March / April 2016
35
We walked the rows of newly added seating, and
the sounds of the racetrack came to life.
The first day of qualifying came to a close, the
number 911 and 912 Porsches made great laps in
a heavy Florida downpour. For the first time, the
GTLM class actually had the fastest qualifying times
over the prototypes.
Friday morning greeted us with the weather you
would expect from Daytona Beach, so my crew
loaded up and headed to the track. The first race of
the day was the Ferrari Challenge series; gentlemen
drivers gave it their best go on the 3.8 miles of as-
phalt heaven.
Next up was the series I follow the most; the Con-
tinental Series BMW 200. This race featured the GS
series premiere of the Porsche GT4 Club sport. I got
a chance to look the car over while in the paddock
earlier in the day; wow! Porsche came through on
that car. While finishing in 5th, it ran a really great
race against the Rum Bum 997 and the new and im-
proved Ford Mustang.
Welcome to the Big Race
DAYTONA
By Cecil Searcy
