Rolex 24 – 6 Hour Storylines

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We’re closing in on quarter distance of the 2023 running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway and with darkness having fallen, the race to Sunday morning is well underway. We now take a look at some of the storylines to follow as we race towards sunrise over Daytona Beach.

 

Meyer Shank Dominance

The 24 began with the 60 Meyer Shank team on the overall pole and right away, they pulled away to as much as a 40 second lead before the first round of stops. However, entering hour 5, the Wayne Taylor Racing team hit their stride as they closed the gap to under a second before finally taking the lead early into the fifth hour of racing. We’ll see if the Wayne Taylor team can replicate Meyer Shank’s early dominance or if the 60 Meyer Shank team can retake the lead as the hours tick away.

 

Early Troubles

Early on, we were to be expecting troubles with these new hybrid cars and among the notables was one of the BMW factory entries – the 25. That car fell out early with Connor De Phillippi behind the wheel. Gar Robinson and John Farano’s entries would also fall out early with various issues as attrition starts to set in and will only heighten before Sunday morning dawns, revealing the battle scars of the night.

 

Winward Motorsport

In practice Thursday, the 57 Winward Motorsport entry piloted by Lucas Auer suffered a brutal head-on collision with the wall, injuring Auer and leaving him out of the 24. The team quickly brought in team principal Russell Ward to drive in his place. So far, through 6 hours, the 57 is top of the board in GT3. This inspiring story is one to watch intently as the night goes on.

 

Rest assured there will be many more stories and many more drivers to watch as the clock ticks on to the checkers shortly after 1:30 Sunday afternoon.

Michael Nebbia
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