Along with the arrival of the all-new LMDh category, the new top class in VSCA SportsCar Championship competition, making headlines at this year’s 24 Hours of Daytona, it was obvious a lot of LMDh teams were still adjusting to the new car.
Out of a 15-car LMDh class grid, eleven were still running by the time the clock had gone full circle twice, making for a relatively low retirement rate. However, only the race-winning No. 3 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Mayer Simspeed Performance finished on the lead lap, when Denmark driver Niclas Pedersen crossed the start/finish line on Sunday afternoon. All other cars finished multiple laps behind in class.
Long-time leaders and contenders Stow Motorsports and their No. 24 machine experienced incredible heartbreak as their race fell apart in the final two hours, with electrical issues. Still, the team out of Stow, Ohio had plenty of reason to take pride in a strong effort in their series debut. Due to the electrical failure, the team consequently fell out of the lead and lost seven laps, but still finished in second place.
 |
| Stow Motorsports had a strong run in the 24 Hours of Daytona and looked like primed for the win, until electrical issues in the late hours of the race - © 2023 VSCAracing.com / Benjamin Fischer |
The No. 51 World Of SimRacing Team car took third place, already twelve laps down but earned the second-highest amount of championship points in the race, thanks to a very clean drive with few incidents.
VSCA introduced an all-new bonus points system for the 2023 season, rewarding the cars with the fewest on-track incidents with extra championship points.
After departing from Torque Freak Racing over the course of the offseason, Joshua Wolf joined up with Grizzly Motorsports for the 2023 season. Together with team-mates Treavor Vavrosky, who followed the same path as Wolf, and Nicholas Davis and Dawson Brock, the team’s No. 7 BMW LMDh took fourth place in the longest race of the season. The team also lead 43 laps en route to a strong series debut topped off with a top-five finish.
One of the front runners in the series last year, Race4Cat Motorsport with Alex Rourera, Marc Alguero, Marc Freixa D. and Fran Molina rounded out the top-five, claiming fifth place driving the No. 10 BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh car, albeit twenty laps down from the race winners.
Series newcomers, Olympus eSports and their No. 21 car took sixth place, showing that they are to be reckoned with by leading a total of 15 laps, but faltering late and finishing 23 laps down.
The 24 Hours of Daytona was slowed by a record-setting ten full course yellows. After each restart, it seemed more incidents followed, preventing the race from settling down for quite a while.
 |
| Defending series champions, the No. 1 BMW of Element SimRacing were contenders for the win until a crash with the No. 7 car of Grizzly Motorsports - © 2023 VSCAracing.com / Benjamin Fischer |
Also finding trouble was the No. 1 car of Element SimRacing. The reigning series champions - probably the most prominent team to move from LMP2 to LMDh competition for 2023 - suffered heavy damage after a collision with the No. 7 car of Grizzly Motorsports in the 18th hour of race, when the No. 1 car was exiting the pits. The crash eliminated the German team’s chances of taking victory in the race, after they had led 31 laps in the race.
Falling one lap short of completing 800 race laps, Drivers Dennis Ehrhardt, Daniel Kramski and Kevin Aebi earned a P8 finish for EastSide Motorsport and the No. 27 BMW M Hybrid V8 entry.
The team based out of Crimmitschau, Germany was one of the positive stories early on in the 24-hour race, as the series newcomers managed to lead the second-most laps (61) of the race in the LMDh class, easily showing the competition that they came to compete this season.
The No. 8 car of Grizzly Motorsports and No. 45 car of MoneyHouse Racing rounded out the top ten finishers.
Last year’s runners-up, the No. 79 machine of Champion Motorsports suffered a crash involving the No. 85 Porsche of Fischer Motorsport during the night hours, consequently ending their race.
The team managed to get the car back out on track following lengthy repairs in the pits, but took little solace in crossing the line, 109 laps down, falling short of their expectations to contend for the win, after winning the 2022 season finale in October. They also were the final LMDh class car scoring championship points at the finish.
The No. 99 car of JO Motorsports, No. 905 of Kairos eSports, No. 73 car of Race Factory and the No. 88 machine of DS Racing eSports Team all failed to meet scoring requirements or were disqualified.
Thanks to their victory and a very clean drive, Mayer Simspeed Performance and their No. 3 team kick off their inaugural season in the VSCA SportsCar Championship by jumping to the top of the LMDh class championship standings, 38 points clear of World Of SimRacing Team’s No. 51 LMDh.
 |
| The No. 79 car of Champion Motorsports won pole and led laps, before a massive crash with the No. 85 Fischer Motorsport Porsche during the night hours ended their race prematurely - © 2023 VSCAracing.com / Benjamin Fischer |
Second-place finishers Stow Motorsports sit third in the championship, 52 points behind first. The No. 7 Grizzly Motorsports and No. 10 Race4Cat Motorsport entries round out the top-five.
Celebrating one of the biggest wins in their sim racing careers, Mayer Simspeed Performance drivers Niclas Pedersen, Kyle Birnie, Pascal Theis, David Koopmans and Jason Birnie celebrated in Daytona’s victory lane.
“We were hoping to be competitive. But we had a bunch of organizational and technical challenges going into this one. Just a week before the race, it looked like David and Pascal might not be able to race at all. But in the race everything really came together for us. We always focused on just keeping it clean, finish our stints without damage or contact. That strategy really paid off for us. This win is huge for us, especially coming in our first race. This is awesome.”, Kyle Birnie said.
The race winners also set a new VSCA all-time record by scoring a perfect 20 Endurance Cup points in the race, by leading the race at the 6-hour, 12-hour, 18-hour mark and the finish.
The VSCA SportsCar Championship now enjoys a two-month break, that some teams will make use of to travel to Australia for the annual iRacing Bathurst 12 Hour at Mount Panorama Circuit.
The series returns to action at Sebring International Raceway on March 25th, with the second annual 12 Hours of Sebring.
Related Links