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Ready To Roar
- Updated: January 4, 2017
Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi [Photo by Wayne Taylor Racing]
By Jack Webster & Eddie LePine
The holidays are over and all eyes are now focused on Daytona International Speedway for the Roar Before the 24 – the official test session for entries in the 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Things get underway on Thursday at the speedway and 55 cars are entered for the first round of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
No fewer than 12 of the new prototypes (both P2 and DPi cars) are on the entry list, including three of the new Cadillac DPi cars, two of the Mazda DPi cars, 2 Nissan DPi cars, one Multimatic/Riley, one Ligier and 3 Orecas. It is an outstanding field for the first race of the season and any of these cars could be in contention for the overall victory in the Rolex.
In LMPC, which is in its last season of IMSA competition, there are five entries, from BAR1 Motorsports, Performance Tech and Starworks.
In GTLM, the field is once again outstanding, with a total of 11 cars, including four of the Ford GTs from Ganassi Racing, two Corvettes, two BMWs, two of the new mid-engined Porsche 911 RSRs and a lone entry from Ferrari.
GTD promises to be a real barnburner for the whole 24 hour race, with a total of 27 cars, including new cars of note from Acura, Lexus and Mercedes. The balance of the field is made up of quality cars from Porsche, BMW, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Ferrari and Audi. It is going to be hard to pick a winner from this roster of great cars and teams in the GTD class.
In addition the overall high quality of the 55 cars entered, the caliber of drivers getting set for the Rolex 24 is second to none, with notable drivers Jeff Gordon, Mike Rockenfeller, Marcel Fassler, Sebastien Bourdais, Olivier Pla, Scott Pruett, Katherine Legge and Pedro Lamy on the entry list, joining the stellar list of IMSA regulars for Daytona. A number of drivers are still to be nominated, so look for some more big name surprises before the race starts.
IMSA’s 2017 season is about to start, and judging from the entries for the Rolex 24, 2017 is going to be a classic year of sports car racing in the US. If you haven’t already made your plans to attend this year’s race at Daytona, do so now. It is going to be a terrific beginning to a great year.
See you at Daytona.
Jack Webster has been shooting motorsports since the early 1970’s, covering Formula One, CanAm, F5000, TransAm, GrandAm and American Le Mans races, among others. In addition to his photography, he has also worked on racing teams, both in IMSA and IndyCar, so has a complete knowledge of the inner workings of motorsport. Both his photography and writing can be seen here on racingnation.com. Eddie LePine has been involved in motorsports for over 30 years as photographer, columnist, and driver. Eddie also is now a retired racer (well, retired unless a good ride pops up). You can usually find Eddie in the paddock area, deep in conversation with a driver.