The season opener of the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, is currently underway. Unfortunately for the DeltaWing from Panoz DeltaWing Racing, the race was over within a few hours due to a crash.
ALSO SEE: The Beginner's Guide To The Rolex 24 At Daytona: Mega Gallery
With Andy Meyrick behind the wheel, the oddly-shaped race car, competing in the top Prototype class, crashed into the rear of the stalled number 8 Starworks Motorsport Oreca FLM09 competing in the Prototype Challenge class. According to Meyrick, the stalled number 8 car was “in a blind spot with no lights on,” and combined with “intermittent” radio from his own team the crash was “unavoidable.”
There were fortunately no injuries but the impact caused extensive damage to the DeltaWing’s tub that couldn’t be repaired. At the time of writing, repairs on the Starworks Motorsport car were still being completed and officials were confident of rejoining the race.
READ: Honda-Powered ESM Prototype Powers To 2016 Daytona 24 Hours Victory, Corvette Takes GT Class
Sadly for the DeltaWing, the car showed significant promise prior to the crash. With Meyrick’s teammate Katherine Legge behind the wheel, the car was at the front within the first hour of the race. Both Legge and Meyrick led a combined total of 29 laps out of the 119 completed before the crash, with Meyrick chasing for the lead in the final moments.
In other Daytona news, the two Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] GTs have had their own share of problems, after showing promising signs early on. The number 67 car had gearbox trouble so had to go in for repairs, while the number 66 car, after a brief stint leading in the car’s GT Le Mans class, had brake trouble and later lost power. The good news is that the cars proved very fast, at least when there were no issues.
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