Yahoo Autos HSR Daytona Historics set the stage for the HSR Classic Daytona 24 Hour Race
Three days of Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) Daytona Historics competition set the stage for this weekend’s HSR Classic Daytona 24 that gets underway Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET for 24 straight hours of vintage and historic sports car racing on the Daytona International Speedway road course.
The Classic 24 runs for the ninth time this weekend and the lead-in HSR Daytona Historics event for HSR’s season-long series and championships once again proved to be the perfect primer for America’s premier 24-hour vintage and historic race.
Running Thursday afternoon through Saturday morning, the HSR Daytona Historics produced a list of both familiar and first-time HSR feature race winners. Doubling up on victories as he has so many times in the past, Todd Treffert captured both the HSR Classic RS Cup victory and Sasco Sports International/America Challenge Overall and Porsche-Class honors in Thursday’s opening feature race of the Daytona weekend.
Treffert’s Speedconcepts 1974 No. 14 Porsche 911 IROC prepared by the 901 Shop led a top-three overall run of Porsches in the RS Cup/Sasco Sports double feature race.
David Agretelis finished second overall in his 901 Shop 1978 No. 92 Porsche 911 to secure runner-up honors in both the RS Cup and Sasco Sports Porsche races. Completing the top-three overall Porsche sweep was the Arnage Motorsports 1974 No. 152 Porsche 911 IROC of Yves Scemama who secured third-place showings in both RS Cup and Sasco Sports Porsche.
Thursday’s second Daytona Historics feature event was a flat-out sprint for a packed field of 42 primarily GT Modern (GTM) machines in the Stoner Car Care Global GT race. The victory went to former HRS Driver of the Year Juan Lopez-Santini in his 901 Shop 2016 No. 8 Audi R8 LMSA Ultra after a race-long battle with his teammate Jeronimo Guzman and Bob Neapole in his 2016 No. 67 Porsche 991 GT3R.
All three drivers led the race ,with Neapole taking advantage of slight delay by pole-sitter Guzman at the start to take the lead going into Turn 1. But the twin 901 Shop Audis soon moved to the top of the order, with Lopez-Santini and Guzman trading the lead back and forth several times. Lopez-Santini managed to build a slight gap in the late-race traffic and crossed the finish line a scant 0.488s ahead of Guzman’s 2015 No. 48 Audi R8 LMSA Ultra. Neapole took the checkered flag a close third.
The Friday and Saturday Daytona Historics highlights were a pair of one-hour B.R.M. Chronographes Endurance Challenge races that produced a combined five different race winners.
Friday’s one-hour B.R.M. race for the Prototype, GTM and Historic classes was won overall by the 2017 No. 02 Cadillac Dallara DPi co-driven by Pierce Marshall and Eric Foss. The Matador Motorsports-prepared prototype was chased to the line by the quick Audi R8 duo of Guzman and Lopez-Santini who swapped spots from Thursday’s Stoner Car Care race for another one-two finish with Guzman edging Lopez-Santini for the B.R.M. GTM win.
Ken Greenberg secured his second-straight B.R.M. Historics victory in his No. 836 Porsche 993 RSR prepared by Air Power Racing. Greenberg and Air Power also claimed the B.R.M. Historic win one race ago in the HSR Fall Historics at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Saturday’s B.R.M. Endurance race for GT Classic (GTC) and Vintage cars saw Agretelis break through for the overall and GTC win in his No. 92 Porsche after his pair of Thursday runner-up showings. Colin Dougherty won the Vintage-class race in the DAS Sport 1988 No. 77 Porsche 944 Turbo Cup.
Other Daytona Historic race winners included Mike Banz who won the International division in Sasco Sports in his Arnage Motorsports 2004 No. 99 BMW M3. The Sasco Sports American division victory was earned by Great Britain’s Nigel Armstrong in his 1967 No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro.
A competitor test day on Wednesday kicked off the 2023 HSR Classic Daytona presented by IMSA. The full-day test set the stage for the following four days of official competition, which culminates with the classic 24-hour race from Saturday, November 4, at 2 p.m. EDT straight through to the final checkered flag 24 hours later on Sunday, November 5 at 1 p.m. EST.
A competitor test day on Wednesday kicked off the 2023 HSR Classic Daytona presented by IMSA. The full-day test set the stage for the following four days of official competition, which culminates with the classic 24-hour race from Saturday, November 4, at 2 p.m. EDT straight through to the final checkered flag 24 hours later on Sunday, November 5 at 1 p.m. EST.
The Classic 24 features just over 12 hours of daytime livestream coverage this weekend, beginning just before competitors in Group C and D, which have the honor of starting the race this year, begin their pace laps at 2 p.m. EDT on Saturday. Classic 24 programming then runs straight through the next six hours covering the opening rounds for all competing race groups before signing off for the night just after the traditional fireworks display at 8 p.m. EDT during the Group A race.
The live feed returns Sunday morning at 7 a.m. EST for another prime daytime six hour block of coverage featuring the fourth and final rounds that will determine the overall winners for all Run Groups, ending with the final checkered flag at 1 p.m. EST.
