2000 SEBRING

Champion Racing debuts their new Porsche Lola.
6 hours into the race the car was forced to retire after a problem with the suspension surfaced

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Dorsey and Dave Maraj

DECEMBER 18, 2000

Since September of 2000, Champion Racing has done a total of nine days of testing in preparation for Daytona 24 Hour of 2001 with the Lola B2K chassis powered by Porsche's GT1 engine. At the inception of the Lola/Porsche project, Champion Racing anticipated both growing pains and engineering issues. After debuting the car at the Sebring event in 2000, Champion chose to run a limited schedule in the AMLS and focus on testing in order to be well prepared for the Daytona event. The nine test days at Daytona yielded an extensive amount of progress for the Lola, running close to 2000 miles of test laps. The testing was completed using both the same engine and transmission. Champion also used the test days to acclimate to the Goodyear tires that will be used during the Daytona event. The Grand-Am series has leveled the playing field for the Lola by permitting it to run with a set-up that will allow the bi-turbo Porsche enging to be competitive.

The driver line-up for the testing at Daytona, as well as for the event, literally has a lifetime of racing and endurance experience to draw upon: Hurley Haywood, Dorsey Schroeder and Bob Wollek. They will be joined during the event by Sassha Maassen who drove the Konrad Lola during the 2000 Daytona 24 hour. The drivers have worked closely with the team on engineering issues since the genesis of the project and have contributed greatly to the progress of the car. Hurley Haywood, Porsche racing veteran, turned consistent and controlled laps throughout the testing. Bob Wollek, who has driven the Champion Lola/Porsche since its creation in 1999, is very pleased and encouraged by the progress that has been made in the last year.

While Champion has not been out front in the last year, they have been working very hard. The Lola was viewed by Dave Maraj, owner of Champion, as a project to be fine tuned in order to run the Daytona 24 Hour. The preparations have been intense and productive. Champion views the Daytona event as the perfect milieu for the Lola: the chassis has proven its dependability for endurance and the Champion team has extensive experience and success running Porsche's in long events. Champion's goal is to put a car on the grid that will turn strong consistent laps that will be there in the end.

For the die hard fans among you, tune into Speedvision for complete coverage of the event. There will be a half hour before and a half hour recap at the end.
 
2001 DAYTONA 24HRS

2001 Rolex 24 at Daytona - Day 1

Setup and Technical Inspection

Note - All Race Week Photos appear at the bottom of this report

Daytona Beach - Wednesday, 31 January

Today was the first day of the 2001 Rolex 24 race week for Champion Racing and the over eighty other teams contesting this year's event. Once the car and equipment were unloaded and the garage area set up, the team set about preparing for technical inspection, followed by the myriad small tasks involved in getting ready for the first practice sessions on Thursday. The Champion Lola is just one of four Lola B2K/10's entered for this race, but is unique in being the only Porsche-powered car in the Sports Racing Prototype class.

Thursday sees the first track action of the week, and a full day it will be with two practice sessions, the first qualifying session and a two-hour night practice all on the schedule. The first qualifying session sets the first row of the starting grid. Full Thursday schedule is as follows: 10am-11am - 1st Practice (all classes) 1:20pm-2pm - 2nd Practice (all classes) 3pm-3:15pm - First-round Qualifying SportsRacers and SportsRacer II 6pm-8pm - Night Practice (all classes)

Wednesday was overcast and rainy, and with more rain predicted for Thursday, getting the proper setup for first-round qualifying will be even more of a challenge than usual. With rain possible on Friday as well, and a dry race currently being predicted for the weekend, the dry weather setup data gleaned from Champion's extensive testing over the last four months here at Daytona could well pay dividends.

2001 Rolex 24 at Daytona - Day 2

Practice and First-round Qualifying

Daytona Beach, Florida - Thursday, 1 Feb

Thursday at the 2001 Rolex 24 saw the first track action of the week, with two practice sessions, first-round qualifying and night practice. Champion Racing's preparations for the race continued today with no real surprises.

In the first practice Dorsey Schroeder and Bob Wollek drove the car, setting seventh fastest time overall for the session at 1min:46.875sec vs. the #16 Dyson car's fastest time of the session of 1min:42.978sec. This is right where we expected to be, and the car is running perfectly.

In the afternoon, the second practice session was very wet, and the decision was taken by the team to sit out the wet practice session so as to not risk the car any more than necessary. The rain continued until the first round of qualifying was set to begin, so Grand Am decided to run a single, combined 45-minute qualifing session for all classes instead of the separate qualifying sessions for each class as scheduled. Because of the altered qualifying format, only the first row overall was locked in for the race, instead of the more than thirty cars that would have had their times locked-in had the separate class qualifying gone forward.

Because only two cars would be able to sit out Friday's final qualifying, and because we did not feel that our car stood a realistic chance of being one of those two cars, the decision was again taken to sit out the first round of qualifying and begin on race prep instead, since the car has to participate in final qualifying anyway, and better weather is predicted for Friday.

Having the entire afternoon to prepare the car, the team was able to look after the few minor items that had arisen from the first practice, and the car was ready in time to participate in the full night practice session. Dorsey Schroeder, Hurley Haywood and Sascha Maassen all took a turn at driving in the night practice, which was dry, windy and cool.

Two practice sessions are on the schedule for Friday, one before final qualifying and one after. If the track is wet when qualifying happens, it will be a combined-class 45-minute session just like today's. If it's dry for final qualifing the classes will run in separate sessions per the original schedule.

2001 Rolex 24 at Daytona - Day 3

Practice and Final Qualifying

Daytona Beach, Florida - Friday, 2 Feb

The weather in Daytona has not gotten any better, and it's now looking like it will remain cool, cloudy and with a chance of rain throughout the race weekend. Nevertheless, the Champion Porsche had a very good run in Friday's final round of qualifying, with Dorsey Schroeder setting fourth-fastest time of the session, which is good for sixth starting spot on the Rolex grid. The top six overall qualifiers are listed below, including fast-lap time:

1 -- 16 Dyson Racing 1:47.381(front row times locked-in after first qualifying session)

2 -- 74 Robinson Racing 1:49.201

3 -- 12 Risi Competizione 1:41.118

4 -- 37 Intersport Racing 1:41.697

5 -- 20 Dyson Racing 1:42.919

6 -- 38 Champion Racing 1:43.444

Dorsey's best time originally put the Champion Porsche-Lola Sports Racing Prototype in fifth starting position, and that held up until just minutes before the end of the session when Ralf Kelleners, who formerly drove Champion's Porsche GT1 Evo, set a blistering lap in the Risi Competizione Ferrari 333SP to top the second-round qualifying session and putting him in the third overall starting position, and dropping Champion's car to sixth, remaining on Row Three of the starting grid.

In the Friday's final pre-race practice, Champion set the second-fastest time of the session at 01:43.310 (.134sec faster than the car qualified at); the Porsche's time bested only by the Pole-sitting Ford-R&S of Dyson Racing with a 01:42.766. The Champion team is very pleased with our starting position, particularly since endurance is a bigger asset for our Porche than is outright speed. But 24 hours is a long time. We feel that if we can take care of the car and stay out of trouble, the Champion Porsche-Lola will be right in the hunt come Sunday morning.

The green flag falls for the 39th 24 Hours at Daytona at 1pm Saturday.

2001 Rolex 24 at Daytona - Race Day
After qualifying sixth overall, and running in the top five for the first seven and 1/2 hours, the Champion Porsche-Lola experienced a loss of oil pressure leading to failure of the motor at approx. 8:30pm, while Sascha Maassen was running a comfortable 4th-place overall. The car has retired from the race. Needless to say, the entire Champion Racing team is very disheartened by this quite unexpected development.
 

2001 DAYTONA FINALE-EARLY PRACTICE

These photos are from Thursday, Friday and Saturday practice sessions prior to Saturday night's 3-hour Daytona Finale
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CHAMPION PORSCHE/LOLA SECOND AT DAYTONA FINALE!

It was an outstanding race for the Champion Porsche-Lola at the Daytona Finale. Because this event was postponed and had to run alongside the Daytona Historics, there was no qualifiying, but instead the field started based on team points, so Champion's Lola had to start from the fourth row, at the back of the SRP field.
Porsche Legend Hurley Haywood started, and worked the Lola up to third place at the first pit stops, where he handed over to Andy Wallace. A combination of excellent driving by Andy and ace pit strategy by the team found the Champion Lola leading the race (first time for the Lola) with just forty-five minutes remaining in the three-hour night race.
With the Dyson Racing R&S/Ford of Butch Leitzinger chasing Wallace down, it was only a matter of time, and Leitzinger made the pass for the lead going into Turn One, with just under 30 minutes to run.
Wallace held on for a fine second-place finish, the best-ever result for the Champion Lola-Porsche. Drivers Andy Wallace and Hurley Haywood were jubilant in Victory Lane, and the whole team ended up soaked in Champagne.
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Hurley waits while the crew makes final pre-race preparations in pit lane

 
2002 ROLEX TESTS - DAY ONE

The weather is anything but pleasant in Daytona for this year's pre-Rolex 24 Test Days, but the Champion Porsche Racing crew have gotten straight to work tuning the Lola/Porsche for Daytona's high banks, in preparation for
their second bid for Rolex 24 victory. The team were already confident after a fine showing at the Grand-Am Daytona Finale, where Andy Wallace and Hurley Haywood came second after leading in the race's late stages, but the team are
well aware the competition will be fierce this year, and are leaving nothing to chance.

Since the Finale, the Champion technicians have made a large number of changes to the car, upgrading many components to be either more durable or easier to replace should the need arise. Other mechanical lessons learned during last year's Rolex 24 and the Daytona Finale were incorporated during a full off-season rebuild of the car. The Lola's suspension is one of the major areas of attention, though much of that work was done prior to the Finale, and the mission now is fine-tuning all the new tweaks to work properly together on the demanding Daytona circuit.

Champion Racing are quite pleased to have the support of Porsche Motorsport in preparing the Lola-Porsche for the Rolex. Porsche Technical Director Norbert Singer was pleased with progress made during today's first test sessions, and Porsche Engineer Helmut Schmid's vast knowledge of our particular Porsche drivetrain has enabled the team to make rapid progress in engine tuning. Marcus Haselgrove, formerly of Motec, is now working with Champion full time looking after telemetry, and TAG's Jamie Kellock is again on hand to see to the engine data.

Two more days of testing are on tap here at Daytona...check back for further updates of Champion Racing's bid to take Porsche back to the Daytona Winner's Circle.

Combined Thursday Times:

1 - #36 Ford R&S Jim Matthews Racing 01:41.452 - 126.326mph

2 - #2 Judd Crawford Crawford Racing 01:42.245 - 125.346mph

3 - #16 Ford R&S Dyson Racing Team 01:42.712 - 124.776mph

4 - #38 Porsche Lola Champion Racing 01:42.791 - 124.680mph

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At day's end, Porsche Motorsport's Norbert Singer listens to Wallace debriefing the day's progress with Technical Director Brad Kettler and Ops Dir. Mike Peters

2002 DAYTONA TESTS - DAY TWO

Testing continued on Friday at Daytona with three sessions, as on Thursday, although the weather today was far colder all day. With suspension issues largely resolved to the team engineers' satisfaction, attention turned to getting the full driver squad some seat time, and testing various minor bodywork tweaks. Andy Wallace, who had done all the driving on Day One, warmed up the Champion Porsche-Lola at the beginning of the first session, and then turned
the seat over to five-time Daytona-winner, Hurley Haywood. This was mostly a refresher for Haywood, who drove this car at last year's Rolex 24 and also at the Daytona Finale.

Next up was Porsche factory pilot Lucas Luhr, who was doing his first-ever laps in a prototype race car. He started out slowly, learning the car and track, but was quickly up to speed in the morning session. Wallace was back in the
seat for the start of the afternoon session, where bodywork modifications to the Champion Lola B2k/10 were tested. Maassen and Luhr also shared the two afternoon sessions under clear skies and very cool temperatures.

Testing continues on Saturday, with two sessions to complete the 2002 Daytona Tests. Then it's back to the shop to incorporate modifications verified during the tests, including a full tear-down/rebuild of the Porsche-Lola prior to the
Rolex 24.

Overall Best Times from Friday Testing:

1 - #27 Judd Dallara Doran Lista Racing 01:40.818 - 127.120mph

2 - #36 Elan R&S Jim Matthews Racing 01:42.380 - 125.181mph

3 - #16 Ford R&S Dyson Racing Team 01:42.484 - 125.054mph

4 - #37 Judd Lola Intersport Racing 01:42.775 - 124.700mph

5 - #38 Porsche Lola Champion Racing 01:43.066 - 124.348mph
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Hurley Haywood at the East Horseshoe

 
2002 DAYTONA TESTS - DAY 3 + WRAP-UP

Day One Report | Day Two Report

The 2002 Rolex Tests are now completed, and much has been accomplished toward preparing our Lola B2K/10-Porsche for the demands of this year's Rolex 24 at Daytona. For Day Three of the Tests, our plan was to sit out the morning session (just two sessions on Saturday, vs. three sessions each on Thurs and Fri) while completing
a motor swap. The motor that we ran for the first two testing days was the same motor that we ran at the Daytona Finale and all previous and subsequent testing, so it's time for a refresh for that motor.

After the last session on Friday, the Champion mechanics got the Porsche gearbox disconnected before the garages closed for the day, and first thing Saturday morning the gearbox was removed and all connections released to prepare the old motor for removal. We then installed what we hope will be our race motor for the Rolex 24, with the intention of running it in during the final hour of testing Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, while the crew worked at changing motors, the track conditions were absolutely ideal, and almost all of the top teams set their fastest times of the Tests in the cool but calm morning air (hence good engine power) and on a rapidly warming track (good for getting tire temps in the proper range quickly). Andy Wallace's best time of 1:42.791, set on Thursday, would stand as Champion's best time of the Tests, good for seventh-fastest overall.

The race motor will now be removed from the car and put through a battery of very careful checks to determine if it is sound and wearing properly, no leaks, etc. It will be set aside and the previous motor - after a thorough refreshing - will
be put back in the car for all the pre-race testing and practice prior to the Rolex 24 itself. Then the race motor will be reinstalled and the final preparations made for the race. In the meantime, the entire car will be torn down and checked
and rechecked, then built back up, all with the goal of having every component of the car fully ready for the rigors of the 24-hour grind on the Daytona high banks.

We know ours is not the fastest car on the Daytona grid, but experience has taught us that the endurance qualities of the proven GT1-98-derived Porsche flat six turbo continue to make it one of the best drivetrain packages in endurance racing. Sadly, this same drivetrain failed at just over seven hour's distance in last year's Rolex 24, but not as a result any actual problem with the motor itself. What put the Champion Porsche-Lola out in 2001 was sand. Yes, sand - specifically, silica casting sand used to form the mould which metal is poured into to create our Porsche's gearbox casing. In this particular drivetrain, the engine oil tank is actually part of the gearbox casting, rather than there being a separate oil tank (the current Audi uses a similar arrangement).

The gearbox we chose as our race unit for last year's Rolex 24 was a relatively new casting, rather than one of our older, more proven units. During the course of the early hours of the race, pockets of silica casting sand that had been trapped
within the gearbox metal during the casting process began to leak sand into the tank, contaminating the engine oil. This sand was duely filtered out by the oil filter. But more sand was present than could be held by the filter, and when full
it bypassed (as it is designed to do) directly to the engine - thus sending sand-contaminated oil directly into the motor - with the inevitable consequence of damaging the engine, causing it to seize and fail shortly into Sascha Maassen's opening stint. There was no fixing this problem and the car was retired. And now you know, "the
rest of the story"...

Stay with us for news and developments as we continue to prepare for the 2002 Rolex 24 at Daytona.

1 - #27 Judd Dallara Doran Lista Racing 01:40.170 - 127.942mph

2 - #36 Elan R&S Jim Matthews Racing 01:40.761 - 127.192mph

3 - #2 Judd Crawford Crawford Racing 01:41.135 - 126.722mph

4 - #16 Ford R&S Dyson Racing Team 01:41.249 - 126.579mph

5 - #49 Judd Ascari Team Ascari 01:41.828 - 125.859mph

6 - #37 Judd Lola Intersport Racing 01:42.663 - 124.836mph

7 - #38 Porsche Lola Champion Racing 01:42.791 - 124.680mph

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Porsche race motor ready for fitting to the Lola chassis

2002 ROLEX 24 - PRACTICE & QUALIFYING STORY AND TIMES

Wednesday was arrival and setup day at Daytona, in preparation for this weekend's 40th Anniversary Rolex 24. There are two practice sessions on Thursday prior to qualifying - one in the morning and one in the early afternoon.
Then comes first round qualifying, followed by a night practice under the lights. Times for all sessions are posted below.

It was mostly an uneventful day for the Champion Porsche crew, making sure the car was properly set up and comfortable for all four drivers. It was also an opportunity to get our newest driver Lucas Luhr some additional
seat time, as he had not driven a prototype prior to driving the Champion Porsche-Lola at the recent Daytona Test Days.

Andy Wallace got the nod to qualify the car, and managed a best 8th spot in first qualifying, which locks in the top 35 grid positions for the race. Wallace's best time of 1:44.231 puts the Champion Lola on Row 4 to start
the 40th Anniversary Rolex 24, which the team is happy with. We know that our car is not one of the "speed" cars in this race, but we feel it has the pace to be in contention for overall honors come Sunday, given a steady pace and
minimal time in the pits. As always in endurance racing however...time will tell...

Champion hit the first real snag of the week during night practice. In this session, all drivers in each car must set a time in the car, and Andy Wallace brought up the rear after Luhr, Maassen and Haywood. Not long into Wallace's
night stint, the car experienced a catastrophic failure of the left rear axle flange, which essentially disintegrated. This is the part which fits into the gearbox casing, and has a "tripod" socket into which the axle itself (specifically
its "tripod joint") plugs. When the flange failed, the car lost all drive and came to a stop on the back straight, and had to be towed in from the session, its day done.

This failure was quite a surprise, although the axles were planned to be changed before the race anyway. As a result of the failure and resulting stranding of the car on course, the team have elected to install a "spool" in the rear end, which effectively locks the differential so that in case of an axle failure or loss of a wheel, the opposing rear wheel still gets traction and so the car can be driven back to the pits for repairs. The downside is that the spool rear end will induce understeer, changing the handling characteristics of the car to some extent, though not greatly. Technical Director Brad Kettler is confident that this particular problem is now resolved.

Champion missed out the early morning practice on Friday while repairs from the previous night were completed and final race preparations were undertaken. As the first 35 grid spots were locked in from First qualifying, we could not have bettered our fourth row starting spot and so skipped Second Qualifying to concentrate on race preparations. All four driver ran in the final practice Friday afternoon, and pronounced the car ready to race. The remainder of Friday was spent in last minute preparations, installing and adjusting the onboard TV cameras, and making sure that our differently-sized drivers would all be comfortable in the Lola's cockpit. These are things that make for an altogether better race, and enhance the chances of doing well.
 

Thursday Practice 1

1 - #16 Dyson Racing - 1:46.632

2 - #2 Crawford Racing - 1:43.755

3 - #27 Doran Racing - 1:43.831

4 - #74 Robinson Racing - 1:45.901

5 - #38 Champion Racing - 1:45.989

Thursday Practice 2

1- #49 Ascari - 1:43.905

2- #36 Matthews - 1:45.013

3- #13 Risi - 1:45.033

4- #20 Dyson - 1:45.038

5- #38 Champion - 1:45.848

First Qualifying

1 - #27 Doran - 1:42.058

..............

8 - #38 Champion - 1:44.231

Night Practice

1 - #27 Doran - 1:42.304

..............

9 - #38 Champion - 1:46.662

Friday Final Practice

1 - #2 Crawford - 1:44.638

..............

6 - #38 Champion - 1:46.190
 
2002 ROLEX 24 - PHOTOS FROM PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING

Photographs from pre-race practice and qualifying days at the 2002 Rolex 24 at Daytona...
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Rick Clifton arrives at the Daytona paddock early on Wednesday