Aston Martin 1-2 at end of another crazy Michelin Pilot Challenge opener at Daytona

 

The four-hour opening race to the 2026 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Series delivered another racing classic earlier this evening as fifty-one GS and TCR based crews battled it around the 3.56mile road circuit that makes up the Daytona Speedway.

Having ran Qualifying earlier yesterday, it was the #26 Heart of Racing car that would lead the GS class charge for Aston Martin Racing in those opening laps as Hannah Grisham was just one of many drivers taking the start being new to the series.

 

 

Surprisingly, the race ran very cleaner for the first forty minutes before debris on track forced the implementation of the first Full Course Yellow having seen Grisham already stick her elbows out at the sharp end of the field whilst the Circle H Racing, Van Der Steur, Rebel Rock and 89X Motorsport Aston Martins continued to build up a head of steam towards the rear of the class. The timing of this caution period also allowed those bronze graded drivers to see out their mandatory forty minute minimum driving time at the earliest opportunity and without badly affecting their overall race strategy either.

Those stops saw Grisham remain within the #26 car whilst all of the others featured a driver change as well as fuel and tyre service – more so for the #10 VDSR Aston which was seen entering the pit again just a few laps later for what would turn out to be on-going technical issues for them.

 

 

There would then be trouble getting back to green flag running as a multiple car incident in the Safety Car queue would see the caution period extended for another ten minutes or so before getting back to green before going almost immediately back to FCY no2 with a TCR car in the tyre wall of turn one.

Finally getting back to green at the two hours twenty minutes to go point saw Andrew Davis quickly take over at the lead of the race in his #71 Rebel rock car with the #26 of Grisham still close behind in P7 but with the #14 Circle H Racing AMR now steadily moving up the class order to P11 with the #10 and #8 bronze cup runners P26 and P28 respectively.

 

 

Minutes later, FCY no.3 and then FCY no.4 saw more opportunity for service where Davis retained his race lead, but both the #14 and #26 cars dropped back slightly thanks to their driver changes. Getting back to green at the halfway mark saw the #8 89X Motorsport crew get pinged for the first of two pit lane transgressions – each one earning themselves another trip down pit lane but up front, we now had an Aston Martin 1-2 with the #14 Circle H joining Rebel Rock at the important end of the pack. The VDSR Aston Martin would again revisit pit lane and then go behind the wall for further works during which they would lose ten laps to their peers.

 

After FCY no.5 at the ninety-minute mark saw Mike David Ortmann take over the #26 car from Hannah Greenemeir after he #92 BMW induced spit at turn one to lead something of a resurgent charge through the order from his then P28 position in class to nearer P10 going into the final half hour of the race whilst the #71 and #14 cars still did battle royale with each other at the front.

 

 

All GS cars made their final stops for fuel and tyres (in varying options of fitment) with just forty-five minutes remaining – still with the two #14 and #71 cars (in that order again) still arguing over just who was going to take the chequered flag but at least they both never threatened each other’s position within the race with any uncalled-for late lunge for example. 

 

With just fifteen minutes remaining, a wide line out of turn one for the #14 car was enough for the #71 to pass them for position and for the lead of the race that they would retain until the chequered flag to account for another timely Aston Martin Racing win (and second place) at Daytona with Rebel Rock beating Circle H by just 2.5 seconds at the end.

 

 

The recovery drive by Ortmann placed the Heart of Racing crew just ousted the top ten in eleventh with the #8 89X Motorsport and #10 VDSR AMR’s still claiming P2 and P3 places respectively within their Bronze Cup class finishing P26 and P29 overall in class.

Another great start to another season with the series now moving on to its next round at Sebring.

Photo credits – Teams / social media