The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the US always kicks off with a long-distance classic, the Rolex 24 at Daytona (aka the 24 Hours of Daytona) down in sunny Florida.
But this year, it wasn’t sunny at all. Dense fog forced the race to be red-flagged for more than six hours, with the Safety Car acting as the “pace car” during that time—and it was out on track countless times even during the regular racing.
What makes the US championship special is that four different car classes hit the track together: GTP (Grand Touring Prototype), LMP2, GTD Pro, and GTD. The last two are based on GT3 race cars, and we supply all the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, BMW M4 GT3 EVO, and Porsche 911 GT3 R entries with our KW Racing dampers.
BMW M4 GT3 EVO takes the GTD Pro win with KW V6 Racing
All those Safety Car laps, technical DNFs, and crashes turned into almost a “get-out-of-jail-free card” for Neil Verhagen, Connor de Phillippi, Max Hesse, and Dan Harper in the Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO (#1).
They started dead last after qualifying, but the BMW fought its way straight to the front of GTD Pro. The four factory drivers delivered a flawless race, stayed mistake-free the whole distance, and kept pushing the 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 back to second place over and over.
After 662 laps, they crossed the line first in GTD Pro with a lead of just 2.223 seconds. Heartfelt congratulations!
The Manthey Porsche #911 was always right in the fight for the lead. It was Manthey’s first-ever start in the IMSA SportsCar Championship with the yellow-green Porsche 911 GT3 R (992). In the end, Klaus Bachler, Ricardo Feller, Thomas Preining, and Ayhancan Güven were waved off in fifth place in class.
The #77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, driven by Harry King, Nick Tandy, and Alessio Picariello, finished ninth in GTD Pro.
KW Racing customers in GTD
In GTD, the Magnus Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo (#44) took second place, just 1.367 seconds behind the winner.
Another Aston Martin claimed the final podium spot with a bigger gap of 10.291 seconds. The Heart of Racing team (#27) also made it onto the podium in third.
For more on our KW Racing coilovers and the KW technology used here, check out our brand site www.kwsuspensions.com and the KW automotive Blog.
Photos: Teams, Manufacturers
