Crazy Daytona 24Hrs
Lamborghini Factory Driver Sandy Mitchell delivers storming performance in ‘Crazy’ Daytona 24-Hours with PFAFF Motorsports.
Lamborghini factory driver Sandy Mitchell delivered a storming performance as he and his three team-mates narrowly missed out on a stunning podium finish in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, despite at one stage being five laps behind the leaders.
Mitchell, the 25-year-old from Forfar, was contesting the opening round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in Florida, piloting the No9 Lithia & Driveway Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 prepared by top Canadian team, Pfaff Motorsports. The Scot shared the car with fellow Lamborghini works drivers, Italians Mirko Bortolotti and Andrea Caldarelli, with Canadian James Hinchcliffe completing the quartet. “It was an absolutely crazy race,” Mitchell, the former British GT champ, admitted, “but I’m really proud of the way the team and all the drivers never gave up after we found ourselves five laps down.”
As the 60-car field thundered across the start line, Mitchell started from 10th in the GTD PRO class, but within a few laps of the daunting high-speed 3.56-mile Daytona 24 circuit, the Scot had eased himself up to fifth. As the first round of driver changes unfolded, the #9 Lamborghini had fought its way up to second in class before, seven hours into the race and as darkness fell, the car suffered a front right brake issue. Pitting for repairs, the crew completed a superfast turnaround changing the front brake calipers, though the delay did understandably cost the team a number of laps.
By midpoint of the 24-hours the #9 was five laps off the lead lap and 13th in class but, as the Florida thick fog rolled in over the iconic circuit — which resulted in the field following the Safety Car for a record breaking 6hrs 33mins 25secs over 120-laps — the team formulated an aggressive strategy plan to get the car back on the lead lap. “There’s a reason why Pfaff have previously won the Daytona 24-Hours and the IMSA Championship, and that’s because everyone will work their socks off to find the solution to any problem,” Mitchell said. “We were at the back of the pack so we thought we’d try something different with the strategy.”
With the bold strategy now in place, and taking advantage of yellow flag periods, Mitchell was flying, twice setting the car’s fastest laps of the race, first on lap 465, then improving again 22 laps later clocking 1min 46.753s. Another stint from Bortolotti eased the car further through the field and when Caldarelli took over at the final change the #9 Lambo sat eighth. But more importantly, with just over two hours remaining, it was now back on the lead lap. As the final refuelling stops unfolded, and with just 55-minutes remaining, the #9 car rejoined in seventh. With 29mins remaining, it was fourth and unbelievably pushing for a podium.
“Honestly, given where we were at mid-distance, five laps off the lead, this is a tremendous result,” Mitchell stated, “and shows the strength and full commitment we have in the team. “For us it was also a great way to sign-off with the Huracan, because for our next race at Sebring we’re debuting the all-new Lamborghini Temerario GT3. Daytona was a great way to start the season, but now I can’t wait for the 12 Hours of Sebring, and firing up the new Temerario.”
“That was some fightback by everyone in the team,” Mitchell, personally-backed by Tunnocks and Dama Fortuna Premium Tequila, continued. “All our drivers stayed out of trouble and looked after the car, plus our pitstops were all well-executed, and totally professional. But we always knew it was going to be tough for Andrea to hold off some of the fast-charging cars behind us over the closing few laps.” And so it proved. On the 662nd and final lap, as the Huracan began to struggle for fuel, Caldarelli lost a couple of places, eventually taking the chequered flag in sixth, 10-seconds off fifth, and more impressively, just 55secs behind the GTD PRO winner.
