24 Hours of Daytona – Why Acura is behind

L’Acura ARX-06 a-t-elle perdu de sa superbe ? Un an après avoir signé la pole position et un doublé en course, le constructeur japonais s’est contenté des 5e et 6e places lors du Roar et n’a pas réussi à aller plus haut que le quatrième rang lors des séances de roulage en Floride, se retrouvant derrière Cadillac, Porsche et BMW dans la hiérarchie dans l’exercice du tour lancé. Comment expliquer ce recul après un an d’exploitation et tandis que les deux protos sont désormais sous la même bannière, celle de Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti ?

« It's pretty clear, we are 42 kilos heavier, explains Louis Delétraz, driver of the No. 40. This is the Balance of Performance, we fully respect it and the choices that have been made. We'll see in the race. It's difficult to read real information during testing because no one is using the same tires at the same time, no one has the same amount of fuel. The real answers will be given during the race, I hope we will be able to return to the long relays. »

Lacking pace, the Acuras will try to survive until money time and hope for a victorious outcome for the fourth year in a row. “The strategy will be to ride as far in front as possible without taking any risks and hope to be fast enough at the end of the race to attack or defend, exposes the Swiss. The goal is to win. »

To hope to win the Rolex, however, we will have to overcome the two Cadillacs which have seemed untouchable since the start of the Roar. “They finished first in almost all the sessions and scored a double in qualifying. They look strong, notes Filipe Albuquerque, long-time holder of No. 10. They were last year too and we fought well even though they won the championship. However, it's never about winning Daytona. I hope they have a bit of a tough time and it won't be an easy win for them. »

The Portuguese driver has already won the general classification of the Florida double clock twice (2018, 2021) and knows the recipe to climb to the top step here. “You have to survive the first 22 hours, He explains. Then we'll see where we are. Particularly with regard to tire grip. Better grip could help us with our weight, so it will be interesting to see how the car adapts to this development. We are calm and we feel like we are doing the right thing with what we have. »

Meet at 19:40 p.m. (French time) for the start of the 24 2024 Hours of Daytona.

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