Sun Energy 1 & Gradient Racing grab P2 at The Rolex 24 at Daytona

HOURS 20 -24:

It’s no exaggeration to say that the #75 crew did everything humanly possible to win the 59th running of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona International Speedway. The final four hours saw Luca Stolz and Raffaele Marciello drive the wheels off the Sun Energy 1 Racing car to keep the pressure on the leading #57 Winward Racing AMG GT3.

At the Checkered Flag, the margin was 16.3 seconds which is an extraordinary margin after thousands of miles of racing. The team can at least console itself with the knowledge that it was an important part of an awesome display of GT Racing from AMG Mercedes who achieved its first ever class win at the Rolex 24 Hrs.

In the end, we will all leave Daytona feeling a bit blue.

Blue_Hair.jpg

Hour 19:

The Grenier pit stop came just before a Full Course Yellow. This meant that Luca Stolz would get back on the lead lap as the rest of the GTD field pitted for fuel and tires. Effectively, the whole GTD field is now on the same strategy.

With less than five hours to go, The #75 Sun Energy 1 AMG GT3 is now just 1.3 seconds off the lead in GTD.

HOUR 18:

Mikael Grenier has spent the whole stint keeping in touch with the leaders. With the #75 Sun Energy 1 car off sequence, he has has gone a lap down to the leading #21 Ferrari. He will get this back when the Green Flag stops begin shortly in to Hour 19.

HOUR 17:

As Mikael Grenier circulates in sixth position, Kenny Habul was the star of the last restart as he held off the chasing GTD Pack. After his stint he spoke live to IMSA Radio. The quotes were priceless!

Meanwhile Mikael Grenier is now moving to the front of the field as the GTD cars ahead of him pit under Green flag conditions. The #75 car is now off strategy compared to the rest of the GTD front runners.

HOUR 16:

Raffaele Marciello completes his stint after an epic battle with the #21 Ferrari and the #57 AMG GT3.

His stint finished with a green flag pits top. Team Owner, Kenny Habul, is now aboard to do one more stint and complete his mandatory minimum drive time.

HOUR 15:

The 60 minutes end with Full Course Caution which bunches up the three lead lap runners in GTD and allows a number of other cars in the class to get back onto the lead lap.

The restart sees Raffaele Marciello take second place behind the #57 AMG of Phil Ellis.

HOUR 14:

We did our best but we couldn’t keep up with the efforts of the whole #75 Sun Energy 1 Racing squad and we had to have a nap. But we’re back and things continue to look positive with the team in third place in the GTD class.

013021_R24_bcpix_1547424.jpg

Luca Stolz has just handed the car over once again to Raffaele Marciello who is the last car on the lead lap and he is doing everything he can to chase down the leading #21 Ferrari and the #57 AMG of Winward Racing.

HOUR 11:

The hour where the #75 Sun Energy 1 Racing AMG GT3 took the lead! A Full course yellow towards the end of denied Raffaelle Marciello the chance to take P4 under Green Flag conditions. It would have been just reward for an impressive triple stint by the Swiss driver.

Instead the pit crew were able to fuel the car change four Michelins, install Mikael Grenier and get the car out in second place for the restart. As the Green Flag fell once more, the young Canadian grabbed the lead for the first time in the race.

The lead was short lived as the #57 AMG of Maro Engel was able to get by. Grenier continues to run in second place seven seconds or so behind the leader.

HOUR 10:

Marciello’s triple stint has delivered fifth place and has cut the deficit to the GTD leader to under a minute. The Swiss racer has been relentless in his quest to get the #75 Sun Energy 1 AMG GT3 into contention as we move closer to the half-way point of the race.

He continues to have the time to create these wonderful update graphics!

HOUR 9:

Rafaelle Marciello’s double stint has seen him move the #75 Sun Energy 1 Racing Team AMG GT3 into P5 in GTD. He even found time to tweet out some sweet graphics as he went along!

HOUR 8:

Just before one third distance, Raffaele Marciello finally got to climb aboard the #75 Sun Energy 1 Racing AMG. He left the pits in P9 but he has set about bridging 12 second gap to the drivers ahead. He has the chance to make up at least two spots before the end of his opening fuel stint.

HOUR 7:

Kenny Habul had barely completed a handful of laps when the Full Course Yellow flags flew for the fifth time today. It was the first safety car period for 3 hours and five minutes. An expired Lamborghini in the Bus Stop was the cause.

Kenny currently sits in P9, 15.016 seconds off the lead in GTD. This means he has now completed the bulk of his minimum drive time as the ‘Bronze’ driver in the car.

Photo: Halston Pitman

Photo: Halston Pitman

It is probably a good time to finally show you the full lineup of blue-haired drivers that are competing for Sun Energy 1 Racing at Daytona International Speedway this weekend. We’re not sure if matching your hair color to the car’s livery is a trend that will catch on.

HOUR 6:

Luca Stolz has been as imperious as he has been relentless in his march towards the front of the GTD field in the #75 Sun Energy 1 Racing AMG GT3. He has advanced as far as second place before pitting so Team Owner, Kenny Habul, can jump back in for his next stint.

HOUR FIVE:

Mikael Grenier’s double stint came to an end under Green Flag conditions. Luca Stolz jumped on board the #75 AMG GT3 and set about working his way into the Top 6. By Lap 152, he was able to pass the Winward Racing AMG of Russell Ward to put the Sun Energy 1 Racing car into real contention.

Later in the stint we finally got to see the car on screen as we went in-car with Oli Gavin in his Vasser Sullivan Lexus as he followed Stolz.

Lucas is currently running in sixth spot less than a half a second off the Top 5.

HOUR FOUR:

Incredibly, we are at the four-hour mark already. We have seen a significant amount of Green Flag running. Mikael Grenier pitted with most of the GTD leaders under Green Flag conditions and the crew from Gradient Racing did a fine job to ensure that no time was lost, in fact the #75 AMG was able to gain one place and headed back out onto the track just second off the #21 AF Corse Ferrari. The Canadian is just over 5 seconds behind now, still P7 as we come to the end of Hour Four.

The two AMG Pro drivers, Luca Stolz and Raffaele Marciello are yet to get in the car. Luca will be in the car next once, Mikael finishes his double stint.

HOUR TWO/THREE:

More caution periods and more laps for Kenny Habul who has now completed his opening stint of almost two and a half hours without a hitch. A clash at the bus stop between a GTE car and one of the LMP3 entries brought out the fourth Full Course Caution of the race, it allowed Kenny to complete his opening stint in P11 and he has handed the car over to Mikael Grenier who restarted in 11th spot but has moved into a solid P10 early in his opening stint.

Photo: Brian Cleary

Photo: Brian Cleary

HOUR ONE:

Despite a caution period after nine minutes, the first hour has vanished in what seemed like 20 minutes.

Having dropped some spots at the start, Team Owner, Kenny Habul has run consistent lap times and is comfortably on the lead lap in GTD. He did lose time having to make evasive action when the #44 Magnus Acura ahead of him had tire issues.

We have just had the first green flag pit stops and the crew from Gradient Racing did a fantastic job in pit lane making sure that Kenny lost no time to the cars ahead of him. He is currently P15 and lapping at exactly the pace that the team want.

Photo: Brian Cleary

Photo: Brian Cleary


PRE RACE:

Quietly and very much below the radar, Gradient Racing has been working with North Carolina based Sun Energy 1 Racing to prepare and run its #75 AMG Mercedes GT3. It all started last season with the Indianapolis 8 Hours and the relationship has continued into 2021.

Andris Laivins (or possibly Pep Guardiola) and his crew along with the drivers, Kenny Habul (Team Owner), Mikael Grenier (Canada), Raffaele Marcilleo (Switzerland) and Luca Stolz (Germany) have been fine tuning the car since the Roar Before the 24 Test and the car has rarely been out of the Top 10 on the time sheets.

After last weekend’s qualifying race, Kenny Habul will start from P10 in Class.

We’ll be back after the Green Flag at 3:40pm ET………..


Declan Brennan