Fascination: Outlook on the 24 hours of Daytona 2023: Hybrid technology before the endurance test

Fascination: View of the 24 hours of Daytona 2023
Hybrid technology before the endurance test

The racing season itself started last week in Dubai with the 24-hour race there, but global interest in the long-distance event in the Emirates is rather limited. Things are very different with the 24 Hours of Daytona, which unofficially opens the racing calendar every year on the last weekend in January. Along with the Le Mans and Nürburgring events, the round-the-clock race on Florida’s north-east coast is one of the longest-established long-distance races on the global calendar. The race track with its mixture of a triangular high-speed oval and an infield that is as curvy as it is undulating is a special challenge for man and machine in 24 hours.

Unlike other race events in the US or Europe, attendance isn’t huge, with Daytona seating more than 180,000 people. But the 20,000 to 25,000 fans come here every day in pick-ups and campervans, spend the night inside the track and celebrate with Bud Light, Corona Beer and Grillgut racers and teams. Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959 and is world famous for its unusual mix of infield and banked turns. The angle of inclination in the ovals of the 5.73-kilometer circuit reaches a maximum of 31 degrees, which requires special vehicle set-up. Porsche has so far celebrated 18 overall successes and 80 class wins on the traditional circuit in Florida. The 24-hour classic on the combination of tri-oval and street course has been held since 1966.

The sporting reputation of winning the 24 Hours of Daytona is tremendous. Special attention is paid this time to the new hybrid racing car of the LMDh class, which should make Le Mans class events even more spectacular in the next few years and whose technology has a particularly large series reference for later road vehicles. With great expectations, but also many question marks, the two German manufacturers Porsche and BMW are going into the race in Daytona, who are competing with their newly developed Porsche 963 and BMW M Hybrid V8 against the strong local competition from Acura ARX-06 and Cadillac V-LMDh.

According to the current classification, all four power hybrids, each weighing at least 1,030 kilograms and with an engine output of up to 500 kW / 680 hp, may have an energy flow of 920 megajoules per driving stage (stint) and 23 megajoules per second may flow when refueling. However, final changes can still occur after the final test drives on the weekend before at the so-called “Roar before the 24”. “We’re looking forward to the season opener in Daytona with great anticipation,” explains Thomas Laudenbach, Head of Porsche Motorsport. “With the new Porsche 963, we are finally back in the fight for overall victories in the world’s biggest endurance races. We are excited to see how the competition will look not only in the new top class GTP, but also in the GTD categories with the new Porsche 911 GT3 R in Daytona.” GTP class. Nick Tandy, Mathieu Jaminet and Dane Cameron are in the first vehicle. In the second Porsche 963 with the number seven, Matt Campbell, Felipe Nasr and Michael Christensen take it in turns.

Franciscus van Meel, Managing Director of BMW M GmbH: “The focus is on the BMW M Hybrid V8, which will be the first hybrid racing car from BMW M Motorsport to compete in the IMSA series. At the same time, the vehicle stands for the transformation of BMW M in the direction of electrification and thus plays a decisive role far beyond motorsport. I’m looking forward to the races with BMW M Team RLL and the parallel testing work by BMW M Team WRT, which will compete in the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship with the BMW M Hybrid V8 from 2024.” The two BMW M Hybrid V8s will be driven by Connor De Phillippi, Nick Yelloly, Philipp Eng and Augusto Farfus. At the long-distance races in Daytona, Sheldon van der Linde, Marco Wittmann and Colton Herta will strengthen the IMSA driver line-up in the BMW M Hybrid V8.

The General Motors noble subsidiary Cadillac is also hot for the first IMSA race of the year. The V-LMDh is powered by Cadillac’s new LMC55R 5.5-liter V8 coupled to the LMDh hybrid system. According to the standard specification, the naturally aspirated engine developed by Cadillac in-house delivers up to 670 hp and is supported by a seven-speed sequential gearbox. “Cadillac is poised to compete with the best in North America and internationally – including at one of the toughest races in the world, the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said Rory Harvey, Cadillac’s global vice president working towards, the new V-LMDh underscores our commitment to researching new advanced performance technologies.”

Honda with its American premium brand Acura is also more self-confident than ever for Daytona. The Acura ARX-06 was developed by Honda Performance Development together with the AR24e unit. The complete hybrid powertrain is based on the Acura AR24e internal combustion engine, a custom-designed 2.4-liter, twin-turbocharged, direct-injected racing V6. The V6 engine is the smallest combustion engine that HPD has developed for long-distance races – nevertheless, it also delivers the up to 500 kW / 680 hp of the competitors. “HPD has a 30-year history of race wins and championships,” says David Salters, Technical Director of HPD, “We race, we develop our engineers and technology through racing. We look forward to the challenge against Porsche, BMW and GM in the highest GTP championship of the IMSA.” And Daytona will only be the beginning – some are already secretly looking to Sebring and Le Mans. And the developers are looking more than ever at performance data and durability, because the findings for the production vehicles are more important than some racing successes.

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