The 2021 Rolex 24 this afternoon at Daytona International Speedway seems, uh, a little more dangerous than usual. Not because of the weather or the tracks – especially because of the addition of the LMP3 class, which turned out to be a bit of a hot mess.
In theory, there is nothing wrong with the prototype LMP3 cars, which usually have their own special series in the United States. It looks pretty similar to LMP2 cars, but all LMP3s have a Nissan V-8 that produces 455 horsepower. All in all, it seems pretty simple.
But for some reason, if you put these cars on a track with other classes, a disaster happens. Part of this is because it’s a great step for basic riders or gentlemen – people who may not have a lot of skills or experience, but who have the ability to compete. It’s fine. I do not judge. But the action on the field – whether it’s training sessions or last weekend’s qualifying race – has shown that these bad guys can cause an impressive amount of chaos.
During training on Thursday night, for example, LMP3 driver Austin Dillon locked in turn 6, tried to avoid hitting the tire barrier by turning around turn 1 and facing oncoming traffic before returning to the last in turn 6., race control said, “This was the worst thing I’ve ever seen.”
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Here is a useful image of the traffic flow to imagine your situation.
Dillon’s instincts were right in this situation, for the most part. As a professional driver Ryan Lewis he explained, probably Dillon was just trying to avoid hitting the tire barriers head-on. He is new to the car, so it makes sense that there is a learning curve. It is unfortunate that he had to be during night training before one of the biggest endurance races in the world.
Another important issue here is that the LMP3s are almost on par with GTLM class cars in terms of pace, which means we are about to have two very different types of cars that take it to the same positions on rail. Which could easily get ugly.
Sports fans expect chaos to descend over Daytona Beach this weekend, and many are causing that chaos to be caused by LMP3 cars. Rolex is always a good watch, but it will be especially fascinating this year with this wild card thrown in the mix.