It was an instant classic. Much longer. As I noted when the formula launched, was the year of GTP and it has continued to grow from the initial four manufacturers who founded the category to six when Aston Martin joins next month at Sebring. Drivers hammered each other on the opening lap and it continued through to the end as relentless aggression, misfortune, adversity, and reliability woes ensured the 63rd edition of the race was interesting for the majority of its minutes. Penske pulled off a remarkable back-to-back overall win.
BMW was on pole and in contention for most of the GTP race, which was an encouraging development, and LMP2 was the real test of endurance as it seemed like nobody wanted to win. And when the class was won, the Tower Motorsports team was disqualified for an indisputable technical infraction…which it disputed, of course, and its appeal was denied…which awarded the victory to United Autosports. Even after the race, the drama continued. And the range of numbers that have come in from the Rolex 24 in recent days suggest the feeling experienced on the ground at Daytona were real and trending upward for IMSA.
The year-to-year growth in streaming was also impressive at 33 percent. Having been to far too many Rolex 24s where I can walk anywhere without being slowed by crowds, the change is welcomed. Those Rolex 24s were tedious affairs. As the clock wound into the last 30 minutes on Sunday, the top three in each of the four classes were caught in serious battles for victory as leads changed hands, and in GTP, the first three cars to reach the finish line were separated by 4.
GTD is where the real party took place as the top eight hit the finish line separated by All after 24 hours of racing. Digital growth is the arena where IMSA might have made the biggest strides at Daytona as its use of YouTube as its strongest international promotional tool, and its content on the most popular social media platforms reached new heights.
The series put out a press release during the race that said its airing of the live event on YouTube — exclusively for those outside North America — had garnered 2,, viewers. Once the race was over, the final tally had risen considerably and was just a tick under 3,, at 2,, It was at , on January 1, and at the time of writing, was up to ,, a jump of There was also a point during the race where the subscriber number hit ,, which surpassed the , held by its European friends at the FIA World Endurance Championship.
