Track map of Daytona International Speedway #60 Michael Shank Racing winner of DP category #44 Magnus Racing winner of GT category The 2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona was a long-distance motor race for sports cars conforming to the regulations of the Grand-Am Road Racing series. The race was held over a duration of 24 hours, starting at 3:30pm on Saturday, January 28, finishing at 3:30pm the following day.[ 1] Daytona International Speedway , which includes only a portion of the NASCAR Superspeedway course and a loop of circuit which winds through the infield of the speedway.
2012 was the 50th running of the race which had begun as a three-hour duration sports car race in 1962. The race was also the opening round of the 2012 Rolex Sports Car Series season . A field of 14 Daytona Prototypes took the start of the race along with a grid of 44 of the slower roadcar-based Grand Touring class cars.[ 2]
This race also was part of the inaugural North American Endurance Championship .[ 3]
Qualifying
Pole position for the race was taken by British racing driver Ryan Dalziel driving the Starworks Motorsport run Riley Technologies Mk.XXVI Daytona Prototype sports car recording a lap time of 1:41.119.[ 4]
In the Grand Touring class, pole was claimed by the Brumos Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup driven by American driver Andrew Davis.[ 5]
Winners
The Michael Shank Racing entry of A. J. Allmendinger , Justin Wilson , Oswaldo Negri Jr. , and John Pew took victory in their No. 60 Riley Mk. XXVI Ford, completing 761 laps over the course of the 24-hour race. They enjoyed a spirited battle with the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport Riley Mk. XXVI Ford of Ryan Dalziel , Lucas Luhr , Allan McNish , Enzo Potolicchio , and Alex Popow , which led the most laps and posted the quickest time of the race, but suffered a minor accident in the 17th hour.[ 6]
In GT, Magnus Racing earned its first-ever Rolex Sports Car Series victory, with the lineup of Richard Lietz , Andy Lally , René Rast , and John Potter in the No. 44 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. It was Lally's fourth Rolex 24 class victory,[ 7]
Race results
Class winners in bold .[ 8]
References
^ "Event Schedule: 2012 Rolex 24 Event Schedule" . Daytona International Speedway. Archived from the original on January 17, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2012 .^ "Event Information – Entry List: Rolex 24 At Daytona" . Grand Am Road Racing. Retrieved January 29, 2012 .^ "13-Race 2012 Schedule Features New North American Endurance Championship" . Grand-Am Road Racing. November 9, 2011. Archived from the original on January 17, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2013 .^ "Ryan Dalziel and Starworks Motorsport capture Rolex 24 at Daytona pole" . Autoweek . Crain Communications, Inc. January 27, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2012 .^ "Porsche starts from GT pole in Rolex 24 at Daytona" . Sports Car Illustrated. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved January 29, 2012 .^ Dagys, John (January 29, 2012). "Michael Shank Racing Wins Gripping 50th Rolex 24" . SPEEDtv.com . Fox Sports. Archived from the original on January 30, 2012. Retrieved 2012-01-31 . ^ "Andy Lally Grand-Am Series Results" . Racing-Reference. Retrieved 2012-01-31 .^ "January 26 – 29, 2012: Rolex 24 At Daytona" . Rolex Sports Car Series Grand-Am Road Racing . January 29, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2012 .
