Everybody is now anxiously waiting for the 51st edition of the 24 Hours of Daytona, presented at the famous Daytona International Speedway, January 26-27.
For the occasion, Grand-Am teams have hired the cream of drivers. Big names are omnipresent throughout the 59-car field.
Favourites for overall victory will no doubt be last year's winners AJ Allmendinger, Ozz Negri, John Pew and Justin Wilson. The four Michael Shank Racing men driving the No. 60 Ford/Riley are on top of their game, plus they are joined by Austrlia's Marcos Ambrose.
But they are facing fierce opposition.
From BMW/Riley, Chip Ganassi Racing has entered two cars featuring drivers from NASCAR, IndyCar and DTM, such as Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti and Joey Hand.
From Corvette, 8 Star Motorsports has assembled a line-up of former Peugeot endurance drivers – Anthony Davidson, Pedro Lamy, Nicolas Minassian and Stéphane Sarrazin – that will no doubt be dangerous.
From within, the second MSR Ford/Riley, led by Canadians Chris Cumming and Michael Valiante from Vancouver, has also posted quick times in testing.
All in all, 17 DP cars are taking the start.
In GT, the stakes are just as high. Manufacturers Ferrari, Audi, Porsche and BMW have all invested heavily in the hopes of earning some silverware.
Audi has made a big push to establish itself in the North American market. Four Audi Sport customer racing teams have turned up. So have four factory drivers: Frank Biela, Filipe Albuquerque, Oliver Jarvis and Edoardo Mortara.
Ferrari too, has sent big guns, such as Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander, who are driving a Canadian-backed Ferrari, the No. 61 of AIM Motorsport.
Heavy hitters from Porsche include last year's winning team Magnus Racing, on hand with two cars, Brumos Racing and TRG. Drivers Jörg Bergmeister, Kuno Wittmer and Romain Dumas are lending a hand.
Even Rubens Barrichello has jumped in the fight, aboard a Dener Motorsport Porsche.
At BMW, the efforts have been concentrated around two Turner Motorsport M3. The driver line-up features factory drivers Bill Auberlen, Andy Priaulx and Maxime Martin, as well as Canadian Paul Dalla Lana.
In total, 36 entrants in the GT category.
This year also marks the debut of the new GX class, which six teams have entered. Napleton Racing has dominated the pre-race test, but the No. 70 Mazdaspeed/Speedsource Mazda6 should be watched as well.
Drivers Jonathan Bomarito, Marino Franchitti, James Hinchcliffe and Sylvain Tremblay have all starred before.
The green flag drops Saturday at 3:30 pm.
For the occasion, Grand-Am teams have hired the cream of drivers. Big names are omnipresent throughout the 59-car field.
Favourites for overall victory will no doubt be last year's winners AJ Allmendinger, Ozz Negri, John Pew and Justin Wilson. The four Michael Shank Racing men driving the No. 60 Ford/Riley are on top of their game, plus they are joined by Austrlia's Marcos Ambrose.
But they are facing fierce opposition.
From BMW/Riley, Chip Ganassi Racing has entered two cars featuring drivers from NASCAR, IndyCar and DTM, such as Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti and Joey Hand.
From Corvette, 8 Star Motorsports has assembled a line-up of former Peugeot endurance drivers – Anthony Davidson, Pedro Lamy, Nicolas Minassian and Stéphane Sarrazin – that will no doubt be dangerous.
From within, the second MSR Ford/Riley, led by Canadians Chris Cumming and Michael Valiante from Vancouver, has also posted quick times in testing.
All in all, 17 DP cars are taking the start.
In GT, the stakes are just as high. Manufacturers Ferrari, Audi, Porsche and BMW have all invested heavily in the hopes of earning some silverware.
Audi has made a big push to establish itself in the North American market. Four Audi Sport customer racing teams have turned up. So have four factory drivers: Frank Biela, Filipe Albuquerque, Oliver Jarvis and Edoardo Mortara.
Ferrari too, has sent big guns, such as Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander, who are driving a Canadian-backed Ferrari, the No. 61 of AIM Motorsport.
Heavy hitters from Porsche include last year's winning team Magnus Racing, on hand with two cars, Brumos Racing and TRG. Drivers Jörg Bergmeister, Kuno Wittmer and Romain Dumas are lending a hand.
Even Rubens Barrichello has jumped in the fight, aboard a Dener Motorsport Porsche.
At BMW, the efforts have been concentrated around two Turner Motorsport M3. The driver line-up features factory drivers Bill Auberlen, Andy Priaulx and Maxime Martin, as well as Canadian Paul Dalla Lana.
In total, 36 entrants in the GT category.
This year also marks the debut of the new GX class, which six teams have entered. Napleton Racing has dominated the pre-race test, but the No. 70 Mazdaspeed/Speedsource Mazda6 should be watched as well.
Drivers Jonathan Bomarito, Marino Franchitti, James Hinchcliffe and Sylvain Tremblay have all starred before.
The green flag drops Saturday at 3:30 pm.