Daytona 24 2019

Some of the shots makes it look like the rain has let up a little. 

Allmendinger - "It's insanity, on the borderline of ridiculous"

It sucks that the conditions are that bad. But I also think they should be robust to this. 

Rain happens in Florida. And this is a 24 hr endurance race. 

Perhaps the facility drainage needs to be addressed. 

I also have been curious about the decision making process between red vs. yellow in the rain.  it seems they've gone green under very heavy rain at times.  

I'd rather see them racing, I'm just not sure what is driving the green vs. yellow decision.  

Agreed with others, rain is part of the challenge.  

Don’t miss wet endurance racing at all. 

My favorite quote so far- "We are always getting hit by the Porsches.  I'm pretty over it" 

Ouch crunched Scuderia...

I've watched quite a bit of coverage last night, as well as this morning.  While the commentary has been quite good, and the camera coverage is great, I've found the support graphics/data to be lacking vs. coverage of other events and sports.  

I know this isn't billed as prime time TV, but it would be neat to see some in car telemetry data.  Neat to see the speeds they're running, RPM, braking, etc.  They pretty much have just had the static overlay of the positions the entire time.  

Maybe they could have gone with one less commentator for the event and staffed one extra graphics/data/stats guy to supplement the coverage.  

It’s interesting to see cars hit the same puddle with the same results. Like lemmings. 

Is it just me, or is it getting a little ridiculous to keep running in this weather?

Well, looks like I wasn’t alone with that assessment .

And red flag

Good call it was getting a bit crazy. 

Good timing on the pass by Alonso, bad timing for the fuel for Westbrook. 

Now we just wait.

Very rarely do I say call it but I think this time they should if radar is not showing things getting better. 

Not worth the risk to the drivers or the equipment. 

I gave up. I managed to stay relatively dry, due to a Gore Tex jacket and some cheap frogtog rain pants, but when the rain soaked through my Gore Tex hiking boots, I started to question my decision to stick it out.

Since they were under a yellow (again), I tried the BMW VR driving simulator. I couldn't get my eyes focused, either with or without my glasses. That resulted in motion sickness, something I don't usually have much trouble with.

So, cold, wet, tired, and nauseous. And my own house was 20 minutes away. I'm stubborn, but that was it.

I'm home, and headed for the shower.

I can’t believe it’s 2:10 and they still haven’t called it. At this point it would be a nascar white flag start if they tried.

The officials should have called it with an hour to go. Trying to get a prototype into race mode takes time. They’re making a decision by not making a decision. This is stupid.

I’ve raced through an actual hurricane, and that wasn’t on a track with the same 10 corners over and over. I want to see the cars struggling through it. Endurance racing is about trading risk vs reward. If the conditions are horrible, you go into survival mode and do what it takes to get to the finish. 

Oh, and the Ford GT is such an awesome looking car.

Watching these prototypes chasing each other around only confirms my belief that F1 needs to get over themselves and cover the damn wheels and cockpit. 

I've been watching the TV for an hour awaiting the decision.  Maybe that's the point of waiting?

Alonso pulls it off!!!  Good win. I was pulling for him. 

I’ve been critical of his Le Mans win, but this was earned. 

In reply to mikeatrpi :

I think you are on to something there....

In reply to Keith Tanner :

I agree endurance racing should encompass all regular weather types, but watching the slide fest that was occurring I’m not sure any cars would be left if that kept up. Even a driver that takes sufficient caution can still be taken out by someone willing to risk more.

Would've been better with less rain and more time under a green flag, but I think they made the right call. 

Too bad for Ford getting taken out while in the lead. 

I think Vilander forgot about the bus stop. 

Tough breaks also for Mazda, Corvette, and Penske.