IMSA’s Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge series opened the weekend’s racing festivities with a four-hour enduro that saw a quartet of Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport racing cars come out on top of the 20-car Grand Sport class. In a class that is near-as-makes-no-difference to FIA international GT4 specification, the Caymans saw stiff competition from McLaren’s 570S, Ford’s Mustang, and Aston Martin’s Vantage. In the opening hour the pair of Fords looked quite strong, starting the race from pole and streaking off into the distance, but the KohR-entered car suffered a failure that cost them 16 laps, and the Multimatic-entered car spent most of the race recovering from slow pit stops and a drive-through penalty. The Porsche contingent wasn’t flawless as three cars failed to finish, but with mid-engine Porsche racers representing half of the field, it was almost an inevitability that one of them would finish at the front.
This four-hour event was pockmarked with caution flag stoppages, the longest of which occurred with under an hour to go when one of the McLarens dropped fluid from the entrance to turn one all the way through turn four before stopping. The cleanup was lengthy and threw off many teams strategies. The race winning car, pictured above, was the #12 Bodymotion Racing Cayman driven by Cameron Cassels and Trent Hindman, who had everything go their way. In long distance races like this it is more important to keep your nose clean and stay out of the pit lane than it is to be ultimately fast. The Mustangs were faster, but the Caymans were more reliable and pounded out laps until the checkered flag. That isn’t to say Cassels and Hindman weren’t fast, because they absolutely were, just that they were more careful than some of the competition. The #12 car was followed home by a pair of CJ Wilson Racing Caymans, the #33 car of Till Bechtolsheimer and Marc Miller ahead of the #35 Cayman (Damien Faulkner & Russell Ward). The fourth-placed Cayman was entered by the RS1 team with Dillon Machavern and Dylan Murcott.
Cameron Cassels on his victory after two unsuccessful prior attempts:
“To come here and win Daytona – how crazy is that? I guess the third time’s the charm.”
Trent Hindman on his victory, showing ultimate modesty:
“Hard work by the Bodymotion guys is what got us here.”