A 1965 Ford GT40 races into the sunset in the 2014 event. Photos by Chris Brewer.
On November 12-15, 300 drivers from around the world will descend on Daytona International Speedway to drive 174 historic endurance racing cars in the 2015 Classic 24 Hour at Daytona. Now in its second year, the Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) event, presented by IMSA, has “exceeded the expectations” of HSR president David Hinton, and it certainly appears as if the number of star drivers and star cars has grown compared to last year’s impressive debut.
Top name drivers confirmed so far include Jochen Mass, Bobby Rahal, Danny Sullivan, Gijs van Lennep, Jurgen Barth, Andy Wallace, Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Leh Keen, Scott Sharp, Gunnar Jeanette and Dieter Questar, to name but a few. Cars entered include a 1967 Ford GT40 Mark IV; numerous Lola T70s and Chevron B8s; four Porsche 935s; six BMW CSLs; a pair of Greenwood Corvettes; a Dekon Monza; six Porsche 962s; a plethora of Porsche 911s (in several classes); and even a Saleen S7R GT1.
Pre-race in 2014.
The cars will be divided into six classes, including Group A (cars from 1960-’72); Group B (1973-’82); Group C (983 – ’93); Group D (1994-2002); Group E (2003-’12); and Group F (HSR cars). As in last year’s event, each run group will contest four one-hour races, using Daytona’ 3.56-mile infield road course. The winner in each group will be the team that covers the greatest distance in the shortest amount of time, within the four hours of total racing allotted.
While critics say this isn’t really endurance racing, that’s largely beside the point. For fans of a particular driver, car, or even period of racing, the event presents the opportunity to see cars and drivers run again, at one of the most storied race tracks in North America.
Look for additional driver and car announcements to be made in the coming weeks, and for a complete list of entrants to date, visit Classic24Hour.com/OfficialEntryList.pdf. For more information on the event, or to purchase tickets, visit Classic24Hour.com.
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