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GRAND-AM
IN THE COCKPIT: Andy Lally, Rolex 24
While I’m thankful for good points and another top-five at my favorite race in the world, to lose the race with just an hour to go was incredibly heart breaking. I don’t know what else to say...
Andy Lally had a heartbreaking finish to the 51st Rolex 24 at Daytona, with his Porsche running out of fuel on the final lap and depriving Magnus Racing of a podium finish. (Photo: John Dagys)
Hello everyone, it’s great to be back here with SPEED.com.
Before anything else I really want to thank John Dagys, Marshall Pruett, and everyone behind the scenes to allow me to return with some insight on a race weekend with myself and all of the Magnus guys. John Potter and I will be back for the full season of GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car GT competition in the No. 44, and I’ll be writing a little something after every race.
As many of you may have read as well, it was also recently announced that I’ll be driving with Patrick Dempsey in ALMS GTC! I can’t tell you how lucky I am to be back with two great teams, and with a real shot at the championship in both. This is the last year of GRAND-AM and ALMS as we know it, and I’m really focused on ending both seasons on a high.
Back to Daytona.
While I’m thankful for good points and another top-five at my favorite race in the world, to lose the race with just an hour to go was incredibly heart breaking. I don’t know what else to say.
The Magnus guys had the best car not only during the race, but all month. In the January test, we were on top in half the sessions. All through practice leading to the race, we were either on top or in the top three. We barely missed pole by a draft, and started from the front row. The car was fast.
The car had to be fast this year. Last year was said to be the most competitive GT field in the race’s history, but this year came close to that. So many good teams, so many world-class drivers, and you could tell there was a lot of factory support from not only Porsche, but also Ferrari and especially Audi. This wasn’t going to be a race of attrition, but a race of speed and strategy.
On top of this, I had a few personal records at stake. I’ve been on the podium at every Rolex 24 since 2008, and eight podiums total. Bigger than that, I’ve won the last two in a row, and four total victories. Five Rolex 24 victories would have have tied some of the sport’s greats, and I was looking for the record on consecutive podiums. I wanted this one bad, and so did the team.
Also, the team came in this year with a major buzz. The videos, the contests, and our, umm, poster were big hits with the fans. The video and the poster are becoming one of my favorite parts of the Magnus experience. What’s incredible to me is that they’re very funny, but I think people can sometimes ignore the quality of work that goes in to them, and I think that’s a perfect reflection of the team; we’re fun but we are professionals. I also don’t think people realize that John Potter and his creative team DO NOT TELL US what they’re up to. Ever. When everyone sees the poster or the video for the first time, so do I. For better or worse…
When the green flag fell, it was Nick Tandy and I out front. I was chasing his car down, but we still had 23 hours to go, so there was no point in doing anything stupid.
Then, out of nowhere I saw Nick’s car run wide in to the marbles in turn five to get around traffic, and headed in to turn six… WHAM, in to the barrier. He probably had some pick-up on his tires, and he had a pretty good hit. Obviously I don’t ever want to see anyone have misfortune like that, but only 30 minutes in and we had a good competitor out, and we were in the lead.
As the race wore on, the team was pretty flawless. We led more laps than anyone, perfect pit stops, and Richard, Nicolas, and especially John all drove without a mistake.
The only issue we had all race was our front splitter. The splitter is a very important part of the car, especially at Daytona, as it’s a small piece of carbon that sits under the nose and helps generate downforce. The closer it is to the ground, the more downforce it creates, which is really important at a fast track like Daytona, especially on braking and turn-in.
For whatever reason, our splitter kept scraping the ground and curbing a little too close, and the splitter kept coming loose. This is where the Magnus crew absolutely shined. We had to replace or repair the splitter three times during the race, and we barely lost any time in the pits. This is where practice and preparation are critical, and the guys were just awesome.
As the race wore on, we were in this thing. When we weren’t leading we were pitting, or waiting for everyone else to pit. There was literally never a point in the race where it looked like we were out of this thing, which made it very tough for me to relax.
Unfortunately, with 80 minutes to go, the race changed away from our favor. The yellow worked in favor of the cars behind us getting a lap back, and that was critical for them. The yellow with 57 minutes to go was the final blow. The Audi’s were getting way better fuel mileage, which meant we had to pit to make it to the end under the final yellow, but would have to conserve fuel as soon as we were back on track.
The Audi’s all ran separate strategies, but the big thing for all of them was that the better mileage meant they could push a lot harder. It worked for them, which is why they finished 1-2 and we missed third by running out of gas.
I’m happy with the points I guess, but to miss the podium by a gallon of gas and some untimely yellows just kills me. Everyone did their jobs, it just didn’t work out. When you lead that many laps and have such a great car, it’s a tough pill to swallow.
Oh well, the Magnus guys showed what they were made of, and we’ll carry this on for the season, starting with Round Two at Circuit of the America’s. It should be a great race and I’m really excited to get this season under way.
Andy Lally is one of the most successful drivers in GRAND-AM history, and one of the highest regarded American sports car drivers on the circuit. As GRAND-AM’s all-time mileage leader, Andy has won four different times at The Rolex 24 at Daytona, three GRAND-AM championships, and has had over 100 starts in the Rolex Series. Beyond road racing, he is also the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year, and even a two-time Classic Luge World Champion.
Before anything else I really want to thank John Dagys, Marshall Pruett, and everyone behind the scenes to allow me to return with some insight on a race weekend with myself and all of the Magnus guys. John Potter and I will be back for the full season of GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car GT competition in the No. 44, and I’ll be writing a little something after every race.
As many of you may have read as well, it was also recently announced that I’ll be driving with Patrick Dempsey in ALMS GTC! I can’t tell you how lucky I am to be back with two great teams, and with a real shot at the championship in both. This is the last year of GRAND-AM and ALMS as we know it, and I’m really focused on ending both seasons on a high.
Back to Daytona.
While I’m thankful for good points and another top-five at my favorite race in the world, to lose the race with just an hour to go was incredibly heart breaking. I don’t know what else to say.
The Magnus guys had the best car not only during the race, but all month. In the January test, we were on top in half the sessions. All through practice leading to the race, we were either on top or in the top three. We barely missed pole by a draft, and started from the front row. The car was fast.
The car had to be fast this year. Last year was said to be the most competitive GT field in the race’s history, but this year came close to that. So many good teams, so many world-class drivers, and you could tell there was a lot of factory support from not only Porsche, but also Ferrari and especially Audi. This wasn’t going to be a race of attrition, but a race of speed and strategy.
On top of this, I had a few personal records at stake. I’ve been on the podium at every Rolex 24 since 2008, and eight podiums total. Bigger than that, I’ve won the last two in a row, and four total victories. Five Rolex 24 victories would have have tied some of the sport’s greats, and I was looking for the record on consecutive podiums. I wanted this one bad, and so did the team.
Also, the team came in this year with a major buzz. The videos, the contests, and our, umm, poster were big hits with the fans. The video and the poster are becoming one of my favorite parts of the Magnus experience. What’s incredible to me is that they’re very funny, but I think people can sometimes ignore the quality of work that goes in to them, and I think that’s a perfect reflection of the team; we’re fun but we are professionals. I also don’t think people realize that John Potter and his creative team DO NOT TELL US what they’re up to. Ever. When everyone sees the poster or the video for the first time, so do I. For better or worse…
When the green flag fell, it was Nick Tandy and I out front. I was chasing his car down, but we still had 23 hours to go, so there was no point in doing anything stupid.
Then, out of nowhere I saw Nick’s car run wide in to the marbles in turn five to get around traffic, and headed in to turn six… WHAM, in to the barrier. He probably had some pick-up on his tires, and he had a pretty good hit. Obviously I don’t ever want to see anyone have misfortune like that, but only 30 minutes in and we had a good competitor out, and we were in the lead.
As the race wore on, the team was pretty flawless. We led more laps than anyone, perfect pit stops, and Richard, Nicolas, and especially John all drove without a mistake.
The only issue we had all race was our front splitter. The splitter is a very important part of the car, especially at Daytona, as it’s a small piece of carbon that sits under the nose and helps generate downforce. The closer it is to the ground, the more downforce it creates, which is really important at a fast track like Daytona, especially on braking and turn-in.
For whatever reason, our splitter kept scraping the ground and curbing a little too close, and the splitter kept coming loose. This is where the Magnus crew absolutely shined. We had to replace or repair the splitter three times during the race, and we barely lost any time in the pits. This is where practice and preparation are critical, and the guys were just awesome.
As the race wore on, we were in this thing. When we weren’t leading we were pitting, or waiting for everyone else to pit. There was literally never a point in the race where it looked like we were out of this thing, which made it very tough for me to relax.
Unfortunately, with 80 minutes to go, the race changed away from our favor. The yellow worked in favor of the cars behind us getting a lap back, and that was critical for them. The yellow with 57 minutes to go was the final blow. The Audi’s were getting way better fuel mileage, which meant we had to pit to make it to the end under the final yellow, but would have to conserve fuel as soon as we were back on track.
The Audi’s all ran separate strategies, but the big thing for all of them was that the better mileage meant they could push a lot harder. It worked for them, which is why they finished 1-2 and we missed third by running out of gas.
I’m happy with the points I guess, but to miss the podium by a gallon of gas and some untimely yellows just kills me. Everyone did their jobs, it just didn’t work out. When you lead that many laps and have such a great car, it’s a tough pill to swallow.
Oh well, the Magnus guys showed what they were made of, and we’ll carry this on for the season, starting with Round Two at Circuit of the America’s. It should be a great race and I’m really excited to get this season under way.
Andy Lally is one of the most successful drivers in GRAND-AM history, and one of the highest regarded American sports car drivers on the circuit. As GRAND-AM’s all-time mileage leader, Andy has won four different times at The Rolex 24 at Daytona, three GRAND-AM championships, and has had over 100 starts in the Rolex Series. Beyond road racing, he is also the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year, and even a two-time Classic Luge World Champion.
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