Proton Competition starts the season at Daytona in the points for the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup

Daytona – First race – first highlight: The Rolex 24 at the Daytona International Speedway, the thrilling season opener of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, once again lived up to the expectations of motorsport fans around the world. Proton Competition’s Porsche 963 started the 24-hour classic in Florida with a strong showing. Shortly after midnight, the hybrid prototype hailing the starting number 5 secured the lead in the top-class field. But then, suspension damage spelled out a disappointing premature end to the race.

Sunshine and temperatures of 14 degrees Celsius saw 61 cars launch their attack on the ever-prestigious victory at the 63rd edition of the world-famous endurance race. Despite the Porsche 963 driven by Neel Jani, Julien Andlauer, Nico Pino and Tristan Vaultier having missed qualifying due to a practice accident and starting from the back of the GTP field, it established itself in the leading group after just a few laps. During the night, the number 5 car, the best-placed customer car in the top GTP class at its Daytona debut last year, even took the lead. The 520 kW (707 PS) hybrid prototype from Christian and Michael Ried’s team lost its shot at overall victory twelve hours into the race.

Proton Competition secured two top-10 finishes in the equally high-calibre GT classes: The Porsche 911 GT3 R (#83) entered for team Iron Dames, comprising Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Karen Gaillard crossed the finish line in eighth place in the GTD class. The second 911 GT3 R (#20) battled in the top five of the GTD Pro class for a long period. In the end, Claudio Schiavone, Matteo Cressoni, Richard Lietz and Thomas Preining crossed the finish line in tenth place.

Comments after the race
Michael Ried, Team Principal and CTO Proton Competition: “Huge compliments to the entire team. They did a fantastic job every day of the Daytona week and ensured that we could compete amongst the frontrunners in the top GTP class for almost twelve hours before we retired from the race. Although we would’ve liked a more successful start to the season regarding results, we can look forward to the next races with confidence following this performance.”

Christian Ried, Team Principal Proton Competition: “Of course, it’s disappointing to come away from such a strong performance empty-handed. But we have every reason to be confident. We’ve shown that we’re fast enough to give even the strong works teams a run for their money on a good day. We’ll take that with us to the next classic at Sebring. Despite our unfortunate retirement, we scored points in Daytona for the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, which is our main focus in the USA this season.”

Neel Jani (Mustang Sampling Porsche 963 #5): “Not finishing after such a strong race is a tough pill for the whole team to swallow. We had a fast car and were among the front runners. Thanks to our mechanics and engineers for their excellent work. It was a tough week for them, but they provided us with an excellent car.”

Julien Andlauer (Mustang Sampling Porsche 963 #5): “From the start to our untimely retirement, this was the best Daytona I’ve ever experienced. We had a fantastic car. Our crew did an incredible job. Our strategy was good and we were equally strong during the day and at night. It’s a shame that we couldn’t deliver on our potential to the finish.”

Nico Pino (Mustang Sampling Porsche 963 #5): “My first race in a hypercar was an unbelievable experience. We had the pace to compete at the front. It wasn’t an easy few days for us at Daytona, but the team did a marvellous job. Now, we have to analyse our problems in order to come back even stronger in Sebring.”

Tristan Vaultier (Mustang Sampling Porsche 963 #5): “Our pace was good, as was our strategy. We were simply unlucky. The team provided us with a very competitive car. We all felt that we could achieve a great result with it.”

Thomas Preining (Porsche 911 GT3 R #20): “I had some good restarts after yellow phases which got us far up the field at times. The fact that we couldn’t maintain that position was partly due to us lacking some top speed compared to the other 911 GT3 Rs. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a solution for that.”

Sarah Bovy (Porsche 911 GT3 R #83): “I’m leaving Daytona with a very positive outlook. We fought like lionesses in our first Rolex 24. We lost time during the night, but we came back and Michelle gave everything she had at the end. We didn’t take home the result we had hoped for, but it was a great fight.”

Rahel Frey (Porsche 911 GT3 R #83): “Today we showed the true Iron Dames spirit: Never give up! It was difficult to get back to the front, but we tried everything and didn’t make any mistakes. We can be proud of that. We were close to a great result. Now, we just have to find the final pieces of the puzzle and then we’ll return even stronger.”

Michelle Gatting (Porsche 911 GT3 R #83): “Luck wasn’t on our side today. The puncture and the problem with our splitter meant that we dropped back a few laps, but the team fought all night. I’m very proud of that.”

Karen Gaillard (Porsche 911 GT3 R #83): “My first Daytona was a fantastic experience. I learnt a lot. A huge thank you to the team for giving me this opportunity.”

Up next
The next race for Proton Competition in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the twelve-hour race in Sebring/Florida on 15 March.