Prototype Lites Providing Path To TUDOR Championship, Rolex 24 At Daytona - Speedway Digest

The Rolex 24 At Daytona features a deep, competitive field of cars in the Prototype and Prototype Challenge classes Jan. 24-25 at Daytona International Speedway, making it very tough to pick a favorite in either class.

But one trend becomes quite clear looking at the driver lineups in both classes: The Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda is becoming the best path to prototypes in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

Nearly 10 drivers with recent experience in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Development Series will compete this weekend in the twice-around-the-clock endurance classic at Daytona. The list includes Tristan Nunez, Matt McMurry and Ed Brown in the Prototype class, and Mikhail Goikhberg, Brian Alder, Jerome Mee, Andrew Novich and Remo Ruscitti in Prototype Challenge (PC).

“Lites is the logical step because it’s open cockpit, it’s a prototype, high downforce,” said Novich, 2014 Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda series runner-up, who is driving in the PC class at Daytona with PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports. “It’s the most relevant piece of machinery you can be driving to make the step to a PC car.”

The 53rd Rolex 24 At Daytona starts at 2:10 p.m. (ET) Saturday on the 3.56-mile circuit and finishes 24 hours later. Coverage begins on FOX network television at 2 p.m. ET and continues on FOX Sports 2, FOX Sports 1 and overnight live streaming on IMSA.com.

All Prototype Lites drivers compete in Élan DP02 chassis with Mazda engines and Cooper tires. Prototype Challenge drivers race Oreca FLM09 chassis powered by Chevrolet engines, with Continental tires.

They’re different equipment packages, but two-time defending Lites 2 season champion Alder said the transition from one series with identical machinery to another is nearly seamless.

Alder is the owner and a driver for BAR1 Motorsports and is making his PC and TUDOR Championship debut this weekend at Daytona in one of his two PC entries in the race. 2014 Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda race winner Ruscitti will be one of Alder’s teammates in a sister car for BAR 1 this weekend.

“It’s the next step in the ladder,” Alder said. “It’s a pretty progressive step. The Lites car really prepares you for the PC.

“The main difference is more power in the PC and better braking, and it’s a heavier car. Experience in the Lites is linear, going to the PC. It’s probably the best schooling you can have to get into a PC.”

“The IMSA Lites car is a proper race car,” said 2014 Prototype Lites champion Goikhberg, who is racing in the TUDOR Championship and Rolex 24 this season with JDC/Miller Motorsports. “I talk to a lot of people who have driven a long list of race cars, and everybody says it’s a fun race car to drive, but it’s also technical and teaches you the right things. That’s an important factor.”

All drivers making the jump from Prototype Lites from PC agree the Lites car is more physical to drive because it doesn’t have power steering, unlike PC cars. So even though drivers will be in the cockpit for stints of 90 to 120 minutes over a 24-hour span this weekend in a PC car, they said the 30- and 45-minute sprint races of Prototype Lites have prepared their bodies and minds well for an endurance race.

“The great thing that Prototype Lites offers is two very different races during the race weekend,” said 2012 Prototype Lites champion Nunez, who is entering his second season as a Mazda factory Prototype driver in the TUDOR Championship. “The 30-minute sprint race teaches the driver to push in a cut-throat racing situation and to maximize the skills of racecraft. The 45-minute race is still considered a sprint race, but you have to put in consideration that the tires used for the Lites car are very small in proportion to a normal-sized race tire, which means they will wear in loose grip at a faster rate. This teaches the driver to conserve the car and the tires so that it can go the distance and at pace.

“These two skills prepared me for the situations I encountered in my first Daytona 24 in the SKYACTIV Mazda Prototype. If your goal is to race the 24 Hours of Daytona in the top class, the best place to start would be Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda.”

Said Novich: “In any race, you have to be there at the end to finish well. But one of the unique things about Lites is that because the races were doubleheaders each weekend, if you had an issue or wrecked in the first race, there was a good chance you could make it to the second race. You just had to think big picture, think long term, for those weekends. I think that’s an essential thing to carry over to the TUDOR Championship.

“These (TUDOR Championship events) are long races. You have to think big picture. It’s not just about you. You have teammates, and the races are so much longer. Not every opportunity to make a pass or to defend a position is necessary. There’s a lot more at stake. You have to make those calls. Having those double-headers in Lites prepares you for that.”

2014 Prototype Lites race winner McMurry started his racing career in open-wheel cars before moving exclusively to sports cars in 2014. In 2014, he competed in Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda, Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America and the European Le Mans Series. He also became the youngest starter, at age 16, in the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans last June.

Prototype Lites was a key part of McMurry’s education in 2014 en route to landing a dual program this season in a Honda/Ligier JS P2 Prototype with Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian in the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Championship and a full-season Prototype Lites ride with reigning Team Champions JDC Motorsport, which fielded Goikhberg’s title-winning car in 2014.

“Lites teaches you about high downforce and how to trust downforce and allow your mind to go beyond what it thinks is possible,” McMurry said. “Since many come through the formula ranks, the Lites also teach you to drive and manage the performance of heavier cars.

“Success in Lites requires that you drive flat-out cleanly, which is the same in a 24-hour race, especially Daytona. The winners will be flat-out and will have managed traffic, weather and tires better than everyone else.”

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.