{"id":57264,"date":"2026-01-15T20:44:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T20:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/?p=57264"},"modified":"2026-02-02T15:27:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T15:27:32","slug":"rolex-24-endurance-racing-at-its-best-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/sport\/rolex-24-endurance-racing-at-its-best-returns\/","title":{"rendered":"Rolex 24 \u2013 Endurance Racing at its Best Returns"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"57264\" class=\"elementor elementor-57264\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-6525a9bb elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"83812\" data-id=\"6525a9bb\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-23aaea8b\" data-eae-slider=\"40446\" data-id=\"23aaea8b\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-45158845 elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"45158845\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">By Luke James<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Across respective sports, the arrival of January heralds a ramping up of competition. In Football we see the FA Cup expand, and dramatic fixtures like Crystal Palace\u2019s shock loss to Macclesfield dominate the back pages of papers. Remaining space is usually filled by 6<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Nations predictions, Champions and Challenge Cup matches, the NFL, and the occasional Formula One story.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">However, even as a devout rugby fan, I must admit that the best sporting spectacle of the month is the 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24, held in Florida. Endurance Racing has its own triple crown \u2013 the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Daytona. The sport itself is often overshadowed by larger forms of racing such as Formula One, Moto GP, or the World Rally Championship, but to me, Endurance is the greatest.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Sixty cars, 13 manufacturers, and 234 drivers will take to the 3.56-mile track at the same time, spread across four categories: GTD (GT Daytona), GTD Pro (GT Daytona Pro), LMP2 (Le Mans Prototype), and GTP (Grand Touring Prototype).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-e47c8db elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"19918\" data-id=\"e47c8db\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-c87571f\" data-eae-slider=\"5373\" data-id=\"c87571f\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6153db1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"6153db1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"355\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Terte_Rouge_at_night_2008.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-57268\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Terte_Rouge_at_night_2008.jpg 640w, https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Terte_Rouge_at_night_2008-300x166.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Terte_Rouge_at_night_2008-162x90.jpg 162w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c63bbf6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c63bbf6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Where the GTD cars across both classes are homologated versions of road cars, such as the Aston Martin Vantage or the Ferrari 296, and multiple engine types, the LMP2 cars are a spec series made from French company Oreca\u2019s LMP2 07 prototype, which has a growling V8. But the GTP cars are the fastest, and loudest, and in my opinion, best. Acura, Porsche, BMW, Cadillac, and Aston Martin line this field,<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">with screaming prototypes that roar into the night as darkness falls over the track.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Aston Martin Valkyrie, not hampered by European muffler regulations, will thunder and deafen spectators with a symphony of a firestorm as it rages through the field. Not all 60 cars are equal, the GT style cars (GTD and GTD Pro) will be the slowest by far, often lapped by the LMP2s and the GTD.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Each class will have its own podium as well as one for the overall top 3. Famous victors include two-time winner Ken Miles in the Ford GT40, Martin Brundle in the Silk Cut Jaguar XJR, and double F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso in the Cadillac Dpi-V.R.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Daytona isn\u2019t just about one driver; each team has multiple in order to deal with fatigue. Endurance races are tough, competitors are pushed to the absolute limit for hours trying to wrangle metal beasts around the circuit. Only one team has two drivers, the Aston Martin<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">GTD entry, while all others have either three or four.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">During pitstops after certain lengths of racing time have elapsed, as decided by the pit crew, drivers are quite literally hauled out of the car and another leaps in to continue as quickly as possible while the tyres are changed and fuel is added. Pit stops, even without a driver change, are only allowed a maximum of four crew members \u201cover the wall\u201d, i.e. taking part in the pit stop. This means that the stop can be as long as 40 seconds for the basics of tyre changes and refuelling, a complete opposite to what you see in Formula One.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-eb87897 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"50621\" data-id=\"eb87897\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-33d7750\" data-eae-slider=\"19237\" data-id=\"33d7750\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7d16eb2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"7d16eb2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/2021_Michelin_Le_Mans_Cup_-_Le_Mans_2-1080x720.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-57269\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/2021_Michelin_Le_Mans_Cup_-_Le_Mans_2-1080x720.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/2021_Michelin_Le_Mans_Cup_-_Le_Mans_2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/2021_Michelin_Le_Mans_Cup_-_Le_Mans_2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/2021_Michelin_Le_Mans_Cup_-_Le_Mans_2-135x90.jpg 135w, https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/2021_Michelin_Le_Mans_Cup_-_Le_Mans_2.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d06ac5f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d06ac5f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The racing is also dramatic, close, and heightened as some small contact is allowed to be made between cars while they race. Prototypes will be racing against each other while lapping the much slower GTD cars, which can lead to close calls and some contact, adding excitement and scare to situations not seen in any other form of racing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Drivers are also less limited by speech restrictions, leading to incidents such as the \u201cfinger\u201d being shown by a Corvette driver towards a\u00a0 particularly aggressive BMW M4 last year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Daytona isn\u2019t just a race. It\u2019s a part of motorsport history not only in the United States but worldwide. Winners are well revered and legends have been etched into its famous past. The full grid push themselves to the limit, and upsets are bound to happen. Mechanical failures can end your race within an hour of the start, or even 15 minutes from the end. Day and night, sunset and sunrise, rain and dry can all be seen over the track throughout the race, and adaptability despite the tiredness will be key to victory. If I could only watch one sporting event this month, I know that it would have to be Daytona.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"130\" data-end=\"140\"><strong data-start=\"130\" data-end=\"140\">Images<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"142\" data-end=\"340\">(1) <em data-start=\"146\" data-end=\"192\">The race during the 2022 24 Hours of Daytona<\/em> \u2014 United Autosports, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons<br data-start=\"249\" data-end=\"252\" \/>https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:The_race_during_the_2022<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"142\" data-end=\"340\">_24_Hours_of_Daytona.jpg<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"342\" data-end=\"502\">(2) <em data-start=\"346\" data-end=\"375\">Tertre Rouge at night, 2008<\/em> \u2014 florenzkalvarec, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons<br data-start=\"430\" data-end=\"433\" \/>https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Terte_Rouge_at_night_2008<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"342\" data-end=\"502\">.jpg<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"504\" data-end=\"693\">(3) <em data-start=\"508\" data-end=\"534\">Le Mans circuit at night<\/em> \u2014 various authors, Creative Commons licences, via Wikimedia Commons<br data-start=\"602\" data-end=\"605\" \/><a class=\"decorated-link cursor-pointer\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\" data-start=\"605\" data-end=\"693\">https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/Special:MediaSearch?search=le+mans+circuit&amp;type=image<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Luke James Across respective sports, the arrival of January heralds a ramping up of competition. In Football we see the FA Cup expand, and dramatic fixtures like Crystal Palace\u2019s shock loss to Macclesfield dominate the back pages of papers. Remaining space is usually filled by 6Nations predictions, Champions and Challenge Cup matches, the NFL, and the occasional Formula One story. However, even as a &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/sport\/rolex-24-endurance-racing-at-its-best-returns\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Rolex 24 \u2013 Endurance Racing at its Best Returns<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":509,"featured_media":57265,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[8863],"tags":[300,8202,1584],"class_list":["post-57264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-cars","tag-motorsport","tag-sport-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rolex 24 \u2013 Endurance Racing at its Best Returns - Gair Rhydd<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/sport\/rolex-24-endurance-racing-at-its-best-returns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rolex 24 \u2013 Endurance Racing at its Best Returns - Gair Rhydd\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Luke James Across respective sports, the arrival of January heralds a ramping up of competition. In Football we see the FA Cup expand, and dramatic fixtures like Crystal Palace\u2019s shock loss to Macclesfield dominate the back pages of papers. Remaining space is usually filled by 6Nations predictions, Champions and Challenge Cup matches, the NFL, and the occasional Formula One story. 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