The revolutionary DeltaWing coupe proved it was fast at the recent Roar Before the Rolex 24 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship testing at Daytona International Speedway, leading a session and placing sixth overall on the final time charts. Now, Panoz DeltaWing Racing is working on its reliability for the 54th Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 30-31.
Drivers Katherine Legge, Sean Rayhall, Andy Meyrick and Andreas Wirth all posted competitive laps in the No. 0 Panoz DeltaWing Racing coupe, with a best lap of 1:39.955 (128.218 mph). Legge led Saturday morning’s opening round – the first time the DeltaWing led an official session – with the car second in night practice. Meyrick then ended up second fastest in Sunday’s testing.
“We had a fantastic three-day test and the team did a brilliant job,” Legge said. “I think that the hard work and the changes that we’ve made are finally starting to pay dividends on our performance. We have shown the speed and we have made changes that have really improved our reliability. I believe we are in great shape for the Rolex 24 at Daytona at the end of the month.”
Legge explained that driving style plays a key role in improving durability. “You need to look after the car, be kind to the brakes, not run curbs and be smart with overtaking so as not to cause damage and to look after yourself for the duration,” Legge said. “The mindset you need for an endurance race is different than a sprint race. It’s not just drivers, but the whole team has to prepare themselves. The team at Panoz DeltaWing Racing are knowledgeable, experienced and have done an excellent job on the groundwork. I have worked with them for three years now, and we are in a deserving position ahead of the upcoming Rolex 24.”
Rayhall tested in preparation for his first race with the team, laying the groundwork for a full-season effort in 2016. “I’m really happy with the gains we’ve made this weekend at the Roar,” Rayhall said. “I think we have a consistent package that will be good for 24 hours and that’s the aim of the game. The team as a whole are performing phenomenally and I can’t wait for the race to be here.”
While the car has qualified strong over the past two years, it has yet to finish at Daytona. Legge and Meyrick – along with Alexander Rossi and Gabby Chavez – started seventh in the car’s debut in 2014 and completed 288 laps before the car’s retirement, resulting in a 16th-place finish in the Prototype class. Last year, the car qualified fifth but Legge, Meyrick, Chavez and Memo Rojas retired after 42 laps in 15th place.
For 2016, reliability will be a key factor, and team manager Tim Keene is keeping that in mind as Panoz DeltaWing Racing undergoes final preparations to the car at team headquarters in Braselton, Ga.
“In looking at reliability, you have to look at more than just the components themselves,” Keene said. “You take into consideration as to how parts and pieces are installed, looking for signs of any parts rubbing, or chaffing of the wiring and that sort of thing. Also you look at the data to ensure your gearing is correct, and that you won’t be hitting the rev limiter which can cause damage to the driveline. You must ensure that the drivers are doing their part as well by not abusing the curbs, making clean shifts, and that they’re doing everything possible to take care of the car, and remembering that it’s a race of endurance and not a sprint to the checkered.
“Having good, intelligent drivers is just as big a part of reliability as is having the right components on the car,” Keene added. “Having an experienced crew to prepare it, as each part of what happens in any race and the race car itself is a function of each part of the entire framework working together. As a general rule, the key is to do your best to try and be more proactive rather than reactive. If you’ve done your job correctly, you should only be reacting to the things that are out of your control; everything else, you should’ve seen coming before it happened.”
Practice for the Rolex 24 begins on Thursday, Jan. 28.