We made it! Getting in just under the wire with our last class preview, the extremely tastefully named GTP. I came along as a new racing fan in 1991, when the IMSA GTP class had a wide variety of chassis, engines and manufacturers (Nissan, Chevrolet, Toyota, Jaguar, Mazda, and Porsche, plus Buick, Acura and Ferrari in the Camel Lights class), so a return to that nomenclature and hopefully the number of involved manufacturers of three decades ago is a welcome change. With the introduction of "something old" (the GTP name) also comes "something new", a brand new hybrid system that works with every powertrain from every manufacturer. No word on if anything "borrowed" or "blue" is also on the way. In any given year, a new set of cars or engines would bring a heightened chance for the dreaded "new car blues", but bringing in a whole new set of technology increases the chance for reliability catastrophe by several orders of magnitude. This year's GTP class win may very well come down to whichever car can stay out of the garage the best. So, what that said, who's likely to take home the Rolexes?
The Pack
#24 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 - The Bimmers have seemed to be just a tick off of front running pace, winding up 7th and 8th in qualifying, ahead of only the #6 Penske Porsche that crashed in the bus stop chicane late in the session (although, this being said, both BMWs were less than a second off of the pole time, so they're not miles off of the pace). I've got to assume that reliability (or the lack thereof) is essentially about the same for all four manufacturers, so I'm going to go off of pace for chances to win. Odds - 10 to 1.
#25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 - See above, same goes for the #25. Odds - 10 to 1.
#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 - An even further throwback to the previous GTP era, Porsche has named their new car the 963, the spiritual successor to the dominant 962 of old. In the hands of the dominant Penske squad, the 963 will be sure to win dozens of races......someday. But will tomorrow be the day of that first win? Odds - 9 to 1.
#7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 - See above comments for the #6. Odds - 9 to 1.
#31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac V-LMDh - The multi-time Daytona 24 Hours winning team Action Express brings a single Caddy LMDh car to this year's race, with Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken joining previous driver Pipo Derani. I'm sure that they're working with the Ganassi Cadillac team to gather data on the new car, but they're the only one car team in the GTP class this year. Will this work for them or against them once the green flag drops? Odds - 9 to 1.
#01 Ganassi Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-LMDh - On the other hand, the Ganassi team has twice as many cars, twice as many crewmembers and, I suppose, twice as many chances to win. Add in the might of their organization and engineering, and I'll give them a slight edge over the #31 Whelen car. Odds - 7 to 1.
#02 Ganassi Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-LMDh - Same goes for the #02. Odds - 7 to 1.
#60 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 - Again, based straight up on pace, the Acuras have definitely had an edge on the other cars through testing and qualifying (the #60 is on the pole, in the hands of Tom Blomqvist), although the other teams appear to be closing the gap through the last two days of practice. Have the Acuras been working through other parts of their program the last couple of days, and we'll see an advantage again in the race? Odds - 7 to 1.
#10 Wayne Taylor Racing Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 - Look, the Wayne Taylor Racing guys had a three race Daytona 24 winning streak going, until the Meyer Shank guys beat them by a whopping three seconds at last year's race. A four race run of 1st or 2nd means that I've got to pick you as the favorite, even if it's only by a tiny edge. Odds - 6 to 1.
We made it! With like four hours to spare! Tune back in later today for further coverage of the 24 Hours!
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