{"id":6748,"date":"2024-01-23T11:32:31","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T16:32:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/?p=6748"},"modified":"2024-01-23T11:32:31","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T16:32:31","slug":"racing-to-end-alzheimers-set-to-begin-2024-campaign-with-four-hour-imsa-race-at-daytona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/23\/racing-to-end-alzheimers-set-to-begin-2024-campaign-with-four-hour-imsa-race-at-daytona\/","title":{"rendered":"Racing to End Alzheimer\u2019s set to begin 2024 campaign with four-hour IMSA race at Daytona"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (23\u00a0Jan. 2024) \u2013 Looking to get the 2024 racing season off to a strong start, Racing to End Alzheimer\u2019s prepared for its return to the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge (IMPC) with three days of testing in the traditional \u201cRoar Before the Rolex 24\u201d at Daytona International Speedway last weekend.<\/p>\n

The weekend gave the team five lengthy sessions to test the No. 51 Toyota Supra GT4 that will be fielded by Hattori Motorsports in the four-hour BMW Endurance Challenge in the lead Grand Sport class, set for Friday, Jan. 26, at 1:45 p.m. ET on Peacock.<\/p>\n

Two of Racing to End Alzheimer\u2019s champions \u2013 Mark Kvamme and Nick Galante \u2013 will be joined by Matt Forbush in the event. Veteran Toyota\/Lexus driver and 2023 IMSA Champion Jack Hawksworth, who will race in the sister No. 50 Hattori Motorsports entry this weekend,\u00a0 also spent time in the car during the Roar testing.<\/p>\n

The best lap for the No. 51 Racing to End Alzheimer\u2019s Toyota was 1:54.230-seconds, which was eighth-fastest in Saturday\u2019s fourth session.<\/p>\n

Kvamme, who did not participate in the Roar test, repeated as Am class champion in the 2023 Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America, sweeping the final weekend to come from behind for the title. Kvamme is a 10-time competitor in the Rolex 24, with a best finish of third (LMP2 for BAR1 Motorsports) in 2017.<\/p>\n

Galante raced with the Racing to End Alzheimer\u2019s team to IMSA IMPC titles in the 2016 and 2018 IMPC.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Roar is a great place for us \u2018old guys\u2019 to wake our brains up and get out the cobwebs, moving from Christmas parties to going fast,\u201d Galante smiled. \u201cSeriously, we learned quite a bit at the Roar, especially with a car I haven\u2019t run a whole season with. I ran a one-off at Daytona two years ago, so this gave me an opportunity to learn the car again, how it feels under heavy braking and especially how it feels throughout its tire life. That really helps you out in preparation for a long four-hour race. Feeling a full run from sticker tires all the way to a degrading tire is super-important, and the Roar gave us that opportunity. We pushed the tires to the limit, and even stretched that stint out to see how the car balances. Then you set up the car for the middle of the tire life, so we can find the happy medium for the four-hour race.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, the Racing to End Alzheimer\u2019s charity starts here at Daytona,\u201d said Galante, whose aunt and grandmother suffered from the disease. \u201cWhen I look back through the years, and all that that charity has done \u2013 and what we\u2019re about to do \u2013 it all starts here at Daytona. It\u2019s the first race of the season, and the first race for the charity that really helps out millions all across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forbush will be competing professionally at Daytona for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting to be in the IMSA paddock,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been here as an owner, I\u2019ve run the HSR race here, and in the Supra a lot competitively, but this is my first time in a real competition setting at Daytona. \u201cIt\u2019s a great experience, and it\u2019s fun to run in IMSA. There\u2019s some of the best drivers in sports car racing out on the track with you, including Jack Hawksworth in our other car and some of the NASCAR guys in another Supra, so there\u2019s some real benchmarks to see how you stand as a driver.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Racing to End Alzheimer\u2019s founder Phil Frengs, the first race of the season always marks a renewal of the organizations\u2019 commitment: to help raise awareness and funds to fight dementia and Alzheimer\u2019s. Fans can find Frengs in his familiar purple pop-up tent near the team\u2019s garage in the IMPC paddock.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are delighted to be back at Daytona again teaming up with our friend Matt Forbush, longtime driving partner Nick Galante and current Racing to End Alzheimer\u2019s driver Mark Kvamme,\u201d said Frengs. \u201cThis past weekend we worked with Hattori Motorsports to get our Toyota Supra up to speed and ready to compete next Friday in the BMW Endurance Challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are so happy to get another chance to create awareness of our Foundation\u2019s effort to fund the care and fund the cure at Daytona in this world class weekend of speed,\u201d Frengs continued. \u201cWe are grateful to Hattori Motorsports for the invitation to join them to compete and are pointing towards the podium! We want to start that winning feeling before we launch our Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America season in Sebring in March, and as we launch a new partnership with the Porsche Owners Club.\u00a0We encourage fans to join us and add their loved one\u2019s name to debut on our car at Sebring \u2013 just go to\u00a0r2endalz.org<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

This weekend\u2019s on-track activities begin on Wednesday at 3:05 p.m. (all times ET) with a one-hour practice session. The second one-hour practice will be held Thursday at 8:45 a.m., with GS qualifying getting underway at 1:35 p.m. There will be a 30-minute Friday morning session at 9:25 a.m., prior to the four-hour race at 1:45 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (23\u00a0Jan. 2024) \u2013 Looking to get the 2024 racing season off to a strong start, Racing to End Alzheimer\u2019s prepared for its return [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6749,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-race-2-end-alzheimers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6748"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6750,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6748\/revisions\/6750"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}