The International Motor Sports Association rings in the New Year in grand fashion with the Roar Before the Rolex 24 on January 8-10 at Daytona International Speedway.
Like a race weekend without the trophies, the Roar features three full days of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge action on the famed 3.56-mile circuit, even including a Saturday evening session under the lights. It’s a dress rehearsal for the season-opening 54th Rolex 24 At Daytona and BMW Performance 200 that officially kicks off the action on January 29-31.
“We have had great success with our car, but we still have room to improve and make it even better,” said Joao Barbosa, who joined Christian Fittipaldi in winning the 2014 and 2015 Prototype championship in Action Express Racing’s No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP. “The Roar Before the Rolex 24 is an important test for us, because every opportunity to go out on track is good for us. Given our success, we’re sure that every team is working hard to beat us. To achieve the same results, we have to keep working hard. We’re going to return to the Rolex 24 with the same mentality – to win the race.”
A number of WeatherTech Championship teams participated in a two-day IMSA open test at Daytona in November, including the new Ford GT and a number of new factory cars that will be racing in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes in 2016. At the Roar, many teams will have the opportunity to test their new cars, including the Ferrari 488 GT3, Lamborghini Huracán GT3, Audi R8 LMS GT3, BMW M6 GT3, Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and Porsche 911 GT3-R.
The test also includes the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, with a first look at the new Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport that will debut in Grand Sport (GS) competition.
Roar testing begins at 9 a.m. on Friday with the first of two one-hour sessions for the Continental Tire Challenge. WeatherTech Championship teams test from 10:15 a.m. – noon and 3-5:30 p.m.
On Saturday, WeatherTech Championship runs from 9-10:45 a.m., 1:05-2:35 p.m., 4:15-5:15 p.m. and the important night session from 6:45-8:15 p.m. The Continental Tire Challenge also has a pair of one-hour practices, beginning at 11:05 a.m. and 2:55 p.m.
The Roar concludes on Sunday, with WeatherTech Championship sessions from 10:20 a.m.-12:05 p.m. and 2:40-3:40 p.m., and Continental Tire Challenge from 9-10 a.m. and 1:35-2:20 p.m.
Following the Roar, competitors in both series return to Daytona for the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, with opening Continental Tire Challenge and Ferrari Challenge practice on Wednesday, Jan. 27.