Cars that did not start

Three men from South Africa

The first race of the year had a brand new look, and by two aspects. First, the track sported a new chicane, which was aimed at slowing the cars on the banking. And for the first time, no spectacular accident was to be seen. Second, Pepsi Cola was not the main sponsor any more. Sun Bank had taken over the Florida's Enduro destiny. As this new money backer was effectively welcomed, the chicane would cause new problems to the drivers : too tight, you had to go single-filed after sorting out before entering it. It was a minor trouble, but slow cars would always be a problem, and fender to fender fight would cause bent bodies. At the end, this twenty second edition of the 24 Hours of Daytona was a real success. Eighty two cars were entered, with three drivers or so per car, you had a very wide range of driving skill and experience. That race would feature the very first race on an American track of the Porsche 962, and it was a premiere too for the drivers, who appeared to be Mario and Michael Andretti. The car was factory backed, and some cars were to be sold to fortunate owners. Al Holbert had ordered his one, as Bruce Leven and Bob Akin. However, at Daytona, the three of them had their faithful 935s entered. Even if those cars were now outdated, they were still potent ones, but the GTP cars were strongly represented. Three other 935s, which were less sophisticated ones, would take the green, too, but they would not play any major role in the race. March had five cars, but only two 84Gs. A new 84G was entered by Pegasus Racing for Mark Speer, Ken Madren and Wayne Pickering. This car sported a very powerful turbocharged 3,4L engine, but the drivers were not up to the task. The Leon Bros had a Chevrolet powered car, but they were not rated as top drivers! The ex-Holbert 83G Porsche car had been sold to a new South African team, Kreepy Krauly Racing, with Tony Martin, Graham Duxbury and Sarel van der Merwe. The car and drivers proved very strong. Two other cars, which were 83G models were entered by Red Lobster Racing, with Kenper Miller and David Cowart and Mauricio de Narvaez, while Marty Hinze had an 83G which he shared with Randy Lanier and Bill Whittington. Two Jaguar XJR5x were for the first time entered by Group 44, and they were now vuel injected. Given for 600hp, they were driven by Bob Tullius, David Hobbs and Doc Bundy on the #44 car and Brian Redman, Jim Adams and Pat Bedard on the #04. Lola had four cars entered, but there were only two T600s, and two new T616s. The two T600s were old cars, and entered by John Kalagian for hmself, John Lloyd and John Mills, on the ex-JLP car. The car had been modified to accomodate the changes made on the exhaust system. Conte Racing had a standard car, powered by a 5,0L prepared by VDS. More interesting were the two new Mazda powered T616 cars. Aerodynamically developed, they were very fast according to their relatively short on power Mazda engines, which were given for 300hp. A pair of Aston Martins, two from Great Britain and one from the US, gave the field a definitive international air. A 3,5L BMW powered Sauber C7 was entered by a Salvadorian driver. A singlep Argo JM16 debuted at Daytona. Jim Downing had a Mazda powered car which he drove with John Maffucci and Whitney Ganz. The car was beautifully turned out, yet would run very well vor its very first race. A Mazda GTP entered by Pierre Honegger closed the GTP entry list. You could find a beautiful Ferrari 512BB for Steve and Tom Shelton. A wild Chevrolet Camaro and a Porsche 934/5 entered by Ludwig Heimrath were not eligible for the GTO class and appeared in the GTX-GTP class. The GTO class was the home of the big bangers, with a host of Chevrolet Corvettes and Camaros. The fastest car was the usual Stratagraph Chevrolet Camaro driven by Gene Felton and Billy Hagan. Tommy Riggins drove the Centurion Auto car with Les Delano and Andy Peterey. Some Pontiac Firebirds could be seen with Gordon Oftedahl brining in two cars for Craig Allen, George Schwarz and Richard Spenard plus Jack Newsum, Jon FField and Rob McFarlin. Robert Overby and Liz Kleinschmidt had a very fast car too. Some Chevrolet Corvettes were here too, with the wild looking Dingman Bros car, driven by Walt Bohren, Billy Dingman and Roger Bighouse. Tom Nehl, Nelson Silcox and Jerry Hansen could have their chance for a class win. Two Chevrolet Monzas were part of the field too but had not anychance for the class win. Two lonely BMW M1 were part of the field too but it was some kind of outdated machinery, Uli Bieri, Angelo Pallavicini and Matt Gysler would count on the car's reliability for the race. A bunch of Porsche Carrera RSRs and a very unusual Porsche 928, driven by Vic Elford, Dick Attwood and Howard Meister, backed by the Porsche factory, complered the GTO field. The GTU class was very interesting indeed, with the usual Mazda RX7 contingent, now traditionaly opposed to the Porsche 924GTRs. John Schneider and Elliot Forbes Robinson drove the same car which had won the Daytona Finale, while Tom Winters, Bob Bergstrom and Innes Ireland had the Whitehall car, which was very fast too. Roger Mandeville, driving his Mandeville Auto Tech Mazda RX7, and he took the GTU pole, just ahead of the two best Porsche 924s. Kent Racing had brought a Mazda RX7 for Lee Mueller-Terry Visger and John Casey and CCR had an RX7 for Jack Baldwin-Ira Young and Bob Reed. Two AAR Toyota Celjcas were entered for Chris Cord and Jim Adams, coming right down from the GTP class. The second car was driven by Wally Dallenbach and Michael Chandler. Another interesting entry was that of the new Pontiac Fiero. It was the very first attempt to seriously tackle this cadegory by an American marque. Backed by Dole Fruit, the car made its debut on this track. One single Datsun 280ZX was to be seen and it was entered by George Alderman who shared the drive with Carson Baird and Lew Price. A tiny Dadsun 200SX, which would qualify, was entered by New Raytown Datsun for Frank Carney, Dick Davenport and Bob Hindson. As per usual, a handful of ageing Porsche 911s would make for the start, with Kikos Fonseca's car being the fastest. Eighty two cars would finally take the green, which was the biggest field ever in this race. The practice sessions will demonstrate the Porsche 962 ability to dominate the field. It was its first race ever and the car did outpace everybody else. Two seconds faster than its closer opponent, things were looking good for the Porsche factory. Second overall was the South African March 83G Porsche which proved very quick, and Robin Herd looked quite satisfied with Sarel van der Merwe's position. The Porsche 935s were a little farther and seemed unable to run faster. Those cars were five years old now. The Lola T616 Mazdas were just over the two minutes level, which extremely fast for cars with such low hp engines. In GTO, no surprise with Gene Felton easily fastest qualifyer, while Roger Mandeville was the GTU starter, running in 2m09s601. The weather forecast was not very optimistic as the field set up in front of the pits for the race, but it was still sunny when the cars were lined up for the start. The warm-up lap took place at 15:25 PM. AJ Foyt did have an off-course at the new chicane. At the start, Mario Andretti and Sarel van der Merwe immediately set the pace and had a quarrel, well ahead of anybody. Sarel van der Merwe would push Mario Andretti very hard, while everybody else was far away. While the March 83G, which was Porsche powered, could keep up with the new Works 962, then Mario Andretti would suddenly burst into a rage and take the lead for the next twenty one laps. As the March kept its position, Bob Tullius wad third in his Jaguar XJR5. He was well ahead of a bunch of drivers, led by AJ Foyt, who was in trouble while struggling with the traffic. Marty Hinze was just behind him, at the wheel of his March 83G Chevrolet. Brian Redman was behind him, followed by Holbert's Porsche 935, and the two Lola T600s driven by Bob Lobenberg and John Kalagian. The latter would not continue for long, pushing his car very hard, the transmission would break after twenty eight laps. Behind the leaders, Bob Akin was quite unlucky with his Porsche 935/84, as he pitted with gearbox and suspension troubles, losing ninety minutes. As the Porsche 962, now driven by Michael Andretti, was still in the lead, the car would suffer from transmission trouble caused by heat from the turbocharger. Losing two hours for repairs, the car went back to the race in sixty third position. Then it was the March 83G Chevrolet driven by Marty Hinze, Randy Lanier and Bill Whittington which took the lead, followed by the Kreepy Krauly car, with the Jaguar XJR5 not far behind. At the three hour mark, it was Bob Tullius, running his Jaguar XJR5 at his own pace, who would become the new race leader. The South African March 83G would experience problems with the gear shifter, and would lose some ground on the leaders. Running quite flawlessly, the Bayside Disposal Porsche 935, driven by Al Holbert, Bruce Leven, Hurley Haywood and Claude Ballot Léna, appeared in third place, then in second place when the Marty Hinze March would be stopped with transmission problems. The Works Porsche 962 was back in the race, but it would not last for long, and a broken camshaft would lead to its retirement later in the evening. It was a great disappointment for the team, as they were expected to do much more better. The Jaguar ran trouble free for six hours, then would lose ground with a broken alternator belt. Then it was the March 83G Porsche which would take the lead. As the car would undergo one sole major problem, it ran out of fuel at about one-third into the race. Sarel van der Merwe had to jog for one mile to carry a five-gallon can of gas. At that point, the Preston Henn Porsche 935L took the lead while the Bayside Disposal car was rolled into the pit wall to have a crack in the intake system welded. As the Andial seemed to be able to renew its 1983 performance, it seemed that AJ Foyt had trouble keeping up the lead. He had to off-courses during the night, causing bodywork damage. While the car was being repaired, the Kreepy Krauly March was back in the lead. The Porsche 935, with an ailing brake cooling intake, was now running slower. As the leading March was now easily leading, the same could not be told about its followers. The Jaguars were consistently hampered by their alternator belts, and the victory now seemed out of reach. The race was losing its attraction for the lead, but some unexpected cars did appear in the top ten. The new Argo JM16 Mazda and the two Lola T616 Mazdas were now in sixth, seventh and twelfth position, which was quite remarkable! While the leaders were now nine laps ahead of anybody, those cars were running with the best. After two hundred and fifty four laps, the three South African drivers were in the lead, and definitively! The two best Porsche 935s will never be able to catch in on the leaders, and the cars were not in their best shape. The Jaguar were losing more ground and would never appear as a threat to the Porsche powered leading cars. At the end, Preston Henn's Porsche 935 would finish second overall, and Bob Wollek had some regrets as to AJ Foyt mistakes. Third was Bob Tullius Jaguar XJR5, which managed to finish ahead of the Bayside Disposal Porsche 935, driven by Al Holbert, Bruce Leven, Hurley Haywood and Claude Ballot Léna. The GTO class again was dominated by the Stratagraph Chevrolet Camaro driven by Billy Hagan, Gene Felton and Terry Labonte. Running as high as third with four hours remaining, the car was then slowed down with minor mechanical problems, but it took sixth overall, easily winning its class. The GTU class was another triumphbfor Mazda, but it was the CCR car, driven by Jack Baldwin, Ira Young and Bob Reed, which won. They took the lead at the eighteen hour mark, and won over the surprising Porsche 911 driven by Rusty Bond, Blake Prigden and Ren Tilton. Jack Dunham and his co-drivers dominated the early stages of the race, but were sidelined later in the race to finish third in class.