By Johan Laubscher
The 51st Daytona 24 Hours was held over the weekend with a dramatic finish. In the end the #24 Alex Job Racing Audi R8 GRAND-AM came trough to win ahead of the #52 APR Audi, completing an Audi 1-2. It was a brilliant result but the 1-2 does not tell the whole story. In the closing minutes it was a crazy dash to the flag with multiple cars standing a chance of victory. A video featuring the last few minutes of the race has appeared on YouTube, we have embedded that below. Spoiler alert: If you have not seen the Daytona 24 finish yet, first watch the video before reading the two paragraphs below.
Let us set the scene. There is less than ten minutes to go. The #24 AJR Audi is out in the lead but needs to pit, it is assumed that they will loose the lead. The #13 Rum Bum Audi is chasing in second, but it is unclear if they have enough fuel whist they are closely chased by a trio of cars which do not need to pit. This trio consisted of the #44 Porsche closely followed by the #52 APR Audi and the #69 Ferrari. At this stage any one of these five cars stood a chance at victory, and no one knew what was going to happen.
Rene Rast was in the #52 had he was a man on a mission and stormed pasted the Ferrari and Porsche. Whilst this was happening the #24 AJR Audi had to come in for its pitstop but reemerged just in front of the chasing GT group. By this time the #52 Audi was up to third and we had an Audi 1-2-3, with AJR leading Rum Bum and APR, as they went into the final two laps. Rast was still flying and passed Rum Bum on the outside during the last lap and began chasing down the leading AJR car. Tragedy struck as Rum Bum ran out of fuel on the last lap, as their fuel gamble did not pay off. The leading two Audis came home for an Audi 1-2. It was a tremendous finish, one with huge suspense as you had no idea of what was going to happen. You can relive these crucial final moments in the video below.
Photos by Audi Sport Media
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