The 24 hour race at Daytona International Speedway started out in 1962 as a three hour race. In 1964 the race grew to 1250 miles (double the distance of the classic 1000 kilometer races of Spa, Monza and the Nürburgring). It wasn’t until 1966 that the first 24 hour event took place at Daytona. Over the past 50 years Porsche became the most successful manufacturer in the history of the race with 22 overall wins.
Today, the Daytona International is one of the world’s most famous race tracks. The 24 hour race is contested on the 3.56 mile track combination of oval with banked corner and the infield. The circuit is also the venue for the famed NASCAR Daytona 500 race with over 250,000 spectators annually.
Seven Porsche Works Drivers to Compete
Title defender Wolf Henzler competes for TRG Racing while Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA) line up for Flying Lizard Motorsports. Alex Job Racing has Marco Holzer (Germany) onboard, with Patrick Pilet (France) taking the wheel of the second TRG-Porsche. Magnus Racing competes with Richard Lietz (Austria), at the same time his teammate in the new World Endurance Championship, Marc Lieb (Germany), lines up for Brumos Racing. Also taking up the race with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is Audi factory pilot Mike Rockenfeller (Switzerland).
Lastly, in recognition of their brilliant performances in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Porsche AG gave the two-time champion René Rast (Germany) as well as “Rookie of the Year” Kévin Estre (France) the chance to compete at Daytona.
Race Schedule and TV Coverage
The race starts this coming Saturday, January 28th at 2:30 pm EST. Speed.com will offer flag to flag coverage on their web-site while Speed TV will air an hour pre-race show and then provide 7.5 hours of uninterrupted live coverage. Coverage will return to Speed TV at 9 a.m. Sunday with another seven uninterrupted hours.
Listen to the Sounds of Racing from the Rolex 24 at Daytona
Facts and Figures about Porsche in the Rolex 24 at Daytona