Rolex 24 Blog


Hour 1: Hi! Linda here. Please don't judge this too harshly; it's just a
blog. I'll do the best I can for as long as I can, but last year I took a nose
dive onto my computer around 7 a.m. so please cut me a break if I do that
again. I've been covering this race for quite a few years and that was the first
time I didn't stay up for the entire 24 hours, but I'm not promising anything!

We did the autograph session this morning and had all the pre-race hoopla,
which I really enjoy.

The Doran Racing team qualified 16th this year. The series rules had all
the teams choose their starting tires quite a bit before the race, and with rain
all over the radar screen we chose rain tires. The rain held off, so we were
one of the teams that pitted right away to put slicks on. That dropped Memo
Gidley to 34th place on lap one. He was back up to 20th by lap four, 15th by
lap 22, and 13th at the Hour 1 mark on lap 30.

My printer isn't working for some unknown reason, but that's not the biggest
problem I'm having in the press room. The Grand-Am Web site is down, and it's
really hard to read the monitors in here. Eventually they gave us a link for
the live timing and scoring, so here it is:
http://laptrax.racersites-cluster.com/OrbitsServer/jsp/ViewRace.jsp?sid=85

We're also covering the Alegra Motorsports team, which is fielding two
Porsches, No. 22 and 29. The drivers of No. 22 are, in order, Marc Basseng of
Leutenbach, Germany; Patrick Pilet of Le Chesnay, Yvelines, France; Nathan
Swartzbaugh of La Habra Heights, Calif., and team owner Carlos de Quesada of Coral
Gables, Fla..

The drivers of No. 29 are: Scooter Scooter Gabel of Tampa, Fla.;
Louis-Philippe Dumoulin of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec; Bob Woodman of Beaufort, S.C.; Chris
Gleason of Johnstown, Pa. and Jake Rosenzweig of Boston, Mass. I know Scooter
started and Louis-Philippe will be second, but that's all I know.

The start didn't go well for Scooter. I haven't talked to him, but he sort
of richochetted off another car on the frontstretch right at the start, and the
car spent a lot of time in the garage area with 0 laps complete. He's OK
thought; we passed once in the pits but I didn't get a chance to talk to him.
More on that later, hopefully.

The No. 22 Porsche is doing well. Right now Basseng is in 45th place overall
and 20th in GT.

The Alegra Motorsports team has a great spotter: our own Dave Reininger, the
Spotter of the Year in both the IndyCar Series and the Indy Pro Series with
drivers Dario Franchitti and Alex Lloyd. Both of them are in this race too, but
we've got Big Dave!

Hour 2: Less than 10 minutes after the Hour 1 mark, Memo was in the top 10
by lap 35 with the Kodak 77. He was fourth on lap 51 with pitstops, and then he
led laps 51 and 52! Then we pitted for four tires and fuel, and Memo got out
and Fabrizio Gollin got in the car. Unfortunately there was a problem with
the rear drivetrain, and we had to go to the garage area to get it fixed. The
Doran Racing crew did their usual outstanding job and had the problem fixed in
about a half hour. Fabrizio sat in the car the whole time they were working
on it, and now he's on the track.

Memo Gidley: "The way the series rules are we had to start behind the GT cars
after we changed tires, so it was not ideal for sure. It took a lap or two
to get through all the GT cars, but we did. I just tried to go easy on the car
and be very consistent, because we want to run all day long.

"The track conditions are OK, but at the start it was real dirty in the Bus
Stop. Traffic is pretty decent though. The car was working great when I was
in it; the Doran Racing Kodak team does a great job."

Officially at the Hour 2 mark Fabrizio was 50th, seven laps down, as we've
completed 53 laps to the leader's 60. The leader is the 02.

I think the driver order is Memo, Fabrizio, Brad Jaeger and then Gabriele
Gardel, but I could be wrong.

At the two-hour mark the No. 22 Porsche is 34th overall and 12th in GT. It's
done 55 laps to the overall leader's 60.

The No. 29 Porsche is 66th overall but it's back on the track. It's just
completed its seventh lap.

Hour 3: At the Three Hour mark the Doran team is in 49th place. We've
completed 79 laps to the leader's 90, so we're 11 laps down. The overall leader is
the 61 car.

The No. 22 Porsche is 31st overall and 12th in GT. It's done 84 laps so far.

The No. 29 Porsche is 65th overall and next-to-last in GT. It's done 35 laps
so far.

Hour 4: At the four-hour mark the Kodak No. 77 DP is in 50th overall,
completing 107 laps to the overall leader's 123.

The No. 22 Alegra Porsche is 28th overall and 10th in GT, recording 114 laps.

The No. 29 Alegra Porsche is 63rd overall and third from last in GT,
recording 64 laps.

The Kodak No. 77 DP had a flat right-rear tire sometime while Fabrizio Gollin
was behind the wheel for his first double stint. It tore up the bodywork,
but the car is still running. I think it happened around 5:45 p.m., which would
be about 15 minutes after the four-hour mark.

At the 4-hour, 31-minute mark, lap 138, here's how we're doing:

Brad Jaeger is in the Doran Kodak No. 77 DP. It's in 47th place overall, 22nd
in DP, 16 laps down with 122 laps completed.

Carlos de Quesada is in the Alegra Porsche No. 22. It's in 33rd place
overall, 16th in GT, and it has recorded 127 laps.

Jake Rosenzweig is getting experience in the Alegra Porsche No. 29. It's in
62nd place overall, 39th in GT. It's run 80 laps so far.

Even though we're only 4 hours and 30 minutes into this race, there have been
12 overall leaders in this race so far! Last year there were only nine
leaders in the whole 24 hours!

Hour 5: At the five-hour mark, here's how we're doing:

Kodak No. 77: It's in 42nd place overall and 20th in DP. It's completed 137
laps to the leader's 153. Brad Jaeger is driving and Gabriele Gardel is on
deck.

Alegra Porsche No. 22: It's in 44th place overall and 24th in GT. It's
completed 136 laps. I don't know who is in it right now but I think it's Nathan
Swartzbaugh.

Alegra Porsche No. 29: It's in 60th place overall and 37th in GT. It's
completed 93 laps. I think Jake Rosenzweig is driving it but I'm not sure. Scooter
Gabel was on deck for that car the last time I was down there.

At lap 158, around 6:45 p.m. or a little past the five-hour mark, it has
started to rain pretty hard.

Marc Basseng, No. 22: “My first stint was OK. We had a lot of trouble on the
first lap with Scooter's car in that accident, but our car was running good
for me. The traffic is the same as it always is; it's a little sad, but some
drivers forget that this is a 24-hour race and treat is like a sprint. The
track is OK. We're having a problem with our gearbox now though.”

Patrick Pilet, No. 22: “My stint was perfect. Everything was OK. There was
a lot of traffic, but I was very careful. We'll have to wait and see.”

Louis-Philippe Dumoulin, No. 29: “It was OK. I was the first driver in the
car after the accident, and I think the corner weights have been affected by
the crash. I was very cautious during my stint and took it really easy to see
if the crash had caused any problems that we didn't know about. I had a problem
with the shift lights; it was telling me that I had to lift sometimes when
the crew told me to go flat out, so I did what the crew told me to. There's a
lot of traffic out there.”

Somewhere before this point Scott Gray of Fort Pierce, Fla., one of Alegra
Motorsports' fuelers, got run over by his own car, the No. 22 Porsche. Everybody
on the team calls him Bam-Bam. He's sitting on a chair just outside the pit
area with a bag of ice on his right foot. He said he got checked out at the
infield care center and he has a broken toe and the foot is bruised pretty bad,
but he's still smiling.

Hour 6: At the six-hour mark, here's how we're doing:

The Doran Kodak No. 77 is in 38th place overall and 19th in DP. Brad Jaeger
is driving and Gabriele Gardel is on deck. It has done 163 laps to the overall
leaders' 180 laps, so it's 17 laps down. The overall leader is Joey Hand in
the Alex Job Racing Crawford Porsche. Colin Braun is second overall in the AIM
Ford.

The Alegra Porsche No. 22 is in 55th place overall and 34th in GT. Carlos de
Quesada is driving. It has done 138 laps.

The Alegra Porsche No. 29 is in 58th place overall and 36th in GT. Scooter
Gabel is driving. It has done 117 laps.

Fourteen different drivers have led this race so far.

Hour 7: At Hour 7 Gabriele Gardel is in the Kodak No. 77 DP. It's in 33rd
position overall, still 19th in DP. It's done 194 laps to the overall leader's
212 laps. The overall leader is the Alex Job Racing 23 of Bill Auberlen, Joey
Hand, Patrick Long and Andy Wallace.

The top 17 Daytona Prototypes are running first through 17th overall.
Directly ahead of us in class is the Vision Racing 03 of John Andretti, Ed
Carpenter, A.J. Foyt IV, Vitor Meira and Tony George, which is 29th overall and 18th in
class with 197 laps completed.

Apparently we've had one flat (Fabrizio Gollin) and two other tire issues
with the No. 77. Brad Jaeger was driving for one of the issues and Gabriele
Gardel was driving for the second one.

We need to do an update on what's happened to the Alegra Motorsports No. 22.
Apparently 5:39:57 into this race, around lap 171, Carlos de Quesada led the
GT class due to some pit stops. Then Patrick Pilet got in the car, but around
the overall leader's lap 195, or about 6 hours and 27 minutes into the race,
he went behind the wall with gearbox trouble.

Bob Woodman is in the No. 29. It's 57th overall and 35th in GT with 7 hours
and 17 minutes gone. Right before the eight-hour mark the No. 29 went behind
the wall to change a half-shaft and its brakes.

More trouble for the No. 77. With 7:35:58 gone on the overall leader's lap
229, Gabriele brought out a full-course caution when he spun as he lost a
right-rear wheel in the west horseshoe. I'm pretty sure he didn't hit anything. The
car came in to the garage on the hook. The wheel was replaced and the car
examined, and Gabriele was back on his way.

Hour 8: At Hour 8 Gabriele Gardel is in 37th overall and 19th in the DP class
with 207 laps complete to the leader's 237 laps. Memo gets in around the 8
hour 30 minute mark.

The Alegra No. 29 is in 57th overall and 35th in GT with 157 laps complete.
I think Jake is in it.

The Alegra No. 22 is out; it retired sometime around the seven and a half
hour mark, reportedly with electrical problems, although I think it might have
been the gearbox. It's being scored as 58th overall and 36th in GT with 149 laps
complete. I'm pretty sure Patrick Pilet was the last driver in it. The final
order changes a bit as cars come in and out so that may not be its final
position in the final rundown.

Hour 9:

Memo Gidley is in 36th overall and 19th in DP in the Kodak car. It's done
233 laps to the overall leader's 265.

The Alegra No. 29 is 54th overall and 33rd in GT. It's done 178 laps. I
think Scooter Gabel is back in it.

The Alegra No. 22 sits in the garage area. It's being scored in 59th overall
and 37th in GT.

Hour 10: There are reports that Gabriele was turned around by another car
before that spin and subsequent lost wheel. I haven't seen him to ask him, so I
don't know. I do know that he got a stop-and-go penalty for jumping a restart
and served it.

Also, around the 9 hour and 25 minute mark Memo went to the garage for awhile
after “a stick or something got caught somewhere and jammed up the brakes.”

Memo is in 44th overall and 18th in DP at the 10-hour mark. The Kodak car
has completed 242 laps. It's 50 laps down to the overall leader, Jon Fogarty in
the Gainsco 99.

Didier Theys, one of Doran Racing's most famous drivers, isn't participating
in the race this year but he was on the grounds as part of his duties as the
driving experience director of World Class Driving of Newark, Del. The company
organizes driving experiences with five different exotic cars all over the
country and it has a display in the infield; more info can be found on its Web
site at worldclassdriving.com.

Theys visited with all his Doran Racing friends before and during the race.
He will debut a brand-new Porsche RS Spyder for Horag Racing in the Mobil 1
Twelve Hours of Sebring in March with co-drivers Fredy Lienhard and Jan Lammers
before concentrating on the Le Mans Series overseas with that car the rest of
the year.

A few minutes before the 10-hour mark Scooter Gabel's No. 29 was clipped by a
DP, cutting one of its tires. He pits the next time by for four tires, fuel
and for Louis-Philippe Dumoulin to take over. At the 10-hour mark Domoulin has
just gotten into the Alegra 29. It's 54th overall and 33rd in GT. It has
turned 202 laps, 91 less than the overall leader.

The 22 is being scored in 60th overall and 38th in GT. The general consensus
is that it retired due to both gearbox and electrical problems.

Two minutes before the 11-hour mark Memo pits in the 77 for regular service
under a yellow caused by Scott Dixon stopping in the west horseshoe.

Hour 11: The Kodak 77 is 41st overall and 18th in DP with 270 laps completed
to the overall leader's 322 at the 11-hour mark. Memo is in the car.

The Alegra 29 is 54th overall and 33rd in GT with 230 laps completed.
Louis-Philippe Dumoulin got out a while ago and Bob Woodman is driving. L-P got some
blisters on his hands during that stint. He says the car has some issues but
they're dealing with it and everything is good.

The Alegra 22, which is out, is 60th overall and 38th in GT.

Around the 11-hour, 30-minute mark Memo heads to the garage because the car's
transponder isn't working and we're not being scored. When he gets out I ask
him about that stick deal, and he said that whatever it was caused the brakes
to not work properly and a half-shaft was starting to go, so the crew put a
new half-shaft in the car and fixed the brakes.

Anyway, now it's in the garage due to this transponder problem. Something is
amiss with the wiring to it, but the crew is fixing it. I really feel bad
for everyone involved.

Unfortunately the Alegra crew is in the garage too. Jake was in the car when
he had an incident in the Bus Stop which damaged the car's driver's side and
broke its radiator. There's duct tape on the right rear too, but that could
have been from the earlier incident.

Hour 12: The Kodak 77 is 42nd overall and 19th in DP with 286 laps completed
to the leader's 352. I'm pretty sure its cockpit was empty at the halfway
point because it was in the garage then with the transponder problem. Fabrizio got
in the car at the 12-hour, 10-minute mark while it was in the garage area and
now he's back on the track.

The Alegra 29 is 53rd overall and 34th in GT with 248 laps completed at the
halfway point. It was in the garage at the halfway point too, with Jake
sitting in the car while the crew worked hard. He left the garage and headed back
on the track about a minute after the 77 did the same.

The Alegra 22, which is out, is still being scored as 60th overall and 38th
in GT.

Hour 13: Fabrizio is in 50th overall and 19th in DP in the Kodak No. 77. The
car has done 293 laps to the 01's 385. Unfortunately the car is back in the
garage area. This time a stone has gotten caught up in the car and screwed up
the brakes, so the hard-working crew is fixing them once again. (The first time
it was a stick; this time it was a stone.)

Gabriele is in the garage area while this is going on, so I finally get to
ask him about that spin. He said there definitely was contact with a GT car to
start it.

He also points out that our car can keep up with the leaders when it's
running. We've just had bad luck here this year.

Jake is in 53th overall and 34th in GT in the Alegra No. 29. The car has
done 274 laps.

Hour 14: It's raining pretty hard now at 3:30 a.m. here in the Sunshine State.

At the 14-hour mark the No. 77 is in 52nd overall, still 19th in DP, still
293 laps complete. Nobody is in the cockpit; the crew is still fixing the brake
problem.

There is some damaged bodywork laying in the garage, so I asked Gabriele
about it. He said it was the bodywork that was damaged when Fabrizio had that flat.

That seems like a long time ago.

Kevin says maybe we're getting all our bad luck out of the way for the season
during the first race of the year.

At 3:51 a.m., or 21 minutes after the 14-hour mark, Brad gets in the 77 and
starts her up in the garage area, her brakes fixed once again, and heads back
onto the track.

At the 14-hour, 30-minute mark, Brad is in the 77. It's in 52nd position
overall, still 19th in DP. It has done 297 laps. It's 129 laps behind the
leader, Ryan Hunter-Reay.

At the same time Scooter is in the 29. It's in 51st position overall, 32nd
in GT, and it has done 299 laps.

I see L-P heading back to the pits as I'm heading back to the media center.
He asked me if I've had any sleep yet. No, not yet.

Hour 15: Brad is in 52nd overall, still 19th in DP, in the No. 77. It has
now done 309 laps. A.J. Allmendinger is leading overall in the 6 with 438 laps
complete.

Scooter is still in the 29. It's in 50th overall and still 32nd in GT, with
323 laps complete; 115 laps down.

There are 17 reporters/PR reps in the press room. This would probably be
easier if I liked coffee.

Hour 16: L-P got back in the No. 29 about 24 minutes after the Hour 15 mark.
At that point there had been 15 different leaders of this race and 15
full-course cautions.

At the Hour 16 mark (5:30 a.m.), the No. 77 is 32nd overall, still 19th in
DP, with 350 laps complete. It's 116 laps behind the leader, No. 6, A.J.
Allmendinger. Brad is still driving.

The Kodak car's best lap so far was its 39th lap, when Memo did a 1:43.613
for an average speed of 123.91 mph. The best lap recorded by the car that's
currently leading, the Shank 6, was only a 1:43.071, or 124.341 mph.

The No. 29 is 50th overall, 32nd in GT. L-P is behind the wheel. The
Porsche has done 350 laps so far, and is 116 laps behind Allmendinger. It's only
one lap behind the GT car ahead of it, which is the 31 of Diego Alessi.

We could have run four NASCAR Sprint Cup races at this point. They're
usually about three and a half to four hours long.

We already have a new record for the number of lead changes in the Rolex 24.
There have ben 50 so far today, which is six more than the previous record of
44 set in 2005.

Hour 17: About 15 minutes ago I noticed that Gabriele is in the Kodak 77 now.

At the 17-hour mark, or 6:30 a.m., the Kodak 77 was 51st overall, still 19th
in DP, and Gabriele was driving. The car has done 362 laps to the 493 of
leader Scott Pruett.

The Alegra No. 29 is being driven by Bob Woodman, who is 48th overall, 29th
in GT with 374 down.

I've now been up for 24 hours, and we still have seven hours to go in this
race. It'll take me several hours to write and file my stories too. Yikes!

Hour 18: It's always great to still be running when the sky brightens on
Sunday morning at the Rolex 24.

The Kodak 77 is doing just that. Gabriele is driving. It's 49th overall and
still 19th in DP with 388 laps to leader Scott Pruett's 518. Eleven GT cars
lie between it and the 18th place DP, the Sigalsport 7.

The Alegra 29 is still running too. Bob Woodman just got out of it and Jake
climbed back in. The car is 48th overall, 30th in GT, and it just finished
its 397th lap today.

It's still damp here, but the sky started getting brighter about a half-hour
ago.

Hour 19: The Kodak 77 is in 48th overall and 19th in DP; it's done 418 laps.


The Alegra 29 is 47th overall and 29th in GT, but it retired with about five
hours and 11 minutes remaining in the race. It did 418 laps in all.

What finally did it in was running over debris that caused a flat left-front
tire that in turn caused Jake to crash into a wall off high-speed NASCAR Turn
4. It would take too long to fix the damage, so the team has called it quits.

The official reason for the No. 22's retirement is electrical, not electrical
and gearbox like I thought. Wrong again!

I'm not exactly sure when Gabriele got out of the 77, but Memo is driving
with 19:24.59 gone.

Hour 20: With four hours left, the Kodak 77 is in 46th overall and 19th in
DP; it's done 444 laps. Memo is driving.

Around 20:13 I notice Memo is 45th overall and 18th in DP, not 19th.

Hour 21: At Hour 21 Memo is 44th overall and 18th in DP with the No. 77 with
476 laps complete.

Fifteen minutes later Lyn Hunting, the Press Snoop, asks me why the 77 is
going to the garage again. I think I might cry.

OK; here's what I pieced together from what Gabriele and Brad have heard. I'm
not sure if Memo was in the car or if Fabrizio was in the car, but a GT car's
engine blew and dumped oil in front of the No. 77. I THINK Memo was driving.
He slid off in the grass and hit some barrier somewhere. Montoya slid in
the oil too but he was able to keep going.

At 11 a.m. whoever is driving goes back out on the track, repairs completed.
The Doran Racing crew is incredible!

At 21:36:12 timing and scoring says Fabrizio is in the car and it's 45th
overall, 18th in DP with 479 laps complete. I just don't know if Fabrizio got in
the car while it was being repaired in the garage or if he was driving when
the accident occurred. Eventually I'll find out I guess. It's cool that we're
still 18th in DP in the standings!

I got a quote from Brad while the guys were fixing the car.

Brad Jaeger: "Actually my race was pretty uneventful. I was the first
driver to go on rain tires; both my stints were in the rain. It was good for me
because I got to learn the car. We were fairly out of contention, so we used it
as good track time for me. I'm going to run the full season with Memo, and
eventually I'll need to know how these cars handle in the rain sometime this
season, so it was great practice for me.

"I never had a flat tire or anything. I drove off once in the rain and I had
to come in so they could clean the radiator screen out, but that was all."

Hour 22: Fabrizio is 45th overall and 18th in DP with 493 laps completed with
two hours to go. I really hope this car finishes! The team deserves it!
Like Rocky Balboa, right now we just want to go the distance.

In the DP class the Ganassi 02 of Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon, Salvador Duran
and Alex Lloyd is ahead of us in 17th. They completed 516 laps, but they're out
now. If we don't have a bunch of yellows and if we have no more problems
ourselves, we could move up a couple spots. Ahead of the 02 is the Southard 3 of
Shane Lewis, Bill Lester, Ted Christopher and somebody else, with 527 laps
completed in 16th place in class. It's out too. Ahead of the 3 in 15th in DP is
the 7 of Matt Plumb, Quentin Wahl, Stephan Gregoire and Michael Cullen with
544 laps complete, but it's running. I better not get too greedy. Besides, I
could be all screwed up because I'm really tired.

Going on the defensive, behind us in class is the AIM 61 of Colin Braun,
Brian Frisselle, Mark Wilkins and Andrew Ranger. They're 48th overall and 19th in
DP with 448 laps complete, but I know they're out.

With 22 and a half hours gone, Brad is back in the car. It's 45th overall
and 18th in DP with 506 laps under its belts.

Our best lap is still Memo's lap 39 at 1:43.613, 123.691 mph. He also led
two laps, which was the highlight of my day!

Hour 23: With 4 minutes to go before the Hour 23 mark, the No. 77 is 43rd
overall and 17th in DP because Brad just did one more lap than the retired 02.

At the Hour 23 mark Brad is 43rd overall, 17th in DP. The car has done 519
laps and it's 143 laps down to the leader.

I'm headed for the pits, hopefully post-race interviews, and then back to the
pressroom to write and send my reports. See the race reports for more info,
and thanks for reading along! I'm amazed that you got this far in this blog!
This has been one challenging Rolex 24. I'm exhausted but proud to be
associated with these great teams. Congratulations to all!