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Autos

New twist for top of the classes

Daytona Prototypes, which replace the costly Sports Racer Prototypes, signals a change in Grand Am's priorities.

By LOGAN NEILL
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 1, 2003

DAYTONA BEACH -- Scott Maxwell is eager for the adventure he is about to undertake after being awarded the pole position for today's Rolex 24 at Daytona.

He has no idea what happens next.

Maxwell's No. 88 Multimatic Ford Focus wasn't the fastest car Thursday, but race organizers want to showcase their new Daytona Prototype class. So the six entries in that class will start at the front of the field, ahead of Justin Bell, whose GTS-class Corvette was more than a second faster than Maxwell's best qualifying time.

"Everyone knows these races aren't won from the pole," Maxwell said after Friday's final practice. "You really have to look further. Let's see what happens over the course of a few hours. That's the only way you can really tell."

Gone are the exotic and tremendously expensive Sports Racer Prototypes that were once the premiere class of the series. After two years of struggling to attract top-flight entrants, the sanctioning body, Grand American Road Racing, decided on a back-to-basics means of attracting factory and private efforts.

Enter the Daytona Prototype for today's race, which starts at 11 a.m. on the 3.56-mile road course that winds through the infield and uses about two-thirds of the famed 21/2-mile stock-car oval.

"The problem with the sports racers prototypes was that they outpaced their owners' wallets," said Roger Edmondson, president of Grand American Road Racing. "Development costs for new cars had gotten out of control, and it was killing what we felt was the essence of what we're about, which is close competition."

The Daytona Prototype was a decisive step in the other direction, Edmondson said.

Chassis designers were given specifications that used steel tube-framed closed cockpits and incorporated frontal radiator systems. Likewise, engine specifications called for less reliance on technology and more on engineering tradition.

The Daytona Prototypes in today's race will be powered by normally aspirated, production-based engines from the likes of Porsche, Ford, BMW and Toyota. Edmondson expects other manufacturers will come on board as the new class develops.

Maxwell and other drivers aren't sure how the new cars will hold up to the demands of a 24-hour race.

"It's a tough way to start out because most of the teams haven't had enough development time," said road-racing veteran Boris Said.

Said, who will drive the G&W Motorsports BMW Picchio, has lauded the new car since early testing began in December. He said he is willing to be forgiving no matter what happens.

"Sometimes you have to take a step backward before you move forward," he said. "In the future it's going to be great. I know we will learn a lot this weekend, and it's going to be a learning year."

A successful launch of the Daytona Prototypes could help the future of Grand Am, the 4-year-old sanctioning body that stages the Rolex 24 and 11 other events around the country.

Drivers like what they've seen so far.

"Right now, about the only real concern is whether (Grand Am) is going to give the cars more power," said David Brabham, who is co-driving with Maxwell and David Empringham. "The only way you're going to do that is adjust the rules slightly. They set the rules and regulations and this is the first time it's been seen from paper to reality."

The sanctioning body's season started Friday in a support race, the Grand-Am Cup series. Robert Julien and Jean-Francois Dumoulin won in a GS I, running 70 laps.

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