Cars that did not start

Al Holbert Racing at the end

The first race of the season was the 24 Hours of Daytona, which were to take place shortly after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. The important media coverage of this accident stirred everyone's feelings. It really was a national tragedy. As Porsche was expected to dominate the race, the sudden withdrawal of the two BMW GTPs was some kind of bad news. Fortunately, one contender looked able to give the Porsches a run for their money. The Chevrolet Corvette GTP, driven by Sarel an der Merwe, was easily the fastest qualifier. The only contender, during the practice sessions, appeared to be Bob Wollek, who drove the Bayside Disposal Porsche 962. However, it did not seem to reach the Porsche teams, who knew they had reliability on their side. The lonely Hendrick Chevrolet Corvette GTP faced no less than nine 962s. New cars appeared for this new season, as the Joest Porsche 962, with Gianpiero Moretti, Randy Lanier and Paolo Barilla(from Pasta fame). Brun Motorsport had a car entered for Thierry Boutsen, Oscar Larrauri and Massimo Sigala. Holbert Racing fielded his usual car for Al Holbert, Derek Bell and Al Unser Jr. Foyt Racing had entered a 962 too, with Danny Sullivan, Arye Luyendijk and AJ sharing the drives. BF Goodrich had a pair of Porsche 962s for Jim Busby, Darin Brassfield and Derek Warwick, the second car going to John Morton, Jochen Mass and Jan Lammers. The two Group 44 Jaguar XJR7s were the usual contenders, with Bob Tullius partnered by Chip Robinson and Claude Ballot L?©na on the first car, while Brian Redman, Hurley Haywood and Vern Schuppan drove the number 04 car. Conte Racing fielded two March 85G Buick, and John Paul Jr, Chip Ganassi and Ivan Capelli drove the #45 car, Whitney Ganz, Ken Madren and Bob Lobenberg were on the other car. A handful of older and less competitive cars were to be entered, but they would by no means play any major role in that race. It was the case for a handful of March GTP cars , Jim Adams and John Hotschkis drove a Porsche powered 84G, while the Leon Bros had a 85G, also Porsche powered. Lew Price had a Chevrolet Corvette which was somewhat different from the semi-works car. James Mullen and Carson Baird would drive this car with owner-driver Lew Price. An old Lolas T600 was there with Richard Anderson, Bard Boand and Mike Allen at the wheel. It was obvious that the win could not escape Porsche. The question was : which one? The Lights class had grown stronger, in its second year. A new and very fast Alba AR6 Ferrari was to easily set the fastest time. The car was driven by Carlo Facetti, Martino Finotto and Almo Coppelli. The car was the main attraction of the race, and Carlo Facetti was to spend his time saying no to virtual purchasers! Charles Morgan and Logan Blackburn had a Tiga GT286 Buick, which proved to be a worthy competitor to Jim Downing, who was not eentered. Deborah Gregg had Tiga Mazda, which she shared with Michael Brockman and Steve Durst. Don Bell, too, had a Royale RP40 Buick, and he could do well in such a race. Craig Carter and Terry Wolters co-drove him. Jim Downing, John Maffucci and John O'steen drove an Argo JM19 Mazda, as well as Frank Rubino, Ray Mummery and Tom Schneider whose car was not listed amongst the favorites before the race. The GTO class was becoming more and more exciting as Ford was now facing a revamped opposition. GM getting more and more vexed with the Ford domination, the opposition was strengthening. Oldsmobile, via Rocketsports, had one Toronado, driven by Gene Felton, Paul Gentilozzi and Bob Bergstrom while the Calais was in the hands of Benny Parsons, Terry Labonte and Harry Gant. The NASCAR men were present by the Ford side with Bill Elliott, Kyle Petty, Ricky Rudd and Ken Schrader. The race seemed to feature a Ford-Oldsmobile duel while no Chevrolet seemed to be able to give the Detroit iron a significant opposition. A BMW M1, driven by Steve Cohen, David Christian and Ed Congleton, added a little diversity to the field, as well as the two Morrison-Cook Chevrolet Corvettes, which were experimenting new technologies for the future. The GTU class brought no excitement, this time being much more of a Mazda parade. It looked obvious to the IMSA spectator that the fields were getting weaker, especially in the smaller class. Roger Mandeville and Tom Kendall could fight it out for the win, while Amos Johnson awaited another class win. A single Porsche 911 would take the green, as well as a 924, entered by Ron Case. A sign of times? Before the start of the race, one conclusion : the change in the rules did not seem to be in favour of the home made products, much to the spectators' dismay. The start of the race was another disappointment for the spectators with the Chevrolet Corvette GTP not showing up on the grid. The car was being struck with vibrations, the replacement of the transmission costing at least three hours, the team withdrew the car.

Al Holbert, Derek Bell and Al Unser Jr took a very close win.

The start of the race saw Drake Olson quickly escaping from the rest of the field. Obviously he was not running the same race as the other competitors. After one hour, Drake Olson was always in the lead, with other Porsche 962s on the same lap. The Joest car had been delayed, as the Brun Motorsport car and Bob Wollek, who experienced turbocharger problems (a line making the connection between the turbo and the engine broke). The race quickly appeared to become very tough for the Porsche squadron, with Al Holbert losing five laps when the team discovered a crack in the left-rear brake, Jan Lammers losing ground on the leaders. Hans Stuck retired after hitting the wall from the rear, which was triggered by a supposedly broken wheel. The Bayside Disposal car tangled with a slower car on the banking. A yellow flag session was set. The BF Goodrich car driven by Jochen Mass, Jan Lammers and John Morton felt out of the race after a fifty five minute stop for clutch repairs. By mid-night, one half of the Porsche 962s were out of contention. The new Jaguar XJR7s suffered from various transmission and suspension troubles, which were probably due to the stiffer chassis. Just before dawn, the Al Holbert car, driven by Al Unser Jr, had to replace a throttle cable, to find itself twenty two laps down the leaders.. As the BF Goodrich was in the lead, the car broke a half-shaft. Then Darin Brassfield lost a cylinder, a nosepiece and had fading brakes. The Preston Henn Porsche led by now, but soon was to also experience problems. They had to replace a turbocharger wastegate and fix an oil leak. By now, the two cars were nose-to-tail, but the Holbert car, which was then in third place, took advantage of the two leading cars troubles. The end of the race was kind of heroic for everyone, with Al Holbert, Derek Bell and Al Unser Jr winning by just one lap over AJ Foyt, Danny Sullivan and Preston Henn. The BF Goodrich car was third, ten seconds behind the TBird Swap Shop car! Jim Busby, Darin Brassfield, Jochen Mass and Derek Warwick had a disappointing third place. Fourth overall and in GTO was the Roush prepared Ford Mustang driven by Lanny Hester, Maurice Hassey and Lee Mueller, who overcame the Scott Pruett, Bruce Jenner and Klaus Ludwig works car, who lost a great deal of time to repair an oil leak. The GTU class was taken by Amos Johnson Dennis Shaw and Jack Dunham who drove the Team Highball Mazda RX7 to a second victory in a row. They placed eighth overall. They had to wait until the CCR Racing car, driven by Tom Kendall, Bob Reed and John Hogdal, collapse in the final stages of the race. The car took a tenth place at the chequered. The Lights class race had turned into a disaster for every favorite, as each car had to retire one by one. At the end, it was the Argo JM19 Mazda driven by Ray Mummery, Frank Rubino and John Schneider who took a very unexpected win. A dream come true, as Ray Mummery put it later. No Tiga would cross the chequered.