Underdog Porsche takes Daytona 24hr win
The winning #9 Porsche-Riley of Action Express Racing races round the banking at Daytona
The unsponsored Action Express Racing team has scored an upset to win the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway.
The #9 Porsche-Riley entry of Portuguese driver Joao Barbosa, German Mike Rockenfeller, Scotsman Ryan Dalziel and American veteran Terry Borcheller led 315 of the 754 laps it completed to take the chequered flag less than a lap ahead of its closest rival.
The #01 Telmex/Target BMW-Riley of Chip Ganassi Racing was the second car home, finishing just 52.650 seconds behind the winners.
But it could have been even better for the Ganassi team of Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, Justin Wilson and Max Papis, with the team misdiagnosing a problem with the car while Wilson was behind the wheel.
The Ganassi squad, who earlier in the race retired their star-studded #01 entry with engine failure in the team’s first event with BMW power, brought the #02 car into the garage on Sunday while Wilson was behind the wheel after hearing noises, only for no problem to be found.
With such a close finish, it was that hiccup that cost the Ganassi team victory.
In third place was the #95 Crown Royal BMW-Riley of Ryan Hunter-Reay, Scott Tucker, Lucas Luhr, Richard Westbrook and Christophe Bouchut.
The #70 Speed Source Mazda RX8 took out the GT class by three laps, completing 705 laps with drivers Jonathan Bomarito, Sylvian Tremblay, David Haskell and Nick Ham.