American endurance racing action is about to resume in Florida with this weekend’s Daytona 24 Hours which will be followed by winter testing at Sebring.

The Rolex 24 At Daytona – which features DP (Daytona Prototype) and GT cars – has been hosted by the Daytona International Speedway (Florida) since 1966. A star-studded line-up will be vying to follow in the footsteps of the 2010 winners Barbosa/Borcheller/Rokenfeller/Dalziel and their Riley-Porsche?

The entry list boasts a host of top names from the world of motor racing, including Scott Pruett, Dario Franchitti and J-P. Montoya (BMW-Riley), Tomas Enge (Ford-Riley), Barbosa, Fittipaldi and Papis (Porsche-Riley), Ryan Briscoe (Chevrolet-Dallara), Blundell and Brundle (Ford-Riley), Bergmeister and Long (Porsche-Riley), Christophe Bouchut (BMW-Riley), Nicolas Minassian (Ford-Lola) and the five-time NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet-Riley).

Patrick Dempsey will be operating in a Grey’s Anatomy Mazda at Daytona 24 Hours

The leading GT contenders are Manu Collard in an F430, Oliver Gavin (Camaro) and Martin Ragginger, Richard Lietz, Marc Lieb and Patrick Pilet (all driving Porsches), plus TV hero Patrick Dempsey who will be operating in a Grey’s Anatomy Mazda.

Qualifying for the 49th Rolex 24 At Daytona starts tomorrow (Thursday, January 27), while the race itself kicks off at 3:30pm local time on Saturday, January 29.

Ten days later, elsewhere in Florida, ALMS runners are due to get together for testing at Sebring. Only two LMP1 prototypes have been entered (Cytosport Lola-Aston Martin and Dyson Lola-Mazda), but there will be 13 GT cars run by Corvette Racing, Larbre Compétition, Flying Lizard, Risi Competizione and Extreme Speed Motorsport. ALMS testing begins on Wednesday, February 9.

Tests footage:

Source: www.youtube.com/user/BulletmotorsportsInc

24 heures de Daytona, Sebring, Testing