Series newcomers Race Factory dominated the second annual 24 Hours of Daytona, leading 424 out of 791 laps en route to a resounding win in their first-ever VSCA SportsCar Championship start.
Drivers Nathan Deering, Turner Schroll, Alex Caruso and Floyd Kerr started from the outside of the front row and jumped into the lead for the first time on lap 98 before putting their thumb on the race later in the race.
As the temperatures dropped during the night and morning hours, competition heated up between the eventual race winners and the No. 14 Fischer Motorsport Dallara P217.
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| Giving the race winners a good battle, the No. 14 Fischer Motorsport Dallara P217 took second place - © 2023 VSCAracing.com / Benjamin Fischer |
The two teams exchanged the lead multiple times, before closing driver Floyd Kerr sealed the deal for Race Factory by bringing home the win across the finish line after 24 hours of racing.
“This is an amazing accomplishment by the entire team. Nathan, Turner, Alex and Floyd have done a phenomenal job all race long. We couldn’t have dreamed of a better first race in VSCA. I’m happy for the entire team.”, Race Factory team manager Pascal Ebener said in victory lane.
The No. 14 Fischer Motorsport Dallara with drivers Thomas Martin, Travis Linscome-Hatfield and Rico Kollmeier came in second, marking the only other car in LMP2 class competition to finish the race on the lead lap, after overcoming a big crash just 16 minutes into the race, when LMP2 class traffic stacked up into the bus stop chicane.
The No. 155 DS Racing eSports Team Dallara LMP2 finished in third place, one lap down, but proved to be more than competitive, leading a second-most 166 laps in the race with drivers Pedro Vargas, Tiago Dias, Tomas Mora and Dan Marques.
Series veterans, the No. 96 Dallara of Albrecht Motorsports took fourth place followed by VRG Sport (formerly vApex Racing Group) and their brand-new No. 66 Dallara P217 entry who founded out the top-five.
For VRG Sport, it was their first start in the LMP2 class after moving up from GTD class competition last year and immediately the team established itself as one of the most successful entries coming out of Daytona.
Leading an impressive 93 laps in the race, but faltering late after damage sustained in a crash, the No. 19 Trading Paints Racing Team LMP2 took the checkers in sixth place, six laps down.
Damien Behnke, who made his series debut for 499RACING at Petit Le Mans in 2022 and founded his own team Vision 1 Motorsports over the offseason, together with team-mates Mario Cappellucci, Matthew Allanson and Kyle Allen, finished P7 after battling adversity resulting in a loss of twelve laps.
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| The No. 86 GSE Racing eSports had a tough outing in the 24 Hours of Daytona, involving this crash during the night time hours. After 336 laps, the team withdrew from the race, with no championship points scored - © 2023 VSCAracing.com / Benjamin Fischer |
GetSpeed eSports and their No. 777 car finished in P8.
The No. 193 MAD Sim Racing Dallara with an all-Bronze lineup of six Bronze rated drivers finished in P9, earning their first top ten finish in their first series start and completing 766 laps on the way.
The No. 121 Olympus eSports Dallara with Stian Solberg, Daniel Merchant and Matt Loveridge completed the top-ten finishers.
Completing less than the required minimum 70% race laps the No. 86 Dallara of GSE Racing eSports and the No. 17 Dallara of Agee Motorsports failed to score championship points.
LMP2 championship standings after Daytona
On the heels of their dominant win in the season opener, the No. 199 Race Factory Dallara team now leads the LMP2 class championship standings by twelve points of runners-up No. 14 Dallara of Fischer Motorsport.
DS Racing eSports Team and their No. 155 machine hold third position with the No. 96 of Albrecht Motorsports and No. 11 of Vision 1 Motorsports rounding out the top-five.
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| GetSpeed eSports and their No. 777 Dallara LMP2 finished P8 in their first VSCA start, overcoming a scary incident at the bus stop chicane during the night-time hours - © 2023 VSCAracing.com / Benjamin Fischer |
Endurance Cup standings after Daytona
Scoring a perfect 20 Endurance Cup points in the 24 Hours of Daytona, by holding first position in class at the six-hour, halfway, 18-hour and finish mark of the race, the No. 199 Race Factory Dallara P217 LMP2 holds a firm lead in the Endurance Cup point standings.
Trailing by nine points is the No. 155 DS Racing eSports Team Dallara team, with Albrecht Motorsports and Fischer Motorsport and Vision 1 Motorsports all tied for third at 10 points apiece right behind.
Competitive season expected for LMP2 class
If anything, Daytona has shown the LMP2 class, while smallest on the grid, may be one of the most competitive classes of the series in 2023. Race winners Race Factory, runners-up Fischer Motorsport but also DS Racing eSports Team and Trading Paints Racing Team all look to be competitive enough to win on any given day in this championship.
As is the case for all other teams, LMP2 teams will now enjoy a two-month break before competition resumes with the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 25th at Sebring International Raceway.
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