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A New Season Begins

Lucas Luhr getting ready to go out in his new ride for the year at Rahal Lettermen. [Eddie LePine Photo]

It is that time of year again, and a new TUDOR United Sports Car Series season is about to start with the Rolex 24 at Daytona. It seems like just yesterday that we wrapped up the final race of the inaugural TUDOR season with Petit Le Mans, but here we are; ready to go for the 24 Hours at Daytona.

I recently attended the Roar Before the 24, the annual test session at Daytona International Speedway, to get a glimpse of the cars and drivers who will be competing in this year’s championship. Enthusiasm was evident throughout the paddock.

I spoke with Lucas Luhr, who returns to the TUDOR series with BMW, driving for the Rahal Letterman BMW team. Lucas, who was the winningest driver in the now departed American Le Mans Series, was excited to be racing in the US again. He loves racing in America and says some of the best sports car fans in the world are here. He can’t wait to get behind the wheel of his new BMW Z4 GTE and take to the track. He loves driving GT cars and enjoys the challenge of racing flat out for 24 hours while keeping a close eye on his mirrors for the faster prototype cars. Needless to say, traffic is always a challenge at Daytona.

Also making an appearance at this year’s Daytona test was Rubens Barrichello (of Ferrari Formula One fame) along with Indy 500 Champion Ryan Hunter-Reay. In addition, DTM driver Bruno Spengler is making his first drive at Daytona. He says the cars are much different than the DTM machinery he is used to, but he is looking forward to the challenge.

Also at Daytona was Audi factory driver and former DTM champion Mike Rockenfeller, piloting the Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP and Simon Pagenaud, who will be driving the factory Corvette C7.R.

Of note, the DeltaWing, with new driver Memo Rojas and new sponsor Claro/TracFone will be one to watch in this year’s race, as they have made numerous improvements over the off season in the search more speed.

Not to be counted out are the beautiful entries from Speedsource, who’s two Diesel powered prototypes have gained considerable speed in the off season. John Doonan’s guys are definitely looking for a good result in the 24 Hours.

Patrick Dempsey returns to Daytona in the GTD Class with his Wright Motorsports prepared Porsche 911 GT America, flying the famous Brumos Porsche colors for this event. Brumos sponsored cars tend to do well in the 24, and with the well-prepared Wright Motorsports entry, they probably have a good chance this year.

A total of 53 quality cars are entered for this year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, with 16 Prototypes, 8 PC cars, 10 GTLM cars and 19 GTD entries.

It promises to be a classic race at Daytona.

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