sports car race? They haven't been a draw since the early 70's.

Remember, you're talking about 20,000 people in a place that holds 400,000. Its going to look empty no matter what you do.

Its the same way with the U.S. Grand Prix. There are 110,000 people there but the stands are half empty because the grounds hold half a million.

When I did the 24 in 2004, I dug it. I stayed there all night (except for the pouring rain) and it was like a command performance - a race put on just for me. Sure there were probably 12,000 people in the stands, but you couldn't see anyone because we were all in the shadows trying to stay dry.

Road racing is for the entertainment of the racers. That a spectator shows up is gravy to them.

What happen to all of the spectators?? I turned on the TV a couple of times during the Daytona 24 race and noticed the stands were empty. As I had mentioned in other threads, it sure seems like NASCAR and the likes, have taken over as the American autosport of choice over the past 15+ or so years. It is sad!!

Were the stands full, or even half full at the beginning and everyone went home? Maybe it was the camera angles from the infield looking at the cars running around the circuit with the stands in the background??

R

 

[griffined]

The camera angles used on TV miss the places in the infield that were crowded and sometimes show the grandstands which are used by maybe 10%or less of the attendees.
The top of the garage in the Fanzone and the stands around the infield portion of the circuit seemed full most of the time I was there. I think some folks left at night and didn't come back because of the rain and wind.
The backstretch grandstands weren't open from what I could see.
There's no pedestrial tunnel under the track in the center of the stands, like some tracks have. You could walk or take a tram through the tunnels out and around to the grandstand, but I think most folks just stay in the infield the whole time.

It seemed prertty full in the infield at the start of the race and until about 8pm Saturday night. Granted it's nothing like the NASCAR races in terms or people crush and traffic outside the track.

To the question of what is missing from the 15. I noticed the rear diffuser under the gas cell at the back wasn't used. Now that I look at the picture I took, I don't see $helby written on it anywhere either.

 

[1995COBRA-R]

The stands are never full at Daytona for the Rolex race.....to damn long for most people.

I think it is more complicated than that.

Daytona is a big place. You can't really see a sports car race from the grandstand seats (like you can at the Daytona 500). As you mentioned, no one really wants to sit on a metal bench for 24 hours.

Regardless, they had the biggest paying crowd in many years. They may have had a few more if the weather had co-operated.

Daytona has a few other small issues. Their security is strict. They don't allow the girls to go topless like they do at the 12 Hours of Sebring. :-D They also don't really have as many good places to view the race at Daytona (i.g., behind the fences in the infield).

If you want to see a big party that has a sporty car race going on at the same time, you go to Sebring. They bring in 150,000 fans every year (and 50 or so are sober during the race).

In case anyone missed it. Here is the winner of the GT race. I watched them test last year. They are very good.