For the second year in a row, the Audi R8 V10 has been named the official safety car of the Rolex 24-Hour Race in Daytona. Yes, even though the driver slammed it into the wall during the race, which looked brutal. It is not easy to control all of that power for extended periods of time.
The Rolex track is a 3.56-mile, 12-turn design with some cues from the NASCAR tri-oval and an infield road course.
The Audi R8 safety car joined other Audi R8 LMS racing cars for the events this year. Both models boast a 5.2-liter V10 engine kicking out 525 horses and 391 pound-feet of torque stock. A special V10 Plus model offers a touch more than those at 550 horses and nails the 0-60 mile per hour jump in 3.3 blistering seconds, up from 3.3.
The Rolex 24 Hour Race started last Saturday the 25th and and ran through Sunday, a grueling 24-hour high-performance and high endurance spectacle. Last year, the Audi R8 paced and won the Daytona 24 Hour, but this year it was the #5 Action Express Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype by a mere 1.461 seconds. The ORECA FLM 9 of CORE Autosport took the Prototype Challenge class while in GT Le Mans and GT Daytona it was #911 Porsche 911 RSR of Porsche North America and #555 Level 5 Motorsport’s Ferrari F458 Italia.
The crash
Somewhat early on in the Rolex 24 Hour Race, Memo Gidley rammed his #99 GAINSCO Corvette DP into the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia driven by Matteo Malucelli. Both drivers were taken to a nearby hospital and recovered nicely.
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