A 1969 Lola T70 Mk IIIb works its way through the Daytona infield. All photos by Chris Brewer.
Editor’s Note: This story comes to us from regular Hemmings contributor Chris Brewer, who may be the only automotive journalist with a doctoral degree in theology. Chris is the senior editor of AutomotiveAddicts.com and a contributing editor for CarFax and CarsDirect. He also works with the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance and writes a weekly automotive column called “An Addictive Take on Cars” for The Florida Times-Union, Northeast Florida’s highest circulated newspaper.
For a racing enthusiast, very little captures the imagination like pulling off I-95 onto West International Speedway Drive and approaching Daytona’s legendary race track. The city is ripe with racing history. Daytona Beach is the birthplace of NASCAR and the beloved, and many times renamed, 24 Hours of Daytona. Somehow, as you drive onto the road that lies immediately before the storied track the almost tangible presence of those legends greets you, “Welcome home.”
Group A cars.
With the creation of last year’s inaugural HSR Classic 24 Hour at Daytona, David Hinton and his team at Historic Sportscar Racing have embodied the spirit of Daytona to a degree that has few equals. Priceless historic vehicles from around the globe gather together and are raced through the night by many of the same drivers on the very track where they became legendary in the first place.
Now in its second year, the HSR Classic 24 at Daytona presented by IMSA has grown substantially. The inaugural field of 135 entries greatly expanded to 190 vehicles representing teams from fifteen different countries and four continents. Legendary drivers including Jürgen Barth, Gijs van Lennep, Jochen Mass, Bobby Rahal, Brian Redman, and Dieter Quester took to the field, many in the cars that they first drove when street versions were available in showrooms. While the rules have changed and the stakes may not be as high, the gravity of the 2015 HSR Classic 24 at Daytona, both the history that it represents and the new stories that it writes, is as compelling as many of the original twenty-four hour endurance races that it celebrates.
BMW CSLs at rest.
For those unfamiliar with the event, the HSR Classic 24 is open to all “significant” Daytona sports cars that were originally raced from 1960 through 2013. Rather than running all the cars through the night, six groups of period-correct race cars are pitted against each other on Daytona’s 3.56-mile infield road course four times during the twenty-four hour period. Each race consists of 45 minutes of track time, including a five-minute pit stop that allows for non-mandatory driver changes. While not technically an endurance race, the format gives fans the chance to relieve the wonder of Daytona throughout the decades for the price of a relatively inexpensive ticket and a sleepless night.
Daytona garages at night.
Group A is comprised of prototypes, GT cars and sports racers that raced on Daytona’s storied track from 1960-1972. Representing a period that ended just before I was born, I couldn’t help but find myself mesmerized by the unique styling of the top three finishers and be utterly captivated by the forth place car, Scott Turner’s 1966 Shelby GT350.
Third place belonged to John Delane and his glorious 1971 Lola T212 which wears the 1971 Le Mans livery. Delane’s car is the only T212 to ever be driven in the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Another Lola, this time a five-liter 1969 T70 MkIIIb from France took second place honors. The car was driven by Gerard Lopez and Frantz Wallenborn. Lopez also fielded a breath-taking French-built 1967 Mantra MS630, the first time the vehicle had been raced in the United States.
Gray Gregory and Randy Buck drove into victory lane behind the wheel of a 1971 Chevron B16, Group A’s top finisher and best in class A-2. The Chevron completed seventy-nine laps around the course in two-hours, 56 minutes and 4.697 seconds.
Comprised of production-based cars from 1973-1982, Group B is usually my personal favorite to experience. Growing up in a BMW family, my obvious bias towards the mid-70’s Bimmers is something I own proudly. Watching not one, but six race-prepped CSLs take to the Daytona track was nothing short of amazing. This past January I was able to spend some time in the passenger’s seat of the #51 1972 CSL at the Rolex 24 at Daytona Heritage Exhibition. To watch owner Scott Hughes, Joe Foster, and legendary BMW driver, Brian Redman drive the car to second place in class and eighth overall in Group B – despite mechanical problems in the third heat – was incredibly satisfying.
Fourth place in Group B and first in class B-1 belonged to a 1974 Porsche 911 RSR driven by automotive industry executive Jim Farley and racing legend, 1981 24 Hours of Daytona winner and multi hall of famer, Bobby Rahal.
Alain Ruede drove a beautiful-sounding six-liter 1982 Chevrolet Camaro to the third place spot.
Former formula 1 driver Jean Marc Gounon and his son, French Porsche Carrera Cup standout Jules Gounon raced the #88 1979 Greenwood Corvette to second place in Group B earning first in class B-1 honors in the process. Marking the second year that the father-son team raced at the Classic 24, it seems that a new family tradition has been made, one that everyone in attendance can enjoy.
Robert Blaine and Ron Maydon finished eighty laps in a time of two hours fifty-two minutes and sixteen seconds to win Group B and class B-4 in the bright blue three-liter 1975 March 75S (Can-AM).
Last year’s Group B champs, father and son team Robert and Josh Boller returned in their 1976 Chevron B36.
Porsche dominated Group C, which includes Group C and GTP cars built from 1983-1993, earning the top eight of sixteen spots. Group C could be affectionately nicknamed the poster-boy club; many of the brightly painted liveries represented some of the biggest names of the era and I would be lying if I didn’t admit to having posters of one or two of the cars that ripped around the track hanging on my bedroom wall as a kid.
Being able to witness Brian Redman reunite with the glorious #18 Group C 723-horsepower 1989 Aston Martin AMR1 on Friday afternoon, just as the sun was setting, was enough to give any racing history nut goosebumps. Redman raced the AMR1 extensively in 1989, with impressive results at Brands Hatch, Nurburgring, and Donington. During those laps at Daytona, we were able to stand trackside as Redman once again made history. The Classic 24 just does that; Simultaneously bringing the past, present, and future together in an unforgettable weekend that you will relive in your head and photos for years to come.
Third place Group C finishers, and first in class C-5, the driving team of Alan Benjamin, Barry Wadell and Robert Ames proudly raced the #17 1990 Porsche 964 Cup in honor of Justin Wilson, who was originally scheduled to be the fourth driver. Wilson passed away in August of this year from injuries sustained in an accident at Pocono Raceway.
Second place belonged to Jeff Lewis in the #551 1993 Porsche 964 RSR. Lewis also won best in class C-4.
Christian Zugel and Mark Patterson took the Group C victory and won best in class C-1 in the iconic Rothmans 1986 Porsche 962.
Group D consists of cars raced from 1994-2002. As HSR puts it so cleanly, the vehicles of Group D are historic but familiar. Experiencing the cars from this era raced without sound restrictions through the night is delight to the senses. The first time I spotted a Dodge Viper at the dealer as a young adult, I immediately pictured myself behind the wheel zipping around a banked track like Daytona. While I’ve yet to realize my daydream, I was able to live vicariously through Oliver Bouquet as he ran the 1999 Dodge Viper GTS-R to second place in class D-3.
JC France and Timmy Rivers drove a beautiful 2004 Doran JE/4/Chevy to a third place finish. I particularly enjoyed watching the France/Rivers team celebrate in victory circle. The family-spirit of vintage racing and Daytona was evident and the joy of victory was contagious.
Second place belonged to Spencer and Bruce Trenery in a 2006 Riley Mk XI Daytona prototype. The Trenery’s also took first in class D-2.
Dean Baker took the Group D Checkered flag driving solo behind the wheel of a 1998 Riley & Scott Mk IIIb. Baker’s Mk IIIb completed eighty-seven laps in two hours, 51 minutes and 12.494 seconds, winning first in class D-1 in the process.
Representing the newest cars competing in the Classic 24, the incredibly competitive Group E yielded the fastest times and most laps completed on the track. Doug Smith reprised his role of Group E and overall champion, a title he shared with legendary driver Andy Wallace at the 2014 event, in the #38 Rogers Motorsports 2005 Audi R8. This time around Smith would share the wheel with co-driver and three-time Rolex 24 winner, Butch Leitzinger who took the lead in the final segment. The two of them would complete eighty-seven laps in two hours 49 minutes and 21.552 seconds.
A pair of 2007 Pescarolo 01 LMPs would place second and third; David Porter driving #18 to second and Chris Carel and Christophe Tinseau piloting the #16 car to third.
Legendary BMW driver Dieter Quester, who has participated in an incredible fifty-three 24-hour races, shared duties with Andreas Bovensiepen in the 2009 BMW Alpina B6 GT3. The Alpina finished third in class E-4, completing 79 laps in two hours, 53 minutes and 5.326 seconds.
The Fifty Plus Racing Team races the #50 “Highway to help” 2012 Riley & Scott Mk III to raise money in support of research to fight Alzheimer’s Disease.
Made up of HSR vehicles that are not represented in A-E, Group F consists of HSR cars from six different decades, many which were never eligible to compete at Daytona in the past. The eclectic group of vehicles, although the majority did wear Porsche emblems, represents some of the most exciting driving of the event. Group F also illustrates the beauty of the Classic 24; HSR really has created an event that offers a little something for everyone.
Watching Group F driver Jochen Mass competitively tear around the 3.56-mile course in a lovely 1974 Porsche 911 RSR makes you smile so big that your face hurts. I’ve heard the complaint that historic racing is all about expensive trophies carefully being driven around the track, but no one seemed to tell that to Mass. He was driving to win, the determination on his face and the obvious limits that he was pushing the forty-one year old 911 too said otherwise.
Driving a 1972 Porsche 911/ST, Robert Spence and Scott Jachthuber would end up winning Group F and first in class F-4. The duo completed 77 laps in a time of two hours, 53 minutes and 33.728 seconds.
Second place belonged to Juan Lopez-Santini and Brady Refenning in the #28 1974 Porsche 911 IROC.
For all the amazing excitement on the track, the Classic 24 also offers opportunities to meet racing legends face to face. I was able to attend an energetic panel with Jurgen Barth, Gijs van Lennep, Bobby Rahal, and Danny Sullivan. The interaction between the four legendary drivers and the audience in attendance was wonderful and the comradery that the four seem to share was contagious.
Jochen Mass, when not driving the wheels off the 911, hosted a fundraising dinner for Racing for Kids, the official charity of the Classic 24 of Daytona. The access to the famous drivers during the event was incredible; the spirit of giving that surrounds the Classic 24 is arguably what makes the event so special.
While we were lucky to have the Classic 24 Hour at Daytona in 2014 and 2015, we will have to anxiously wait until 2017 for the event to return. The HSR team is sensitive to the expense and time running the Classic 24 requires from everyone involved, especially the teams from around the globe. But it will be worth the wait, I promise. Until then, get some rest, you won’t get any at the track.
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