Action Express Porsche

The last hour at the Rolex 24 At Daytona is a nail biter: the cars are tired, ailing machines with potential for mechanical breakdowns; the crew are even more tired and pit stops become more challenging because fatigue contributes to the possibility of human mistakes during even routine stops. The 48th edition of this race had the predictable amount of attrition, but it was hard racing all the way. Adding to the difficulty factor was the air temperature, which by noon was down to 50 degrees, affecting not only the grip of the tires but also the comfort of crew members who had been out in the elements since early Saturday morning.

With half an hour left of racing the contest came down to two cars: the #9 Action Express Racing Porsche/Riley driven by Joao Barbosa of Portugal and the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates BMW/Riley driven by Scott Pruett from Auburn, California.

With 15 minutes left in the race the excitement grew because Pruett, who is known as a hard-charger, was only 52.640 seconds behind the leader. The possibility of a yellow flag incident - allowing the field to close up behind the pace car and create a whole new race scenario for Pruett to potentially benefit from - added to the tension as the race reached its conclusion.

In the end, and especially for anyone who enjoys cheering for the underdog, there was ample reason to cheer for the checkered flag finish of the 2010 Rolex 24 At Daytona when Barbosa crossed the finish line first after 24 thrilling hours of racing. Pruett had pushed hard to catch him, but in the end the 52.303 deficit was just not attainable.

Action Express Racing 2010 Rolex 24 Champs

The winning #9 Action Express Racing team is a multi-national effort with four nationalities represented just in the driving line-up alone: Barbosa hails from Porto, Portugal; Terry Borcheller from Vero Beach, Florida; Ryan Dalziel from Coatbridge, Scotland; and Mike Rockenfeller from Neuwied, Germany.

When asked what plans they had to celebrate the win, Borcheller said they had not made any. "With all the obstacles we've been having, including all the teething pains, it's hard to 'expect' to win. The Chip Ganassi's of the world, who do all the right things in terms of preparation and take all the right steps, they are the ones you are going to have to beat. So, when you see things are not going exactly like plan, it's hard to 'expect' to win. These things really seem unrealistic. Every time he [team manager Gary Nelson] sent me an email with all the problems, at the end of the email he would write, 'expect to win.' So I think Gary expects to win. I found those emails encouraging."

The #01 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates BMW/Riley team, led by three-time Rolex 24 At Daytona winner Scott Pruett, included Memo Rojas, Mexico City, Mexico; Justin Wilson, Dacono, Colorado; and Italian racer Max Papis who lives in Miami, Florida. The second-place finishers attributed their loss to a vibration that ultimately went away. "Every year the cars get more refined, more robust, you're not losing a wheel or brakes," said Pruett explaining that at this level of competition it's the finer details that can cost you half a lap - and the win - as it did here. "We just ran the thing as hard as we could the whole run. Because you've been in the winner's circle and the race is so draining when you don't get back to the top it's just emotions. It's always frustrating."

Members of the team #01 team felt second place was a good start to the racing season. "We wanted the watch, but we got the championship points for the season," said Papis, who with about eight hours to go was running like it was the last lap. "We came over here with one team, one goal. We accept it and at the same time I really want to congratulate the #9 car. They did a supreme job, they put us under pressure. You feel you take an opportunity like this, and you know you can lose by some small details. It was a real honor to be part of this team. The way we handled the race in the pit and off the pit, we were one team. It's just a bit of a shame I have to go back with a plastic watch, but I will be back."

Finishing third in Daytona Prototype was the #95 the Crown Royal/NPN Racing BMW/Riley driven by Scott Tucker of Overland Park, Kansas, with Ryan Hunter-Reay from Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Lucas Luhr from Monte Carlo, Monaco; and Richard Westbrook from London, England.

Bomarito, Haskell, Tremblay and Ham celebrate their win

The GT class was a 30-strong field of very competitive cars, of which less than half finished this endurance test. The race was won by the #70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 with an All American team: Nick Ham from Evergreen, Colorado; Jonathan Bomarito from Monterey, California; David Haskell from Plantation, Florida and Sylvain Tremblay from Sunrise, Florida.

I think we built this car in 29 days," said Haskell. I've been at the shop every morning, 7 days a week for the last 90 days from 6 in the morning to 7 at night and it's really been worth it. I'm sure all the guys who are backing up the truck right now are saying the same thing."

#70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8

Finishing second was the #67 TRG / Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche GT3 driven by Jorg Bergmeister of Langenfeld, Germany, Patrick Long from Belleair, Florida; Seth Neiman from Woodside, California; and Johannes Van Overbeek from Oakland, California. Third went to the #66 TRG Porsche GT3 driven by Ted Ballou from Corona del Mar, Calif., with Kelly Collins and Patrick Flanagan, both of Newport Beach, California; Andy Lally from Dacula, Georgia, and Wolf Henzler from Nuertingen, Germany.

Through all the rain and adversity it was a very fast Rolex 24 At Daytona. This 24 had a lot of damage done to it; records were set for distance with 755 laps completed; there were 53 different lead changes; it was the 22nd overall win for Porsche and the 16th class win for Mazda. This Super Bowl of Grand Am racing was won by a new team, who started in the rain and finished in a shower of champagne.

Results

Pos	No.	Class	CP	Drivers	Team/Car	Laps	Best Lap
1	9	DP	1	Barbosa / Borcheller / Dalziel / Rockenfeller	Action Express Racing / Porsche Riley	755	1:41.722
2	01	DP	2	Papis / Pruett / Rojas / Wilson	Chip Ganassi Racing / BMW Riley	755	1:41.606
3	95	DP	3	Bouchut / Hunter-Reay / Luhr / Tucker / Westbrook	Crown Royal/NPN Racing / BMW Riley	751	1:42.161
4	75	DP	4	Braun / Jonsson / Krohn / Zonta	Krohn Racing / Ford Lola	735	1:42.814
5	60	DP	5	Frisselle / Negri / Pew / Wilkins	Michael Shank Racing / Ford Riley	726	1:42.023
6	10	DP	6	Angelelli / Lamy / Taylor / Taylor	SunTrust Racing / Ford Dallara	711	1:41.101
7	6	DP	7	Allmendinger / Frisselle / Patterson / Valiante	Michael Shank Racing / Ford Riley	707	1:41.695
8	70	GT	1	Bomarito / Ham / Haskell / Tremblay	SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8	707	1:50.396
9	67	GT	2	Bergmeister / Long / Neiman / van Overbeek	TRG/ Flying Lizard Motorsports / Porsche GT3	703	1:49.975
10	66	GT	3	Ballou / Collins / Flanagan / Henzler / Lally	TRG / Porsche GT3	691	1:50.225
11	57	GT	4	Davis / Liddell / Magnussen	Stevenson Motorsports / Camaro GT.R	683	1:50.540
12	44	GT	5	Bleekemolen / Lietz / Potter / Stanton	Magnus Racing / Porsche GT3	683	1:50.523
13	40	GT	6	Dempsey / Espenlaub / Foster / Maxwell	Dempsey Racing / Mazda RX-8	682	1:50.616
14	43	GT	7	Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker / Sahlen	Team Sahlen / Mazda RX-8	682	1:52.621
15	94	GT	8	Auberlen / Dalla Lana / Hand / Said	Turner Motorsport / BMW M6 Riley	675	1:50.760
16	71	GT	9	Bernhard / Dumas / George Jr / Labonte / Pumpelly	TRG / Porsche GT3	668	1:50.519
17	97	GT	10	Bell / Borkowski / Refenning / Schaldach	Stevenson Motorsports / Camaro GT.R	661	1:52.351
18	32	GT	11	Finlay / Hyatt / Merrill / Westphal	Corsa Team PR1 / BMW M6	657	1:50.491
19	23	GT	12	Baldwin / Burtin / Farnbacher / Pagerey / Ragginger	Alex Job Racing / Porsche GT3	656	1:50.296
20	22	GT	13	Bentley / McIntosh / Nierop / O'Young	Bullet Racing / Porsche GT3	632	1:52.582
21	99	DP	8	Fogarty / Gurney / Johnson / Vasser	GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing / Chevrolet Riley	630	1:42.584
22	41	GT	14	Gue / Keen / Kitch Jr / Lacey	Dempsey Racing/Team Seattle / Mazda RX-8	620	1:50.299
23	55	DP	9	Bouchut / Bourdais / Collard / Maassen / Tucker	Crown Royal/NPN Racing / BMW Riley	619	1:41.752
24	77	DP	10	Gidley / Gollin / Jaeger / Johnston	Doran Racing / Ford Dallara	612	1:43.018
25	14	GT	15	Friedman / Gatlin / Graeff / Thomas / Yarab Jr.	Autometrics Motorsports / Porsche GT3	611	1:52.448
26	59	DP	11	Donohue / Haywood / Law / Leitzinger / Matos	Brumos Racing / Porsche Riley	582	1:41.394
27	7	DP	12	Forest / James / Lester / von Moltke	Starworks Motorsport / BMW Riley	549	1:43.207
28	69	GT	16	Assentato / Lazzaro / Longhi / Segal	SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8	488	1:50.989
29	88	GT	17	Baker / Cosmo / Mowlem / Papadopoulos / Willsey	Orbit Racing / Porsche GT3	444	1:51.284
30	48	GT	18	Hines / Ludwig / Miller / Roush	Miller Barrett Racing / Porsche GT3	411	1:51.339
31	18	GT	19	Doyle / Ledoux / Quinlan / Sheehan / Watkins	TRG/ Guardian Angel / Porsche GT3	386	1:56.893
32	90	DP	13	Garcia / Manning / Menard / Rice	Spirit of Daytona Racing / Porsche Coyote	346	1:43.699
33	63	GT	20	Brown / Dean / Richard / Thomas / Villeneuve	TRG / Porsche GT3	335	1:52.171
34	2	DP	14	Beyer / Cameron / Kapudija / Lueders / Wagner	Beyer Racing / Chevrolet Crawford	319	1:45.631
35	19	GT	21	Breslin / Breslin / Romagnoli / Romanini / Vinkemulder	MCM/Black Flag Racing / Corvette	316	1:55.327
36	20	GT	22	Lapierre / Menten / Palttala / Slingerland	Matt Connolly Motorsports / Porsche GT3	276	1:53.920
37	02	DP	15	Dixon / Franchitti / McMurray / Montoya	Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates / BMW Riley	249	1:42.530
38	07	GT	23	Edwards / Jones / McCutchen / Reese / Russell	Godstone Ranch Motorsports/Team MBR / Corvette	201	1:51.217
39	21	GT	24	Briody / Lassally / Rosa / Steuer / Trenery	Matt Connolly Motorsports / Pontiac GTO.R	153	1:54.822
40	46	GT	25	Collins / Ianetta / Lewis / Zahn	Autohaus Motorsports / Pontiac GXP.R	125	1:54.466
41	52	GT	26	Castellano / Michaelian / Michaelian / Safina / Schmidt / Swartzbaugh	Wil Mar Racing / Ferrari 430 Challenge	112	1:55.373
42	64	GT	27	Lowe / Lux / Pace / Sugden / Walker	JLowe Racing / Porsche GT3	100	1:54.559
43	30	GT	28	Bocchino / Buford / Edwards / Lamb / Taylor	Racers Edge Motorsports / Mazda RX-8	69	1:55.409
44	42	GT	29	Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker / Sahlen	Team Sahlen / Mazda RX-8	27	2:09.548
45*	08	GT	0	Poordad / Sigal / West / Yasukawa	Sigalsport / Ferrari 430 Challenge	0	-