Rolex 24 post-race driver quotes

Scott Sharp

Scott Sharp
For us, as a team with ESM to be so incredibly supported by Tequila Patron for six years, these are the kind of races you want to reward them with. These are the kind of races you want to win. Especially after last year, things were a bit bleak. We had a rough year changing chassis, going to new tracks, just the whole WEC experience. We made a lot of changes post the last race of the year, and to see all that come together so quickly is very rewarding. It's a great way to start the season, and I'm pretty excited about what this year is going to hold.

Ed Brown
We had such a struggle last year. Three chassis, going to Europe for our first time, and Asia; We thought we were going to walk in there and win a bunch of races. We didn't win any. But the team has really come together and I'm so proud of them. The new HPD power plan was just fantastic. We knew at the Roar we really had something. It was the best car I ever drove in my life. The goal was to not screw her up. It was just a thing you keep worrying about. We screwed her up a few times and did some stupid things, but the team just kept bouncing back. The guys did an unbelievable job bringing her home.

Johannes van Overbeek
It's unbelievable. I'm speechless. I'm so proud to be affiliated with these guys. I know how hard they work. Scott and Ed have made a lot of changes in the team and it's paid off. Winning this race, it's one of the marquee sports car races in the world. To not only win it, but win it overall is amazing.

Pipo Derani the star of the race

Pipo Derani
To win this race is something really tough, and to be able to win this one with Patron and ESM is pretty mega. It all comes together with a great team, great personnel and engineering, and obviously the other drivers. If we weren't a team, we wouldn't have achieved this. It's amazing to be here. At the end of the day, we have to focus all our time at this final moment. We were making sure we never made any mistakes. Keeping it on the track the whole race was really important. The pit stops were fast and the car was really good. I think coming from the Roar we knew we had a great car, but we had to keep working because we knew many of the DPs were going to come quicker for the race, which they did. We just had to keep pushing ourselves.

On being part of today's race-winning driver lineup: ""I have no words. It is just amazing to win my first race in America. It's just a big team effort to be here. To win this race is really tough, everything has to come together from the mechanical side, to the engineers and the drivers, it really is a complete team effort. The last two and a half hours were pretty intense. With the second-place car really pushing us, I couldn't make any mistakes. It was pretty tense, but pretty exciting at the same time. It was a tough race out there, but will be something we can look back on with pride for the rest of our lives."

Art St. Cyr (President, Honda Performance Development) on winning year's Rolex 24 at Daytona: "Winning a 24-hour race is still one of the ultimate challenges in motorsports. We're proud to add this milestone achievement, the Rolex 24, as our first overall victory at Daytona, and our first win for the new 3.5-liter Honda engine package developed for sports car competition. Congratulations to Scott Sharp, Ed Brown, and the entire Patron Tequila ESM team for a truly world-class effort en route to victory. But it's also a somewhat bittersweet day, as Michael Shank Racing consistently ran at the front of the field, and undoubtably would have also contended for the victory but mid-race mechanical failure."

Ozz Negri (#60 Michael Shank Racing Ligier-Honda) led 99 laps with co-drivers John Pew, A.J. Allmendinger and Olivier Pla: "I had no warning [about the engine failure]. We were just looking after everything, taking our time, but suddenly it let go. It's tough, really tough, to take. But this happens in racing. Everyone here, the Honda/HPD guys and Ligier and everyone at MSR, we are all working together. We win together, we lose together. We would have loved to get another Rolex victory, and I am pretty sure we were on our way to doing just that."

JORDAN TAYLOR, WAYNE TAYLOR RACING NO. 10 KONICA MINOLTA CORVETTE DP:

"Overall I think we are pretty happy with the results. We came in knowing how competitive we would be and we knew we had to run our own race, and we did. It was another pretty much flawless race for us. We lapped the whole race and ended up second. I think we are leaving here with first place points since that team isn't running a full season so we are happy about that and move on to Sebring!

"Four years in a row of not having to go the garage and be able to lead laps is pretty incredible. But at the same time to be second three times is pretty heartbreaking. So we will just have to regroup and come back next year a little stronger.

"The lap times were the lap times. We knew what they were. You can't really compete with someone who is a second and a half faster than you lap after lap. We did the best we could…no mistakes. They had penalties, they went off, the had all sorts of stuff and still couldn't get it done. So, I think we should be happy with the result."

Jordan Taylor

IF YOU COULD TALK ABOUT THE PACE OF THE PROTOTYPE RACE TODAY. IT SEEMED LIKE A GREAT BATTLE FOR MUCH OF THE AFTERNOON

"Well, it wasn't much of a battle for the last two hours, but throughout the night and everything, I think it was a pretty good race. If we had track position, we could kind of hold off the 2 car, but with certain drivers in that car, they could kind of get around us pretty easily. So it was tough. We had a flawless race pretty much. We never went behind the wall. Actually in four years we haven't gone behind the wall. We've finished every lap.So We were proud of what we did, so I don't think we could have done much more."

CAN YOU GIVE US A HEALTH UPDATE ON ALL OF YOU, INCLUDING MAX?

Well, I don't feel great. Ricky had stomach issues this morning. I think Wayne came back for Max. He's at the hospital right now.

WAS IT FUMES?

"No, we don't know what it is. I've been sick for two weeks, so I felt â€'â€' I think I felt sick anyway in the car, and they just didn't want to take any chances with the last hour."

AND THEN YOU TALKED ABOUT MAYBE RICKY MAY HAVE MENTIONED THAT THEY COULD GO â€'â€' THE NO. 2 CAR COULD GO BY ANY TIME THEY WANTED WITH CERTAIN PEOPLE. WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE LITTLE BRAZILIAN KID, THE 22â€'YEARâ€'OLD KID, THAT HE'S SO GOOD?

"Well, I don't know. When I was following him, he missed quite a few apexes. I think the car is strong. The 6 car showed that all race long. They were leading when they went out, so it was a strong package this weekend."

Ricky Taylor

RICKY TAYLOR, WAYNE TAYLOR RACING NO. 10 KONICA MINOLTA CORVETTE DP:

TALK ABOUT THE TEAM'S PERFORMANCE THIS WEEKEND

"I think the most important thing for us is that the team, I think, did a winning performance. Once again we never went back to the garage, the guys had awesome pit stops and strategy. I think we spent four less minutes in the pits than the other cars. The car was fast compared to the DPs and like Jordan said, they could flip the switch and go by when they wanted. So we weren't really racing them but for us we were very disappointed to have another great run without a watch."

REGARDING THE TRAFFIC SITUATION WITH SLOWER CARS

"I feel like it was one of the more treacherous 24-hour races in the night. PC cars were especially all over the place. I think you can see in the results that they were very separated in laps. So it was just about survival and very intense this year pushing all night to stay in touch with the leaders. It was a very fun DP battle for about six or seven hours left when the 2 car was kind of behind and that was quite a bit of fun."

WE KNOW ITS ALL ABOUT A FAMILY AFFAIR WITH YOUR TEAM BUT TELL ME ABOUT HOW WITH THE OTHER DRIVERS AND THE REST OF THE TEAM THAT YOU BECOME EVEN MORE LIKE FAMILY AS YOU RACE

"Yeah, I mean, racing is such a small world. Except when we look at someone like Rubens Barrichello, man that guy is the man, and this is a dream come true to drive with him and share the podium with someone like him. We welcomed him into our family team. But right now, like you said, we are all like family and we are all just thinking about Max and hoping for the best."

Rubens Barrichello

RUBENS BARRICHELLO, WAYNE TAYLOR RACING, NO. 10 KONICA MINOLTA CORVETTE DP:

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE INTENSITY OF THE PROTOTYPE RACE THIS WEEKEND?

"I have to run just because my wife let me race this race, but she said we've got to go to Brazil tonight, so that's the only thing, so I've got to run back to Orlando airport. It was an amazing week. Obviously it was a late deal when I talked to Wayne, but it was so nice to meet the boys, meet Max, and I had 20 minutes before I entered the race on the drying conditions, and I felt that my seat was okay, but of course I couldn't do things on their seat because they're already all set. They've been driving all three in a pretty good seat position, so I put things on my back, but as soon as it got hot, the foam just let it go. So my first time that I was in the car, I was not really comfortable in the car, and I drove for an hour and a half, and it looked like I was driving a Formula 1 for like 24 hours. So I was pretty tired. We had to do something, and that something came up with the idea of running Wayne's old seat, which it was fantastic because although it wasn't perfect, it put me back to the condition that I was a little bit more competitive so I could do a stint of two hours and a bit, two hours and a half, and then I was able to set some good times. I'm pleased that we finished up here for such a late thing, and I hope to be back."

RUBENS, COMPARE THIS DP EXPERIENCE WITH YOUR LAST DP EXPERIENCE, AND IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, IT HAPPENED AT COTA, AT CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS

"No, actually I had a couple of experiences. I had an Indianapolis one, and I had â€'â€' last year I was here, as well. But this one, I mean, the team is wonderful. The team is well together, the mechanics, the engineers, all the guys that put the strategy up. I really enjoy, because I was able to put some of my experience and talk to them and make some of â€'â€' we went forward, and I'm sorry that I didn't get to drive much, much before, because I really wanted to help it further, but I think the team did a fantastic job. We had the fastest DP on the track, and it was nice just to be able to be with all of them, and like I said, I hope to be back. I love the series, and I did enjoy my time with the team."

Ryan Hunter-Reay

RYAN HUNTERâ€'REAY, VISIT FLORIDA RACING NO. 90 VISITFLORIDA.COM CORVETTE DP:

Ryan Hunter-Reay: "Everybody at Visit Florida Racing did a good job today. We struggled with the balance of the car a lot through the race but we salvaged a third place out of it. We were on the fly there with the way the rotation was going so it made sense there at the end to have me finish it out. We need to go back and look at how we can do better next time but it's good. This is the best finish for Visit Florida at the Daytona 24. It was great, absolutely a blast to be with the team. I just wanted to win this race so bad. I've been on the podium quite a few times and everybody here wants it to win so badly, so we're going to keep working, we're determined to get something out of it here."

RYAN, IT WAS ALMOST A STRONG BATTLE OF ATTRITION OUT THERE TODAY. RYAN HUNTERâ€'REAY, YES. IT WAS A STRONG BATTLE OUT THERE TODAY IN THE PROTOTYPE CLASS. CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT IT WAS LIKE, JUST THE FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL TO STAY OUT THERE?

"Yeah, first of all, it's great to be with this team. These guys are friends of mine off the racetrack. They're great teammates. Couldn't ask for a better team to be teamed up with. It's great to be back at Daytona, and we had some balance issues that we've been working through, some grip issues. We never quite got a handle on it. So we had our hands full today. I think we salvaged a result out of it, and we're looking forward to the future.

But, yeah, it was tough out there. You just had to keep your nose clean, and especially for us, it was just so tough to put the power down."

RYAN, NORMALLY YOUR PROGRAM IS OPENâ€'WHEEL RACING. INDYCAR YOU'VE RACED HERE QUITE OFTEN. NEVERTHELESS, CAN YOU DESCRIBE HOW DIFFERENT SUCH A DP CAR TO YOUR NORMAL OPENâ€'WHEEL INDYCAR?

"It's a lot different. That's why I love coming here. I love changing up driving styles. It makes me think about my driving style and how I can change, and ever evolving as a racing driver. So that's why I love doing it, especially with a group like this. So it's definitely something I look to do a lot in the future as well."

RYAN, AS FAR AS WINS MEAN EVERYTHING TO YOU GUYS, THAT'S ALWAYS THE CASE. BUT TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT SMILE YOU'RE GOING TO TAKE INTO ST. PETERSBURG NEXT MONTH?

"Yeah, well, I hope so. We're busy at work on the IndyCar side of it. I'm actually testing at Sebring all day tomorrow, so I've got to get some rest and head over there. I'll be a little sore tomorrow.

But it's something that we're really focused on. We were just in the early stages of testing. We've got a lot to do. So I really can't tell you how we're going to look there, but I think we'll be stronger than we were last year."

Ryan Dalziel

RYAN DALZIEL, VISIT FLORIDA RACING NO. 90 VISITFLORIDA.COM CORVETTE DP:

Ryan Dalziel: "The Rolex 24 is obviously one of the toughest races to finish. With Thursday being wet and Friday being the only dry practice, we were pretty lost as far as setup on Friday. We threw some stuff at it and then made a plan for the race. Visit Florida Racing did a good job of making the right changes at the right time under caution. We never lost a lap through any of our changes. We got the car a lot better but I think third was a huge achievement for us with how the month had gone. It's good points for the championship, but it's disappointing not to win. I'm obviously happy for Patron Racing (Dalziel's World Endurance Championship team). It's a little bit bittersweet but I'm happy for them and just delighted to be on the podium at Daytona."

"The car was consistent for us, we just lacked that maybe three or four tenths. Obviously no one had anything for the Ligier. We had a couple of issues but everything was dealt with by the team and we never lost a lap through it. We had some power-steering issues, a couple splitter issues during the race, and some contact. Everything that we did was fixed really nicely and I'm really impressed with how quickly the team diagnosed problems, fixed them, and got us back out in a timely manner. I'm encouraged for the season ahead and it's a great start toward the championship. We've all got a lot of work to do before Sebring but all things considered I think it was a great result. I live here (in Florida) and I've kind of adopted it as my second home. We've got a lot of people here from Visit Florida, and we're happy that we put on a good show for them. Ryan Hunter-Reay and I are both living in Florida and we're proud to represent the brand."

RYAN, YOU'RE NO STRANGER TO THIS FORM OF RACING AND THIS RACE ITSELF. WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE THAT YOU FACED TODAY?

"I think, yeah, like Ryan said, we had a rough month in general. We had three new guys into a team. None of us had driven a Corvette and never driven for this team. So a lot of time a new guys comes into a team, and it's kind of plug and play, and you deal with what you're left with or what the other guys like.

We didn't have that. We all came in. We all liked something similar. It wasn't what we had with the VisitFlorida car and unfortunately weather, as everybody knows, was not on our sides and we just kind of ran out of time to get the car dialed in. But we made some pretty significant changes in pit lane in the first six, seven hours, which was a plan. We had planned to make certain changes had we needed to under yellow. I think it was the right direction.

But we never really had the pace, for sure, of the 10 car. I think at times through the night we could run with them. But for us, it was just a matter of keeping on the lead lap, hoping for some attrition with the guys in front. I think for our first race and with the conditions we were dealt, a third place almost feels like a victory for us."

MARC GOOSSENS, VISIT FLORIDA RACING NO. 90 VISITFLORIDA.COM CORVETTE DP:

Marc Goossens: "We were pretty optimistic at the Roar, and I have to be honest with you that I wasn't sure we had a car to finish on the podium. I think all the credit goes to the Visit Florida Racing team and the drivers for executing everything in the best possible way. The car wasn't the best. There's still a lot of work to do to improve on performance. I'm not so much talking about the No. 2 (Ligier) car but I think the No. 5 and No. 10 (Daytona Prototype) cars for sure were quicker than us. The Ganassi cars were quick. They're obviously only here for this race and we know that there are some BOP issues as well for that one. In general I think that we came away here with a good solid podium, nice points for the championship, and now it's up to all of us to get our heads together and just build off of this to get better."

MARC, ARE YOU EQUALLY AS SATISFIED WITH THE THIRD PLACE FINISH?

"Yeah, for sure. Because I think to what Ryan "Diesel" as we call him now, was saying, our issues started at the roar. We had quite some mechanical issues with the car, gear box issues. So we lost a lot of track time then. So with the weather that we had this week, we had very limited running time trying to make the car better. So we knew before the start of the race that we didn't have the greatest car in the field.

Like the boys were saying, there were some other guys, maybe the GTD guys, I can't remember, but somebody was saying a lot of guys that were in contention for a win took themselves out.

I think we hit our marks all the time. The team did as well. We kept working on the car during the entire 24 Hours. So like these guys are saying, coming away with a third place is pretty strong for the championship at this point."

IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE YOU'VE HAD THE CHANCE TO RUN FOR THIS RACE HERE, THE ROLEX 24. GIVE US YOUR THOUGHTS, PLEASE.

"Well, I've been here quite often. But, yeah, the last couple of years was always in the GT class, so you kind of forget how intense the DPs are, especially like you were saying, with the car that's not a hundred percent. It's actually requiring even more work.

But, again, the good thing is we know we have a good group of people, all professionals, all fits of â€'â€' we thought it was a big advantage to do this race between the three of us. And like Ryan is saying, I think we all feel a little sore right now, but we're working on this program and we'll be back stronger next time."

Scott Dixon

Scott Dixon (No. 02 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford/Riley DP): "I think, as far as Daytona Prototypes, we were the quickest, both the (No.) 02 and the 01. I feel bad for Chip. All four cars had sort of gremlins. Unfortunately with the 02, we kept losing brakes, which is not real good for confidence. We lost the rears, then we lost the fronts, which initially put us down 10 laps. We got six laps back during the night and then on my (next-to-) last stint, we lost the fronts. A bit annoying and then obviously Kyle (Larson) lost the rears and ended up taking the front of the car off, through no fault of his own. A car with no brakes is not good around here, especially with a lot of these hairpins. But everybody on the Target/Claritin car worked very hard, we just had a lot of problems. And that was across the board for everybody on the team." …

(How does it change your driving style when there are brake issues?) "You're just trying to feel it out. The last thing you want to do is go into a corner at 190 miles an hour and not have any brakes. I think that happened to all of the drivers in the 02 except for Jamie (McMurray). I'm just glad everybody got away safe. I can't say enough for the (crew) guys. The car was pretty much destroyed and they rebuilt the thing. It was the last ride for this car. I hope Chip has some plans for Prototypes next year or at least being in something next year. This is something I've been involved in since 2004. Twelve years doing this racing and it's a lot of fun." …

(And now you head into Verizon IndyCar Series season) "I go to New Zealand this week, then we test in Sonoma and then we go to the Phoenix (open) test and then Sebring. And we also have Sebring 12 Hours stuff; hopefully I'm going to be involved in the GT program there. We'll have to see what happens. From now on, it's full speed ahead."

Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, Head of Porsche Motorsport: "That was a good start to the season. To finish just twelve seconds down after 24 hours is not really losing. It was a tough battle to the flag and we were always amongst the front-runners. But in the end it wasn't enough for victory, unfortunately. But at Sebring we'll do better. I'm extremely pleased with the strong performance of our new 911 GT3 R. It's just as we had hoped for. To contest a 24-hour race with a new car and then finish on the podium is an incredible achievement. It's a fantastic success for our customer squad, Black Swan Racing."

Sascha Pilz, Manager GT Customer Racing: "I'm completely satisfied with the debut of our new 911 GT3 R customer racer. Congratulations to Black Swan Racing on an enthralling and flawless race, for which they were rewarded with second place. The strong showing of our customer teams and the good performance of the new car allows me to look to the future with positivity."

Nick Tandy (911 RSR #911): "We underlined here that we have a fast car and that we'll definitely be a tough opponent this season. The pit crew did an excellent job, and our preparation was perfect. That gives us confidence for the rest of the season, even though, unfortunately, this race didn't end up exactly as we had imagined."

Patrick Pilet

Patrick Pilet (911 RSR #911): "We've earned important points towards the championship, and that's critical. The race showed that we're in the position to fight for victory. I'm proud of the team. The guys worked hard, but unfortunately they weren't rewarded for it. We haven't experienced technical problems for a very long time, but that can happen sometimes in motorsport. Now we can take a quick breather before we turn our full attention to Sebring."

Kevin Estre (911 RSR #911): "My first race as a Porsche works driver was a fantastic experience. It's great to work with such a professional team. We didn't make any mistakes. I'm certain that we will win some races together this season."

Frederic Makowiecki (911 RSR #912): "That was a great race. Congratulations to the whole team. We did everything we could, but the faster car on the track won today. We have gained many useful insights from Daytona and we're well prepared for Sebring. I'm positive that we have the chance to fight for victory there."

Michael Christensen

Earl Bamber (911 RSR #912): "Until shortly before the finish, I tried everything to fend off the Corvettes. We had a great fight, but they were simply faster today. Third place is a great result for the team. The GTLM class is so competitive. The races this year will definitely be super exciting and just as tough as this one."

Michael Christensen (911 RSR #912): "We had the best strategy, but the Corvettes were a little faster than we'd expected. Still, it was very close. The team has been rewarded with a podium for its efforts. Daytona is simply a great race and a lot of fun."

Patrick Long (911 GT3 R #540): "I was certain after the tests that we would do well at this difficult race. But I didn't anticipate that the new 911 GT3 R would be so fast and so good to drive. The car is simply phenomenal. Black Swan Racing also worked faultlessly under pressure. We achieved our goal and we're simply happy. Congratulations to the winners from Magnus Racing. In Sebring we'll do our utmost to turn the tables."

Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director):

“After all these months of intensive development work, countless kilometres of testing and all the passion brought in by everyone at BMW Motorsport and in our teams to get our new GT race cars ready, our goal was to finish the race in Daytona – and, if possible, bringing home some good results. Overall I’m happy with the race debuts of the BMW M6 GTLM and the BMW M6 GT3. We knew that the 24 Hours of Daytona would be a tough test right at the beginning of the season. And this is exactly what we experienced this weekend. Walking away from Daytona with P5 in the GTLM class and P6 in the GTD category is a good result and a nice reward for the whole squad. The start into our anniversary season on the occasion of the 100th birthday of BMW definitely was a positive one. With car number 100 we had to endure quite a scary moment. Fortunately Lucas Luhr escaped from this accident without a scratch. For the fans it was an extremely exciting and entertaining race. Many different cars fought for the lead, several manufacturers performed on a similar level. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship promises to be a real thriller in 2016. We saw that the basis of our all-new car is very promising. And I’m confident that we will score some really good results over the course of the season."

Bobby Rahal

Bobby Rahal (Team Principal, BMW Team RLL):

“You never know how you truly add up until you get to the first race. The 100 car was having a really good race, so it was a shame that we had a problem that you don’t see very often. Unfortunately it took us out of the race. I think the performance of the M6 was quite good and the guys were doing a great job. The same goes for the 25. It is a new car and I think just finishing the race was kind of a victory in its own right. It is disappointing naturally not to have won, but that was asking a lot of this car on its maiden voyage. The Corvette is a well proven car, the Porsche is the same thing and I think we saw that today. Given that the M6 is a brand new car, with brand new systems – everything – the fact that the 25 car made all 24 hours without a lot of problems says a lot."

Bill Auberlen (Number 25 BMW M6 GTLM, 5th place):

“The No. 25 M6 ran almost perfectly for 24 hours. We missed a few kilometers per hour on straight line speed to our competitors, but that will be addressed. After a day like today we can certainly hold our heads high."

Dirk Werner (Number 25 BMW M6 GTLM, 5th place): “In general I think everybody can be quite happy with our car. We had little problems here and there, but not necessarily with the car. The race was tough and sometimes we had to land back on our feet after struggling a little bit. But now it is the end of the race and all the engineers and mechanics kept the car in good shape and we are good enough to fight for a podium. For the first race for the M6 I think we can be quite happy because we had no major problems. I think all the testing paid off and I am quite happy. Obviously this is a completely different track to the other ten ones we race on in this series, so since the M6 is a new car we have to go to each race and start with a clean sheet of paper, get our set up right and maybe the drivers will have to adapt a little bit to the car on different tracks. But we have a good group of people and I am confident everyone is pushing."

Augusto Farfus (Number 25 BMW M6 GTLM, 5th place):

“I was very excited coming to this race as I had seen at the Roar what the new M6 could do. I felt it would be a fantastic race car for Daytona and that proved to be the case. I was also very happy to be the driver to bring the car across the finish line. To finish a 24 hour race in a brand new car with no major technical problems is a great achievement in itself. Okay we may lack top speed and this we need to pass other cars, but I know BMW will work on that as this is just the start of the project. I had some very intense stints and the one early in the morning was like a double qualifying when I was trying to hang in there with the Porsches and Corvettes."

Bruno Spengler (Number 25 BMW M6 GTLM, 5th place):

“For the first 24 hours for the M6 it is a good experience and it is important to cover some kilometers and stay on track. Knock on wood we haven’t had big technical defects so far, so we will see. Unfortunately we miss a little bit of performance compared to the opposition . But it is a young car and there are still things to learn and things to do on it. It is a good start for the car, but as I said before, the opponents were a little bit quicker during the whole race, and was difficult to expect more than a top three or four finish. The positive is that we didn’t have any large technical issues and the car was running well. That is positive for the future and we have to keep on working and try to make the car even faster."

Maxime Martin (Number 97 BMW M6 GT3, 6th place):

“We had quite a good race. There were no big issues or even little mistakes. Unfortunately, we did not have the top speed of our competitors. The M6 GT3 definitely has potential. To finish 6th in its very first race – a 24 hour race – is excellent. In time I know the M6 GT3 will be able to show all of that potential."

Jesse Krohn (Number 97 BMW M6 GT3, 6th place):

“Racing in Daytona has always been one of my dreams. It is one of the biggest races in the world and I have grown up watching these races. I have always wanted to be here and now I have had the opportunity to come. The M6 GT3 is quite good. It has a lot of potential. It is the first outing for the car in race conditions, so it has been impressive the way we have been able to run with it. I am happy with the whole Turner Motorsport team and the way they worked, how everything is organized and it is a real pleasure to work with them."

Lucas Luhr (Number 100 BMW M6 GTLM, DNF):

“There was some kind of explosion at the front right that made the bonnet go up, so I couldn’t see where I was going. I believe it was a brake problem. I had two or three good hits. It’s a shame because we were running well and we were right there in the hunt. It is also a shame for all the guys with a new car that had such a good performance for the first time running and they don’t get rewarded."