Portugal’s marquee team in VSCA, DS Racing eSports Team with Vitor Miranda, Nelson Narciso, Tiago Rodrigues and Bruno Carreira piloted their #992 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) to victory in the third annual 24 Hours of Daytona.
“This feels unbelievable!”, said closing driver Vitor Miranda in Daytona’s winner’s circle.
“Luckily we were able to keep the car in great shape and managed to avoid incidents that caused major damage. We still had the occasional scare, but luckily it was nothing more than that.”
“Winning the longest race in the championship is just the beginning, we hope to win or be in contention for victory in many more races. A victory in my debut and in the entry's debut is always something wonderful. I think we really showed today what we work for.”
The longest and most prestigious race on the VSCA calendar also marked the first time in the series’ history that the GT PRO class was part of the grid, making the Portuguese team the first to score a win in this new class.
Leading 151 laps, a late caution period that resulted in a restart with just one hour to go, set up a dramatic showdown between with the #911 Porsche of RPM Racing.
On lap 739 Vitor Miranda in the #992 DS Racing eSports Porsche braked a little early, leaving the door open for a hard charging Tom Cecchetto in the #911 RPM Porsche, who made the dive going into turn six, also called the western horseshoe.
Getting the better momentum on the corner exit, Miranda was right on the rear bumper of Cecchetto, treating the fans and GreenFlag TV broadcast viewers to an amazing fight in the question who will take the first ever GT PRO checkered flag in VSCA history.
Tom Cecchetto and Vitor Miranda went on to battle for the lead for several more laps as the clock continued to wind down. On lap 742 - the penultimate lap of the race - Cechetto saw another opportunity and made a daring move, diving into the inside of Miranda’s car heading into the international horseshoe.
The two cars touched, sending both into the marbles and the #911 into the grass, casting the dice on a wild season opener in GT PRO class competition and Miranda brought home the win with a 8.5 second margin.
“After that last caution, we knew that the fight was going to be very close until the end, as our stopping strategy did not allow us to change tires for this last stint.”, said Miranda, recollecting the final hour of the race.
“We knew we had to push as hard as we could on that restart. I managed to create a bit of a gap, around two seconds to Tom in the 911, and we stayed there for a few laps. But I had some bad luck in traffic, that put Tom right in my slip stream.”
“I knew that the fight would be very close until the end and I tried my best not to let him pass, because I knew he had the better tires and once he’d pass he’d probably run away. We had a very fair fight with no major issues other than the contact in turn four.”
Celebrating in victory lane, Miranda also made sure to thank his team-mates:
“Thanks to my team-mates for always managing to keep me focused and atop of my game, both defending Tom and predicting the maneuvers he was going to make. And also congratulations to VSCA for organizing a spectacle like this. That race was crazy exciting to watch, especially near the end. I know Marco (Vilela, owner of DS Racing eSports Team) had the whole family watching back home in Portugal, pulling for us while they watched the broadcast on the living room television!”
Taking second place, running a bit under the radar for long periods of the race thanks to early troubles, the #67 Kinetic Racing Porsche with Aedan Campbell, Vincent L’Herbier, Marc Torres and Linden Swaby put together an impressive comeback drive to take second place, coming up short of repeating as 24 Hours of Daytona champions, by just one position.
Danish powerhouse team RaceTech Competition made their series debut and celebrated a strong third place podium finish with Simon Husum, Morten Sterregaard-Feltsen and Steffen Jacobsen teaming up in the #55 Audi R8 LMS II GT3 Evo. The race also marked the return of Audi to GT VSCA competition for the first time since the 2022 Petit Le Mans.
RPM Racing’s #911 Porsche with Tom Cecchetto, Mark DeBoer, Robert Lancaster and Brack Crouch ended up fourth officially, after a post-race penalty. Despite coming up short in the battle for the win, the team can look back on an exceptionally strong entrance to the series winning The Roar Before The 24 last weekend and a fourth-place finish in the 24 Hours of Daytona.
Italy’s #69 North Sim Racing Porsche with drivers Andrea La Colla, Alessio Tranquilli, Michele Spoldi and Thomas D’Ambrosio led 93 laps en route to a top-five finish in their series debut. But two post-race penalties meant the team lost one position in the official results.
Leading 107 laps, things turned bleak for the #44 Fischer Motorsport Porsche in a hurry during a hard crash in the international horseshoe early Sunday morning. Left wondering what could have been, Stephen Nobes, Jay Van Meppelen and Daniel Gruber finished the race eight laps down in P6.
In P7 were there even more unlucky team-mates Benjamin Fischer, Manuel Mayer and Niklas Solle in the #84 Porsche, finishing eleven laps down following a hard crash during the night hours involving the #048 Dallara P217 of SCOWRS Esses Racing.
Scoring P8 and thus the last place in GT PRO was the #21 Audi of GSE Racing eSports. The team of John-Pascale Arnold, Tom Wini, Kevin Mueller and Patrock Dohr however failed to complete 70% of the race distance and therefore scored no championship points after withdrawing from the race on lap 64.
Kinetic Racing in familiar spot, leading SportsCar Championship standings
Taking a quote from the famous “Matrix” movie, one could say: “There are some things in this world, Captain Niobe, that will never change.” as the #67 Kinetic Racing Porsche finds itself in a familiar spot atop the championship standings.
On account of scoring fewer incidents during the 24 Hours of Daytona, the runners-up scored more championship points than race winners #992 DS Racing eSports Team, who now trail Kinetic Racing by eleven points.
Freshly baked 24 Hours of Daytona champion Vitor Miranda said: “We will try to be a little more careful with incidents going forward, to see we don't lose precious points that will make a difference at the end of the championship.”
“Anytime we enter a championship, our goal is to win. This win is a huge encouragement for the whole team, but it's still very early. It’s a long season, a lot can still happen.”
RaceTech Competition finished the race in third place and also sit third in the championship, 32 points back, followed by #911 RPM Racing 74 points back and the #44 Fischer Motorsport Porsche that is 89 points out of the lead.
RPM Racing atop Endurance Cup points thanks to masterful drive
Taking full advantage of the Endurance Cup points system that awards points not only at the finish but also at the 6-hour, 12-hour and 18-hour mark of the 24 Hours of Daytona, the #911 RPM Racing Porsche scored an impressive 17 points to claim the top spot in the Endurance Cup point standings.
Race winners #992 DS Racing eSports Team sit in second place, trailing by a mere two points.
The #55 RaceTech Competition team faces a six-point deficit while #44 Fischer Motorsport and #67 Kinetic Racing sit in fourth and fifth, tied on points with a gap of seven to the leaders.
Long Beach next up, battle on lone street circuit on season calendar
The series takes a much-needed break now to recuperate from an intense season opener, before returning to action in the streets of Long Beach, California on February 17th.
The lone street circuit on the 2024 season calendar, thanks to the departure of Detroit Belle Isle, Long Beach will provide a drastic change of pace for the field. Gone are the high-speed banks of Daytona, replaced with the narrow concrete walls of Long Beach.
The MV Skinlab Grand Prix of Long Beach, Round 2 of the VSCA SportsCar Championship will take the green flag on Saturday, February 17th at 1600 GMT and will once again be broadcast live on GreenFlag TV.
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