Farewell 2016 racing season!

While Petit LeMans at Road Atlanta might have marked the end of the 2016 International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Weathertech Sportscar Championship racing season, the 2017 season started in November back at Daytona International Speedway (DIS).

I attended Tuesday of the two test days November 15 and 16 at DIS which saw a predicted limited entry list. Many teams had not received their new cars yet and the teams in attendance grew by time I returned to DIS for the two test days December 13 and 14. Click here for the the December entry list. While not on the entry list, I noticed the Porsche car #28 Alegra Motorsports there to take a few laps. With the increased number of teams attending the December test, keep a look out for the upcoming entry list for the Roar before the Rolex 24.

Notice the cross section of drivers from different series, some who will be racing at DIS Rolex 24 for the first time. This race even brought Jeff Gordon out of retirement to race. In the past, many NASCAR drivers have participated in the Rolex 24.

Notice the new manufactures. I don’t know if it is just me, but since Mercedes announced joining IMSA, I swear there is an increase in the Mercedes commercials on television. Maybe I just pay more attention now! The number of Lamborghini’s has dramatically increased over the last couple of years too.

Notice the totally awesome Honda Acura NSX’s! Okay, so I am not impartial. Never claimed to be. So many changes for the Michael Shank Racing (MSR) team. Change to Honda Acura NSX, change to the GTD class, and big change in drivers. Two major sad notes, there will be no John Pew or AJ Allmendinger in the car this year for the Rolex 24. And of course, Justin Wilson will be ever present in my thoughts during the Roar and Rolex 24 weekends. The changes required the MSR crew to learn not only a new car but also new class regulations. New rules for when does the GTD class can pit. I wonder what Oswaldo “Ozz” Negri will be thinking when the P cars get the “wave around” on yellow flag laps. During the December test, I spoke with Ozz regarding the differences in the driver change process between the GTD and the Honda HPD Ligier car which won Petit LeMans last year. I had to work that win in there one more time for 2016! said Ozz.

When I see IMSA or any race series experience the introduction of new cars and new manufactures, my thoughts go to the safety crew and marshals. Are they all trained on the extraction procedures for both pulling a car out of trouble and getting the driver out as quickly as possible? I know three people who will be marshals at the 2017 Rolex 24 event and I am going to dig into this topic more with them.

Notice what is missing… what I refer to as, true DPs. As a race fan, I will never forget my first Daytona Prototype (DP). Yes, #60 orange with a star on the hood, the year was 2005, the track was VIR. Yes, time marches on but I am sad to see the beast be put out to pasture. I am hoping many of the DP cars will find their way to the Historic race weekend in Daytona and I can see them race once again.

While my schedule only allowed me one day to visit DIS for the Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR), it was totally enjoyable watching the wide variety of manufactures and cars from years past taking the high banks and having a lot of racing giggity up in their go! Attending an HSR event is like a trip to a car museum except these cars are still enjoying life turning laps at DIS. I invite you to check out the HSR 2017 schedule. The “Classic 24 Hour” HSR event which happened in December 2015 will return in December 2017. It is my understanding the 24 hour type format is held every other year at DIS, so plan your December trip now. To learn more about the 2016 weekend at Daytona, please click here.

Again this year, the Historic race weekend was shared with the season ending race of the Trans Am series. The final race of the season at DIS included a total of 59 cars on the entry list spread over four classes: TA, TA2, TA3, and TA4, which has changed from last year. Unsure about the different classes for Trans Am? Yea, me too. More information can be found here: http://gotransam.com/transam101/

This year fan favorite Shane Lewis won the Class TA2 DIS race with Amy Ruman winning in TA Class, Lee Saunders winning TA3, and Cameron Maugeri winning TA4. All the final standings, race results, and the 2016 Champion and award winners can be found here: http://gotransam.com/standings/

To me, this series does not get enough attention on social media, in racing news, or online. While I admittedly have only attended five TransAm races, each one has been exciting and worth the trip. I hope this series grows and the races have improved online coverage for 2017. I encourage you to check out the series website and go to a race near you!

Earlier in December, DIS was also the setting for the final season event for Ferrari Challenge and the Ferrari Finali Mondiali, which translates to “World Finals”. To me this felt like a big exclusive club event with certain areas available for the public to purchase tickets for access. Yes, there was the race event taking place over the weekend and also what I would consider the largest Ferrari car corral I have ever seen, but I enjoyed the weekend for other reasons.

I was at the event on Friday, December 2 and Sunday, December 4 and enjoyed catching up with Enzo Potolicchio from 8Star Motorsports, who has recently been racing in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS). I also had the pleasure to meet the driver and media representative for EMS Race Team, based in Cleveland Ohio, whom I have followed for a while on Twitter. What a wonderful team and great people! If you get the chance, please follow this team on Twitter @emsRaceTeam and give them a shout out.

Of course, I can’t think of Ferrari and not have dreams about Kimi Raikkonen. I had the pleasure of getting his autograph and “meeting him”, and I use that term loosely, at the first Formula One race at Circuit of the Americas. On Sunday, during the DIS poorly executed autograph session with several Scuderia Ferrari drivers representing different racing series, I was interested in only one driver, Kimi Raikkonen. When I moved along the autograph line, and found myself in front of Kimi, I handed him my Kim Ferrari baseball cap to sign, retrieved it from him and all I could force out to say was, “Thank you. Big Fan.” I am speechless in his presence!

While I did have a lovely conversation with Sebastian Vettel, with my Kimi autographed hat in hand, my day…weekend…month was complete! It is difficult to explain but the people in attendance and the atmosphere at the Ferrari event was quite different than anything else I have experienced, but in a nice unique way. Please find out more about the event here: http://races.ferrari.com/en/finalimondiali2016/

I wish you all a very happy, safe and blessed holiday season. Thank you all for reading my articles and providing feedback. am always open to your comments and ideas for articles. With all the changes headed into 2017, I am very excited for the Roar and the season to start. I cannot remember a season which held more changes than going on now.

If you see me at the track, please say hello and I apologize in advance if I slip up and say “Viper Exchange” or “DP”! Old habits are hard to change!

I have no affiliation with DIS, Ferrari, HSR, IMSA, etc. just a fan. There are many blogs and websites where you will find statistics, results, and scoring from the race; this is “just the way I see it”. Got a response? Let me hear it! Please Follow and tweet me @viclovesracing

And look for future “Vickie’s Trackside Report” coming to a track near you!

#VickiesTracksideReport