2007 Rolex 24 At Daytona
Encyclopedia
The 2007 Rolex 24 At Daytona was a Grand-Am
Rolex Sports Car Series 24-hour endurance sports car race held on January 27–28, 2007. The overall winner of the race was the Chip Ganassi
/Felix Sabates
-owned #01 car, a Lexus-powered Riley MkXI, driven by Juan Pablo Montoya
, Salvador Durán
and Scott Pruett
. The GT class was won by the #22 Alegra Motorsports/Fiorano Racing Porsche GT3 Cup car driven by Driver/Owner Carlos de Quesada, Jean Francois Dumoulin, Scooter Gabel and Porsche factory driver Marc Basseng
.
took the pole, his fourth in Rolex Series competition, with a lap of 1:43.475 at an average speed of 123.856 mph (199.327 km/h).
, Gurney jumped into the lead and the field made its way around the first lap cleanly. But after only seven laps of the 24-hour race, Gurney crashed into the back of a slower GT
car which had lost its hood and unexpectedly slowed dramatically. The team would make repairs, but Gurney's GAINSCO Auto Insurance
-sponsored Pontiac-powered Riley, which was co-driven by Jon Fogarty
and Jimmy Vasser
, would never again be in contention for the win.
On January 28, an early-morning wreck of the #82 Porsche GT3 Cup, driven by Chris Pallis, damaged part of the outer retaining wall, causing the race stewards to display the red flag for only the third time in the history of the 24 Hours of Daytona, temporarily suspending the race while repairs took place.
An exciting battle took place between three different teams with a diverse group of drivers. The DP class fight was between eventual winner Telmex
Chip Ganassi Racing
's Juan Pablo Montoya
and Scott Pruett
, SunTrust Racing
's Max Angelelli
and SAMAX Motorsport
's Patrick Carpentier
. Polesitter Alex Gurney
's hopes for victory were dashed when his GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley was damaged in a first-hour accident.
made history by completing the one millionth lap of the Rolex Daytona 24 hour race, since its inception. Legge, driving the #84 Robinson Racing Pontiac
-powered Riley DP car, passed the finish line with less than 2 and a half hours left in the race, completing the 30,419th lap of the 2007 running of the race. Legge was lying in the 31st position at the time.
Juan Pablo Montoya became the first racer in history to have won a Formula One
race, the Indianapolis 500
, a Champ Car
title, and the 24 Hours of Daytona. Mario Andretti
also won a Formula One
race, a Champ Car
title and an endurance sports car race at Daytona, but Andretti's victory came in the 1972 event alongside co-driver Jacky Ickx
in a six-hour event.
Grand American Road Racing Association
GRAND-AM Road Racing or GRAND-AM is an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America...
Rolex Sports Car Series 24-hour endurance sports car race held on January 27–28, 2007. The overall winner of the race was the Chip Ganassi
Chip Ganassi
Floyd "Chip" Ganassi, Jr is a former American racecar driver and current racecar owner.He is currently the owner and president of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates which operates teams on the IndyCar, NASCAR and Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series circuit...
/Felix Sabates
Felix Sabates
Felix Sabates is an entrepreneur and philanthropist living in the United States. He is currently a minority shareholder in Chip Ganassi Racing, which fields teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series , GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and the IZOD IndyCar Series...
-owned #01 car, a Lexus-powered Riley MkXI, driven by Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán is a Colombian race car driver known internationally for participating and winning in Formula One and CART race competitions. He has enjoyed great success. Currently, he competes in NASCAR, driving the #42 Target Chevrolet Impala for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in the Sprint...
, Salvador Durán
Salvador Durán
Salvador Durán Sánchez is a Mexican race car driver currently racing in the NACAR Corona Series and formerly Formula Renault 3.5 Series championship with the Interwetten.com team....
and Scott Pruett
Scott Pruett
Scott Donald Pruett is an American race car driver who has competed in NASCAR, Champ Car, IMSA, Trans-Am and Grand-Am. He and his wife Judy have three children, and are children's book authors....
. The GT class was won by the #22 Alegra Motorsports/Fiorano Racing Porsche GT3 Cup car driven by Driver/Owner Carlos de Quesada, Jean Francois Dumoulin, Scooter Gabel and Porsche factory driver Marc Basseng
Marc Basseng
Marc Basseng is a German racing driver, currently competing in the FIA GT1 World Championship for All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport.-Career:...
.
Prelude
GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing driver Alex GurneyAlex Gurney
Alex Gurney is an American professional auto racing driver, currently driving for GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. Gurney drives the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Pontiac Riley, pairing with Jon Fogarty...
took the pole, his fourth in Rolex Series competition, with a lap of 1:43.475 at an average speed of 123.856 mph (199.327 km/h).
Start
At the green flag, which fell just past 1:30 p.m. Eastern timeNorth American Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
, Gurney jumped into the lead and the field made its way around the first lap cleanly. But after only seven laps of the 24-hour race, Gurney crashed into the back of a slower GT
Grand tourer
A grand tourer is a high-performance luxury automobile designed for long-distance driving. The most common format is a two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement....
car which had lost its hood and unexpectedly slowed dramatically. The team would make repairs, but Gurney's GAINSCO Auto Insurance
GAINSCO
GAINSCO is an auto insurance company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The company was founded in October 1978 by Joseph Macchia and currently markets its products through independent insurance agents across the Sunbelt. GAINSCO sponsors the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Daytona Prototype...
-sponsored Pontiac-powered Riley, which was co-driven by Jon Fogarty
Jon Fogarty
Jon Fogarty is an American professional auto racing driver . Fogarty currently drives the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Daytona Prototype for GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. He won his first Grand-Am race, the 2007 Mexico City 400k, in March 2007...
and Jimmy Vasser
Jimmy Vasser
Jimmy Vasser is a retired American racing driver and current co-owner of KV Racing Technology. Vasser won the 1996 IndyCar season championship with Chip Ganassi Racing, and scored ten victories in the series...
, would never again be in contention for the win.
On January 28, an early-morning wreck of the #82 Porsche GT3 Cup, driven by Chris Pallis, damaged part of the outer retaining wall, causing the race stewards to display the red flag for only the third time in the history of the 24 Hours of Daytona, temporarily suspending the race while repairs took place.
An exciting battle took place between three different teams with a diverse group of drivers. The DP class fight was between eventual winner Telmex
Telmex
Telmex is a telecommunications company headquartered in Mexico City that provides telecommunication products and services in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and other countries in Latin America. In addition to traditional fixed-line telephone service, Telmex also offers Internet access, data,...
Chip Ganassi Racing
Chip Ganassi Racing
Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is an automotive racing organization with teams competing in the IZOD IndyCar Series and the Rolex Sports Car Series. It is owned by businessmen Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates. They have won 4 Champ Car, 3 Indy Racing League and 1 Grand-Am championships...
's Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán is a Colombian race car driver known internationally for participating and winning in Formula One and CART race competitions. He has enjoyed great success. Currently, he competes in NASCAR, driving the #42 Target Chevrolet Impala for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in the Sprint...
and Scott Pruett
Scott Pruett
Scott Donald Pruett is an American race car driver who has competed in NASCAR, Champ Car, IMSA, Trans-Am and Grand-Am. He and his wife Judy have three children, and are children's book authors....
, SunTrust Racing
SunTrust Racing
SunTrust Racing is a professional sports car racing team competing in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype class. The team campaigns the No...
's Max Angelelli
Max Angelelli
Massimiliano Angelelli is an Italian race car driver.His career begun in Italian Formula Alfa Boxer in 1987 and continued for 15 years. His only championship win as the 1992 Italian Formula Three title...
and SAMAX Motorsport
SAMAX Motorsport
SAMAX Motorsport was a racing team owned by Peter Baron that competed primarily in the Rolex Sports Car Series but also spent one year in the IndyCar Series.The team was founded in 2005 by fielding a car for Mark Greenberg at the 6 Hours of Mont Tremblant...
's Patrick Carpentier
Patrick Carpentier
Patrick Carpentier is a retired Canadian race car driver. He is best known for his career in the Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar Series. In 2009, Patrick shared the #36 of Tommy Baldwin Racing with Mike Skinner and ran Michael Waltrip's #55 Toyota Camry in the road course races in the...
. Polesitter Alex Gurney
Alex Gurney
Alex Gurney is an American professional auto racing driver, currently driving for GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. Gurney drives the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Pontiac Riley, pairing with Jon Fogarty...
's hopes for victory were dashed when his GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley was damaged in a first-hour accident.
1,000,000th lap
At 11:11am on the morning of January 28, British-born female Champ Car driver Katherine LeggeKatherine Legge
Katherine Legge is a British auto racing driver, formerly racing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.-Early racing and Atlantics:Prior to joining the Toyota Atlantic series, she raced in several developmental open-wheel series in Britain, including Formula Three, Formula Renault and Formula Ford....
made history by completing the one millionth lap of the Rolex Daytona 24 hour race, since its inception. Legge, driving the #84 Robinson Racing Pontiac
Pontiac
Pontiac was an automobile brand that was established in 1926 as a companion make for General Motors' Oakland. Quickly overtaking its parent in popularity, it supplanted the Oakland brand entirely by 1933 and, for most of its life, became a companion make for Chevrolet. Pontiac was sold in the...
-powered Riley DP car, passed the finish line with less than 2 and a half hours left in the race, completing the 30,419th lap of the 2007 running of the race. Legge was lying in the 31st position at the time.
Juan Pablo Montoya became the first racer in history to have won a Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
race, the Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
, a Champ Car
Champ Car
Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
title, and the 24 Hours of Daytona. Mario Andretti
Mario Andretti
Mario Gabriele Andretti is a retired Italian American world champion racing driver, one of the most successful Americans in the history of the sport. He is one of only two drivers to win races in Formula One, IndyCar, World Sportscar Championship and NASCAR...
also won a Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
race, a Champ Car
Champ Car
Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
title and an endurance sports car race at Daytona, but Andretti's victory came in the 1972 event alongside co-driver Jacky Ickx
Jacky Ickx
Jacques Bernard "Jacky" Ickx is a Belgian former racing driver who achieved 25 podium finishes in Formula One and six wins in the 24 hours of Le Mans.- Racing career :...
in a six-hour event.