RACING
Mazda Team Joest Break 20 Year Daytona Track Record
Source:The Drive
Over the weekend the 2019 racing season started out with a bang at the infamous Daytona International Speedway for the start for the start of the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. The Roar Before the 24 is what the IMSA test session has become officially called now, leading up the Rolex 24 hour endurance race at Daytona at the end of January.
During the 3-Day test session around the Daytona road course there were new cars in the prototype class testing out their new equipment and new teams testing out brand new cars. During Sunday’s qualifying session that decides pit lane positioning for the Rolex 24 Oliver Jarvis in the Mazda Team Joest RT24-P DPi beat out the long standing overall track record set officially in 1993. Jarvis in the No. 77 Mazda piloted a lap of 1:33.398 in the unofficial session.
Source:Mazda Motorsports
“It felt incredible. Big thanks to Mazda Team Joest, Multimatic and AER. The Mazda was an absolute joy to drive,” explained Jarvis. “We ran in full qualy spec, I don’t think many of our competitors can say the same, but in that low-fuel configuration, it felt incredible. You could really push the car to its limits, and that’s what us drivers live for, that feeling of getting everything out of the car.”
