Good morning, everyone!
The Roar Before the 24 is done and dusted! Here’s your recap of last weekend’s activities and a look ahead to the coming race weekend. You can watch the 4-hour BMW M Endurance Challenge At Daytona on Peacock TV at 1:40 on Friday, January 24.
I’m psyched for a great year to come and I hope you are too!
Cheers!
Beth
It’s time again, Race Fans!
Get ready for racing in 2025 IMSA Roar Before the 24 season kick off at Daytona International Speedway! This year, Morgan is with a new team, CSM, in a Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. We are in the same Michelin Pilot Challenge series as last year, but in the faster GS class. Morgan is paired with Gordon Scully all year and Robert Megennis joins them at Daytona and at Mid-Ohio for the 4-hour events. Check out the press release: Czabok Simpson Motorsport Signs Pair of Drivers for 2025 Season.
We have five practice sessions across three days this week (Jan 17-19) before next weekend’s race event. There is no broadcast for the Roar, but you can watch live timing and, with the right tools, listen to the announcers on the radio. https://livetiming.alkamelsystems.com/imsa
There’s your set up for the weekend. There is SO much more good stuff to come!
THURSDAY NOTES:
CSM is so well organized. A schedule of activities and assignments given to everyone in the crew makes everything flow smoothly. IMSA posts the schedule of sessions, and CSM layers the team’s activities on top of that. Planning and debrief sessions, tech inspections and transit to the grid are all included. Expectations are clear. We will always know where to be and when! With the moonlight on the glimmering on the ocean, we go to bed full of hope and anticipation for the first sessions on the track.
FRIDAY NOTES:
With the sunrise this morning, the 97 days since the last checkered flag of 2024 come to a close and the roar of racecars is back!
It is cold this morning (at least for Florida), maybe 45 when we get here. But our annual credentials get us in the gate quickly and the parking pass makes for a short walk to the transporter. We have a pleasant hospitality area by the garage so we can be comfortable and watch everything going on.
That first practice session here makes me smile again. The chirp, zing and whir of the air powered impact wrenches echoes off the stands. It’s like metallic birds calling back and forth to each other. It's as if they are as excited as we are to get things going.
The first practice is only 60 minutes and all three drivers get a chance to get acquainted with the car. I find the perfect spot to stand when they change the tires and place the used ones on a square of pavement. There is a nice little spot just big enough for my feet right in the center of the square that is nice and toasty warm in the heat radiating off the wheel rims. I have a great view of pit box operations and I am out of the way here.
Morgan soaks up quite a lot of information in this first session. The Porsche is a very different race car from everything else he’s ever driven. He begins to adapt his style and approach right away. The second session is not so much about speed as further developing that style.
The second practice session is longer and Morgan gets lots of seat time to really settle in. Results are good and all are happy! Tomorrow, the 90 minute practice 3 rolls out at 9:30. Hop online and hope for good results.
Seeing Morgan in a Porsche is not going to get old!
SATURDAY NOTES:
Saturday at Daytona is different. Not only is it much warmer to start (60), it’s also a bit damp. That does clear up quickly when the first group goes on track.
The energy level is also very different. Yesterday was the get acquainted day for drivers and the team. It was a bit relaxed but still serious and efficient. There were already a few fans wandering through also.
Today, however, everybody really means business. There is a different set to the shoulders and posture of everyone. Expressions show both concentration and thrill and we are all keen to get going.
The stream of fans is much thicker this morning too. Before the session, Morgan, Gordon, and Robert talked to a lot of kids and families and signed a lot of autographs. That is a really joyful time and it gets everyone pumped up.
As practice 3 moves along and the drivers change places, the conversations between them almost can be interpreted without hearing any of their words. They always talk with their hands and bodies to describe the action of the car through various turns. It’s a vital exchange that helps get the next guy better prepared for his stint.
Morgan says he loves leaving the pit lane. I mean, yeah, his stint is on, but the feeling of mashing the throttle and doing a burnout is a real rush. The car is all squirmy and it warms up the tires a bit and gets the brain ready to handle the car.
Clearly, Morgan is well suited to the Porsche! All the drivers are doing very well today. They are refining their techniques, practicing skills, dialing in the setup. It’s a well oiled machine with drivers, crew, and car all coming into sync already. Wonderful!
Next up: Practice 4. It goes out at 4:30.
Daytona is in Florida. That means the weather is somewhat variable. We may have had a little sunshine during the middle of the day, but the clouds are coming back in. That’s ok. Some of us prefer cooler temps! (Points to self.)
At the moment, the data suggests that there is a high chance of rain during our final practice session tomorrow morning (at 11:00 am EST) so this is the last one of the weekend to be run in the dry.
During the first stint, we get a chance to cheer for the #67 when Gordon goes purple putting down the fastest time so far. That feels pretty darn good!
By the end of the session, all the drivers are happy with the car. They’ll go splash around in the rain tomorrow, but timing probably won’t reveal much at all.
Until tomorrow!
SUNDAY NOTES:
Ahead of Session 5, Daytona dishes up some really gnarly weather this morning for us. Just before track sessions are scheduled to start, Mother Nature decides we all need to be scrubbed really hard. So she makes the wind blow sideways, ensuring the drenching deluge reaches into every little crevice. And there is lightning too. IMSA shuts everything down, and we hole up in the garage and the trailer to wait it out. All the course workers retreat to their vehicles as well to stay safe from the torrent.
Eventually the line of storms moves off enough to resume. We go out at our originally scheduled time, but for a shorter session. Each of the drivers gets a few laps in the car. They just need a bit of time to find the wiper switch and locate where the puddles and streams occur in case we have a wet race. As expected there are a few lingering apex puddles and anything painted or sealed is terribly slippery. That's totally typical of any road anywhere.
The rest of the day is spent tidying things up and getting set for next week and the real Daytona event. The guys do some driver change practice. It’s good to have that go smoothly on automatic.
The team still has one race left to support today. Root for Jackson Lee in the #2 Porsche in the VP Fuels in the GSX class. Look for both VP Racing SportsCar Challenge races on YouTube.
Go team CSM!!
Come back next week for the BMW M Endurance Challenge at Daytona!