Gradient Racing Fight Back to Top 4 in Thrilling Rolex 24 at Daytona

A magnificent fightback in the final stages gave Gradient Racing a strong fourth-place finish as they kicked off the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at the series’ longest race, the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona.

Sheena Monk takes the Green Flag from Row 4 at Daytona.

The #66 JG Wentworth Honda Racing HPD Acura NSX GT3 Evo 22, driven by Sheena Monk, Katherine Legge, Marc Miller and Mario Farnbacher, was two laps behind the GTD leader with just two hours remaining and seemingly out of contention for the class win.

But the never-give-up attitude of the team from Austin, TX, came within a handful of seconds of rewarding them with a deserved podium finish at the iconic Daytona International Speedway in Florida.

Starting fifth in class, thanks to Mario’s excellent effort in the previous weekend’s qualifying session, GT3 debutant Sheena held her own against a swathe of more-experienced drivers.

One of only 11 bronze-graded drivers to take the start, the Newtown, PA, native reached the end of her opening double stint behind only one of them and ahead of a number of silver and even gold-graded racers.

Atlanta-based Briton Katherine, Marc (Holland, MI) and Mario (Ansbach, Germany) all put in sterling stints as the strategies of the various teams evened-out to carry the Acura to eighth – and within 40 seconds of the lead – by one-third distance.

But three badly-timed Full-Course Yellow (FCY) periods – each coming just after a green-flag pit stop between the ninth and 21st hours – looked to have derailed their challenge; the team falling two laps off the lead despite lap times often matching cars in the top five.

A stroke of fortune in the final two hours enabled both laps to be recovered; this time thanks to well-timed FCYs, meaning that following relentless stints by Sheena, Marc and Katherine, the Acura sat just 10 seconds from the lead with Mario at the wheel in sixth place as the field was released with 25 minutes remaining.

As the field spread as many as five-cars wide at times, canny driving from Mario kept the green and white car away from the incident and some opportunistic moves briefly elevated the two-time IMSA champion onto the GTD podium inside the final quarter-hour.

He eventually came home fourth, three seconds shy of a podium and just 20 from victory; a result that was more than enough to give the team confidence that they will challenge for the top spot on many more occasions this year.

The team now prepares for the second round of the series; the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, on March 15-18.

Sheena Monk said: “I’m ecstatic for this result and so thankful to my team-mates, Gradient Racing, HPD and Acura. Taking the green flag was incredibly daunting as one of the only non-pros out there and I got swallowed up a bit, so I let myself settle in, protected the car and brought it home safely. I did two doubles and a single stint including a couple of hours at night, which was like nothing I’ve experienced in a race car before because all the reference points are different and because people got very aggressive towards the end of the stint. I’ve learnt so much I can take into Sebring to help us be even stronger there.”

Marc Miller said: “It’s awesome to finish fourth at the Rolex 24 when we spent most of the race in eighth, ninth, 10th place. Andris [Laivins, Team Principal] and the team just kept calm and called a great strategy and Mario’s restarts near the end were great. The JG Wentworth Acura was impeccable on the infield; you could drive it to within an inch of its life, but you had to because we lacked just a little bit of power on the banking. The car compresses up there and that sucks the power out, so especially coming out of the Bus Stop and through Turn 6, even with a draft, we couldn’t really hang with other cars.”

Katherine Legge said: “I’m super-happy with the team and to have started the season on the front foot. We wanted more, but after about hour four we seemed to be a bit down on power, so we didn’t really have anything to fight the other cars with from then. The crew were faultless and executed the pit stops to perfection, the strategy was good and we got our laps back at the right time. Sheena’s stints, for the first time in the car, were very impressive and nobody put a foot wrong all weekend. I’m proud of everyone. We have to look at what we can do a little better next time, but it’s a good start.”

Mario Farnbacher said: “With six hours to go I’d never have thought we could finish fourth. We were two or sometimes three laps down to the lead cars in GTD, but we made the right calls on strategy. We struggled a little with top speed compared to everyone else around us so while I was fighting for third at the end, I just got swallowed-up on the straights so there was really no more I could do. Big thanks to the team and to Andris. This is a team that always executes well and I love being a part of this group. Hopefully next time they’ll have some better luck and will be spraying the champagne.”

Andris Laivins, Team Principal, said: “Halfway through this race it was becoming challenging to really keep focused. It felt like we were making no impression on the race at all. I could not have asked for a better first outing for our new sponsors, partners and drivers. But the MVP award goes to the crew who just dragged us kicking and screaming back onto the lead lap with their amazing stops, getting us out in front of the safety car every time we needed to do that and ultimately keeping us in it.

I think we legitimately had the pace to finish anywhere between seventh and tenth but the drivers made the most of every opportunity and the crew kept doing a great job.

The thing that I kept reminding myself during the middle of the night to help keep me focused was the fact that there is a 24 Hours of Le Mans invite for Sheena at stake at the end of all of this and that continues to be the ultimate goal.”