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| Billy Johnson made his Daytona Prototype Debut during the 24 Hours of Daytona without any practice as a last minute sub in the #77 Doran Racing Ford Dallara DP. DPs are the fastest and most purpose built racecars in either series with the least weight, most downforce, most power, and greater technology. |
Daytona Prototype “DP”:
These cars are the pinnacle of Grand-Am. Weighing 2,275-2,325 and producing probably over 550hp from BMW, Chevrolet, Ford, and Porsche V8s; DPs are the fastest and best handling cars in the series, and are more comparable to the likes of ALMS GT2, DTM, Super GT, etc… but have more power and probably less downforce and a more endurance-oriented tire design than the others. With 320/650-18 front and 325/710-18 rear Continental slicks, DPs have by far the best tire to weight ratio of any Grand-Am car and is not under-tired for its weight. Like GT, if the engine displacement is less than 5.0L, a 6-speed transmission is allowed while 5.0L+ run a 5-speed sequential transmission. If a gentlemen driver is a primary driver, paddle-shifters are allowed. Due to their light weight and high downforce, these cars drive a lot like the Formula Mazda Pro and Formula BMW cars that I used to drive. The stability, cornering ability (especially in high speed corners), and braking ability from the downforce makes the DP drive much like an ALMS GT2 or SuperGT car from what I hear. I would guess they would turn a 1:40-1:43 at Buttonwillow.
While only a handful of top Unlimited/Super Modified Time Attack cars can turn near DP level lap times, DPs are so refined that they are a real pleasure to drive. Like a formula car, if you drive the car under the limit it will be the best handling thing in the world, but getting the last bit out of the car is indeed a fine balance and knife-edge between excellence and stupidity. While Unlimited Time Attack cars can have a lot of downforce, turbos, AWD, straight-line speed, etc… They simply don’t have the low center of gravity and purpose built suspension geometry and dynamic driving characteristics as a car designed from the ground-up to be a racecar like DP.
The first time I ever drove a DP was this year at the 50th Anniversary of the Rolex 24 Hour race. After a mechanical failure which knocked out the #94 Turner Motorsports BMW M3 I was driving, I headed back home Sunday morning and was having breakfast at a Cracker Barrel when I got a phone call that I was needed to hop in the DP and substitute for injured drivers. Needless to say I quickly got back to the track as fast as I could (ya…) and was in a brand new orange Circle-K/Combos firesuit within 45 minutes of that phone call. The first time I ever even sat in a DP was in pit lane during our
driver change during the race. I was debriefed on the car before hopping in it but when the air jacks dropped and it was time to go, I reached for the non-existent shift lever. The car was paddle shift. I realized it and grabbed the right paddle and left in a nice smoky burnout.
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| Billy in the #77 DP infront of the #9 Action Express and #99 Gainsco Corvette DPs. Notice the following cars feature the recently approved new 2012 Daytona Prototype bodywork which has a more aerodynamic, sexier greenhouse that is better proportioned comparable to prototypes in other series. |
This Doran Racing Ford Dallara DP was awesome. It really drove more like a Formula car than a GT car and the paddle-shifters really reminded me of playing Gran Turismo on Playstation more than driving a racing car. The outward visibility was excellent. With a roof less than 42” off the ground and nothing infront of you, the only thing I can compare it to would be driving an Acura NSX. It’s a good thing I’ve driven an NSX once or twice. In addition to the visibility, the more central seating position while not perfectly centered, continued to feel more like a formula car than the poor visibility
of GT cars or even the more production view of the Porsche or GS/ST cars. The same Ferraris and Audis that I was looking over the roofline of while driving the BMW, I was looking at the exhaust pipes in the DP. All the cars looked huge from the low seating position of the DP.
The racing in DP is fierce and similar to the GS class in terms of traffic management of the GT (or ST) class. Despite all the downforce, you can still blow up the rear tires in a nice power-oversteer drift out of low speed corners so throttle control and modulation is equally as important as in GS.
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| Billy at the wheel of the FXMD NSX. Early training for a Daytona Prototype ride. |
Overall, all 4 classes are a blast to drive. While ST, GS, and GT can be related to Time Attack cars, DP is more like a formula car. Understanding more about the racing and what is going on behind the scene should make it more interesting to follow and watch. Both the CTSCC and Rolex series have great battles and racing with world-class drivers. If you think about it; there are Daytona 24 Hour and NASCAR cup drivers in all 4 classes, ALMS champions in GS, GT & DP, and LeMans and F1 drivers in GT & DP. Mixed in you have young drivers trying to make their names, as well as business owners, doctors, and lawyers.
There is so much strategy that goes on in one class alone that it’s interesting to see what everyone is doing. But behind the wheel it really doesn’t matter what class you’re in. There will always be a ton of cars that you are going to have to race hard, in cars that don’t have the same strengths and weaknesses as you. Racing is a chess game at 100mph and Grand-Am racing is more like playing a 3D multi-level chess game at the same time. The cars are a blast and my Time Attack career from driving everything from Street Class on up through Modified and Unlimited/Supermodified has really helped me feel right at home when racing in all of these classes in Grand-Am.
