No. 14 Dallara second in Daytona 24
Drivers Rico Kollmeier, Thomas Martin and Travis Linscome-Hatfield in the No. 14 Dallara P217 LMP2 earned a second-place finish in the VSCA 24 Hours of Daytona.
The team’s two entries in GTD class, the No. 84 Porsche 911 GT3 R and No. 85 Porsche 911 GT3 R both suffered multiple major crashes to finish P14 and P11, respectively, making for a disappointing start to the 2023 season.
Providing a silver lining for Fischer Motorsport, Kollmeier, Martin and Linscome-Hatfield in the No. 14 Dallara rallied from early troubles and a few incidents, from three laps down back to the lead lap for challenge for the race win.
An untimely penalty for a pit fast lane violation cost the team late in the race, but Kollmeier pushed the team back to the lead lap and P1 in LMP2 class with an incredible quintuple stint.
“I have to say, that probably was the best drive of my life. I’m not even kidding.”, Kollmeier said of his run that put the team in contention for the win.
On the final pit stop of the race, through a miscommunication, the team failed to change tires however, ultimately meaning second place was the end result, instead of a potential race win.
 |
|
© 2023 Fischer Motorsport
Lap 209: Greg Conaway in the No. 85 Porsche is involved in a devastating crash after contact with a LMDh class car and the wall
|
“I’m extremely proud of the guys. It was a tough race at times. But they hung in there and battled back. We also had some electrical issues while Thomas was in the car Sunday morning. That cost us two laps and we thought that might be it for our chances.”, said team president Benjamin Fischer.
“But Rico did an unbelievable job bringing us back into contention, even the lead. That was really incredible to watch. I don’t think I’ve seen a drive quite like that.”
For Martin, Kollmeier and Linscome-Hatfield, it was the first race together, after Fischer Motorsport reorganized its LMP2 program over the course of the offseason, following the departure of Kyle Birnie, Jason Birnie, Niclas Pedersen and David Koopmans to compete in the VSCA SportsCar Championship in LMDh class for Mayer Simspeed Performance.
“I think it’s safe to say the team is off to a strong start. We’re very fortunate to have Thomas, Rico and Travis drive for us. And the chemistry is fantastic as well. I’m excited about the new season.”, Fischer added.
After Daytona, the No. 14 Dallara now sits in second place in the LMP2 championship, twelve points behind race winners the No. 199 Dallara of Race Factory.
Hopes for Porsche GT teams end in crashes, bitter disappointment
After practicing hundreds of laps and investing many hours of preparation, both Porsche GT entries, the No. 84 and No. 85 Porsche 911 GT3 R suffered one of the worst races in VSCA yet, taking 14th place 23 laps down and 11th place 18 laps down, respectively in the biggest race of the year.
For the No. 84 Porsche team and drivers Manuel Mayer, Jan Schrader, Jay Van Meppelen and Rick Cats things got off to a rough start already, when the team started the race with not enough fuel and had to take an unscheduled pit stop on lap three, followed by two crashes with damage in the opening two hours.
The pit crew did its best to repair the damage and used extra time under some early full course caution periods, to get the car back into good shape. But during the night hours, Manuel Mayer, in an attempt to side draft off another GTD class car through the tri-oval, made contact and crashed hard into the outside wall.
 |
|
© 2023 Fischer Motorsport
The No. 84 Porsche suffered one of its worst races in recent years in the 24 Hours of Daytona, taking P14 and 23 laps down
|
“That was just a stupid error on my part. I was in the slipstream, moved to the outside and tried to use the side draft to stay ahead into turn one, but misjudged how close we were and from there on I went straight into the wall.”, a visibly frustrated Mayer said.
“It’s extremely frustrating, because we were actually running good lap times after getting the damage fixed. We still were laps down but hoping to get back in contention if we had a few more cautions. But that crash pretty much took us out of the race. It’s a shame.”, Mayer added.
For the sister car No. 85 Porsche 911 GT3 R with drivers Stephen Nobes, Will Robertson, Greg Conaway and Niklas Solle things got off to a very promising start as Solle led several laps in the opening hour of the endurance classic.
But during the first pit stop of the race under yellow flag conditions, the No. 85 Porsche entered pit lane and missed the pit stall, and consequently had to go back out on track very low on fuel and on old tires, then pit again seven laps later under green, following the restart.
The error sent the team from the lead to 20th position. Later on, Robertson lost control in the bus stop chicane during the night hours of the race and suffered a hard impact into the outside retaining wall, after getting collected by a LMDh class car.
The crash sent the No. 85 Porsche to the pits for nearly half-hour long repairs, taking the second GTD class entry of Fischer Motorsport out of contention as well.
“It’s unfortunate. I sensed the car was turning too much but at that point there was nothing I could do anymore, when we got hit by the LMDh car. It was just the worst possible timing, really. I might have been able to save it if it hadn’t been for the LMDh car, but that’s racing I guess.”, said Robertson on the incident.
Just a bit later, Greg Conaway was involved in another incident, also on the exit of the bus stop chicane, and the car suffered another big impact into the wall, that once again led to extensive repairs.
With a P14 and P11 finish, respectively, the No. 84 Porsche now sits 14th in the GTD class championship standings and the No. 85 Porsche is 11th.
The next round of the VSCA SportsCar Championship, the 12 Hours of Sebring, takes place on March 25th at Sebring International Raceway.
Related Links