Crain News Service
DAYTONA, Fla. (Nov. 20, 2013) — The International Motor Sport Association (IMSA) and Continental Tire the Americas together suspended on-track testing for prototype and prototype challenge class cars in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship Nov. 20 after two cars went airborne during testing on Nov. 19 at Daytona International Speedway.
IMSA and Continental Tire — which supplies the spec racing tires for these two classes — said they are analyzing the crashes, which may have been triggered by tires losing air and deflating.
According to IMSA, driver Richard Westbrook wrecked in the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP entering turn one at the end of the morning session on Tuesday, while João Barbosa spun on the back straight in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP at the end of the day.
Both drivers were evaluated and released following visits to the infield care center, although the Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP sustained major damage. Charles Espenlaub was also unscathed after crashing the No. 46 Fall-Line Motorsports Audi R8 LMS in the chicane on the backstretch midway through the afternoon session.
On-track testing was scheduled to continue at Daytona on Wednesday for the GT Le Mans (GTLM) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes. On-track testing of the DeltaWing DWC13 prototype, which uses a unique tire and technical package, was also slated to continue as scheduled.
The testing is part of preseason preparations for the 2014 Tudor USCC, which begins Jan 25-26 with the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the 24-hour endurance classic at the Daytona race track.
_______________________________________
Report appeared on autoweek.com, the website of Autoweek magazine, a Detroit-based sister publication of Tire Business.
