Tower Motorsport's Daytona woes

The “Bus Bro” (named after the series of videos posted on YouTube by Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden) was not in luck at Daytona.

The No. 8 from Tower Motorsport had barely completed one lap of the Florida double clock when it returned to the pits in slow motion, remaining there for around ten laps. A water bottle connection leaked on the electronic box of the Oreca 07 that the two pilots IndyCar share with John Farano and Kyffin Simpson in Florida.

« The water bottle fitting leaked onto the ECU, which is under the radio and caused it to explode, said McLaughlin on the set of NBC Sports, official broadcaster of the race in the United States. By the time we got the car back we lost a few laps and we lost even more between the time we figured out what the problem was and the time we fixed it. It's unfortunate, but you never give up. »

Despite this resilience, it was not the end of woes for Tower Motorsport. During the night, John Farano spun after contact with the Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 driven by simon pagenaud. The Frenchman was warned of the consequences of this maneuver. 

« I thought it was Newgarden (his former teammate at Penske in IndyCar. Editor's note), said Pagenaud ironically, who justified the accident by a disagreement with John Farano. He hesitated to overtake the car in front of him and offered me his left side. So I went around the outside, and he actually released the brake and hit me in the back. Honestly, it was confusing as to what happened because I saw him spin in my rearview mirror. »

Tower Motorsport has never managed to recover its laps and is six behind the lead in its category with just under 3h30 remaining at the end of the 24 2023 Hours of Daytona.

ALSO READ > Follow the 24 Hours of Daytona live