Cars that did not start

Toyota at the end

The last of an era : the 1993 24 Hours of Daytona race would feature GTP cars for the last time. 60 cars were entered for this last opus. It was also the last time Camel would sponsor the series. It looked like Toyota would dominate the field. Porsche, Jaguar and Nissan could however be a threat in such an enduro, but none of them had factory support. The two Eagle MKIIIs were the latest evolutions of the 1992 dominant cars. Juan Fangio II, Andy Wallace and Kenny Acheson were in contention with PJ Jones, Mark Dismore and Rocky Moran in similar cars. Three Jaguar XJR12Ds were entered, but two would actually run, as one car was to be set up for Le Mans. Davy Jones, Scott Pruett and Scott Goodyear were to drive one car as John Nielsen, John Andretti, and David Brabham would drive two cars, with the one to be dropped. Gianpiero Moretti, Derek Bell and John Paul Jr would be at the wheel of a Nissan NPT90, which was an ex-factory car. The remainder of the cars consisted in Porsche 962s. Joest Racing entered two cars with a fine roster of drivers. Bob Wollek, John Winter, Massimo Sigala and Manuel Reuter on one car, Hurley Haywood, Danny Sullivan, Chip Robinson and Henri Pescarolo could do well in such a race. Dyson Racing also had a Porsche 962, with Rob Dyson, James Weaver and Price Cobb at the wheel. The last car was the Wynn's entry by John Hotschkis, co-driven by Bob Kirby, Chris Cord and Jim Adams. The Lights class would be no more than another Spice Acura duel between the Comptech Racing car with Parker Johnstone, Dan Marvin and Ruggero Melgrati. The Brix Spice AK93, which was a brand new car, was driven by Bob Schader, Bob Earl and C Smith. Both cars were faster than the opposition. Scandia Motorsport had two Kudzu DG2 Buick entered, with Andy Evans, Lon Bender and Charles Morgan, Firmin Velez, Don Bell and Tom Hessert trying to give the Acura powered cars a run for their money. The Erie Scientific Kudzu DG1 Mazda was reliable, Frank Jellinek, John Grooms and Tim McAdam could rely on Jim Downing's support. The other cars were less competitive. The same could not be told from the GTS entry list, which was fantastic. Roush Racing was facing a big challenge from Nissan and Oldsmobile. Driven by Tom Kendall, Wally Dallenbach Jr and Robby Gordon, and Jim Stevens, Mark Martin and John Fergus, the Roush Team was supported by the Hero Sports car driven by Ron Fellows, Pieter Baljet and Désiré Wilson. The Nissan team was impressive with Steve Millen, Johnny O'connell and John Morton, as well as Geoff Brabham, David Loring, Dominic Dobson and Tommy Riggins. No more GTP cars meant that every effort was now concentrated on the GTO cars. The Rocketsports Oldsmobile Cutlasses were not to be underrated, too. Calvin Fish, George Robinson drove one car, Jack Baldwin and Dorsey Schroeder the other one. The Team Argentina/ Kreider Racing cars were driven by Argentinians. A handful of Chevrolet Camaros, which were private entries, were entered. Luis Sereix, Craig Rubright, Gene Whipp and John Josey looked like being the quickest of them all. Fierce competition was to be awaited from those cars. The GTU class was the home of Mazda and Nissan. Only one RX7 was entered, with Dick Greer, Al Bacon, Peter Uria and Mike Mees. The other cars were MX6s. Eduardo Dibos, with brother Juan and Raul Orlandini ; David Russell, Mike Graham and Bill Auberlen could run for victory.

Eduardo Dibos entered a new Mazda MX6 at Daytona.

They had to beat the very strong Leitzinger Racing Nissan 240SX, driven by Bob and Butch Leitzinger, with Chuck Kurtz co-driving. The Kryder Racing entry was a bit slower, but could do well, with Reed Kryder, Joe Danaher, Guy Kuster and Frank Del Vecchio. Henry Taleb had an older 300ZX, which he drove with Alfonso Adarquea and Maurizio Adarquea. The remainder of the class consisted of Porsche 911s, which were older cars, but still very strong in enduros. Jack Lewis, Joe Cogbill and Stephen Hynes had a conventional car, while the Alex Job entry sported a slant nose. Frank Beard, Sam Shalala and Anthony Lazzaro drove it. A new class was introduced in 1993, which was called Invitational GT. The entry list was made of Porsche 911 Carrera 2 and Chevrolet Corvettes. The cars were allowed fewer modifications than the GTS and GTU classes, and the purpose was to fill in the shrinking fields. Some European cars had made the costly trip to Daytona. Enzo Calderari, Ronny Meixner, Luigino Pagotto and Sandro Angelastri drove one of them. Jochen Rohr, Larry Schumacher and John O'steen were at the wheel of the Rohr entry. A 944 turbo driven by Leigh Miller, Paul Lewis and John Reisman added diversity. The Chevrolet Corvettes were strong, with Richard Valentine, Jim Minneker, Max Schmidt and Ken Payson ; John Heinricy, Stu Hayner, Andy Pilgrim, Don Knowles ; Boris Said, Peter Cunningham and Jim Minneker ; Del Percilla, Scott Allman and John Heinricy. The pratice sessions would be utterly dominated by the Toyota Eagle MKIIIs, but it was PJ Jones who took the pole, with a new lap record : 1m33s878. Three seconds faster than the previous mark! The second Toyota was behind, followed by the Joest Porsche 962 driven by Hurley Haywood, Danny Sullivan and Henri Pescarolo. Gianpiero Moretti, Massimo Sigala, John Paul Jr and Derek Bell were behind, at the wheel of the Nissan NPT90. The best Jaguar was only in fifth place, nearly five seconds slower. But they ran in race trim. A monotonous race was awaited, but it was not to be. At the start, the Eagle Toyotas would immediately fly away from everyone. The Joest Porsche was behind, with Bob Wollek trying to keep up with the leaders. The Nissan followed, with a trio of Jaguar XJR12s. The #32 car was supposed to have a very short run, but car #3 would retire after fifteen laps, so car #32 was back on the track! The first retirement was also a surprise, with the #49 Spice Acura driven by Dan Marvin, after only four laps. The other Comptech car was leading the Lights class. Juan Fangio II and PJ Jones would trade the lead many times during the early stages of the race. The new Jaguar XJR12D would suffer from vibrations and would lose a great deal of time in the pits. After four hours, however, Juan Fangio II would stop with gearbox problems. He would lose only twenty minutes, but there was only one Toyota in the lead. PJ Jones and Rocky Moran were still leading the race, one lap ahead of the Jaguar XJR12 driven by Davy Jones, Scott Pruett and Scott Goodyear. The two Joest Porsche 962s were next, followed by the first GTS cars, which were the two Nissan 300ZX Tcs. Both cars ran impressively and were ahead of the Ford Mustang Cobras. The Porsche 962s, which were supposed to be contenders, were amongst the first cars to experience troubles. The car driven by Henri Pescarolo retired with a blown engine, while the other car would be sidelined with a faulty gearbox after four hours. It was dark on the track when both cars were retired. That left PJ Jones still leading the race, followed by Davy Jones and Juan Fangio II who was thirteen laps down. The leading GTS cars were in fourth place, about twenty laps in arrears. The Nissan NPT90, which had lost a lot of time in the pits, was running now as clockwork and moving up in the standings. The situation would remain quite unchanged until dawn with the three leading cars keeping their position. It would suddenly become a nightmare for the leading cars. PJ Jones was in the pits when the Toyota's engine would not fire up. Scott Pruett, in the Jaguar, suddenly cruised to a stop on the track, with a transmission failure. The Nissan 300ZXs turbocharger had failed and the Ford Mustangs were pushing hard. Then, the Jaguar was again on its way, taking the lead. The Toyota finally got back to the track, but was now twenty seven laps down, followed by Gianpiero Moretti's Nissan, whose drivers ran hard. Wally Dallenbach Jr was two laps behind. But it was not to be over, as the Jaguar was to be stopped by a valve spring, leaving the Toyota in the lead. For a short while, however, as the brakes would stop the Toyota. The Nissan NPT90 was in the lead! It would last only fifty minutes, as the Nissan, whose engine was kind of exhausted, could not go further than the 646th lap. The Toyota, which was second, would take back the lead, this time for good. The Ford Mustangs were now in second and third place, and Jack Roush was secretly hoping for another fatality for the Toyota MKIII. It did not happen, and the two leading GTS cars ending up in second and third place, ten laps down. It was their ninth GT victory in a row, which was simply amazing. The Nissan 300ZX Tc finished in fourth place, after having its turbocharger replaced. The GTU class was won by Dick Greer's Mazda RX7, which outlasted the competition. He became the oldest class winner in the race at the age of 61. Second in class was the Porsche 911 driven by Frank Beard, Anthony Lazzaro and Omar Daniel. The Invitational GT class was won by a European entry, which was the Enzo Calderari, Sandro Angelastri, Luigino Pagotto and Ronny Meixner Porsche Carrera 2. This class was to give a preview of what lay ahead in the future of GT racing. Cars were close to street legal racing, and finally not really exciting.