Repeat race winners reign supreme at the 11th annual HSR Daytona Classic 24 Hour Presented by Mission Foods

The inaugural season of the HSR Classic Endurance Championship presented by Mission Foods came to a colorful and competitive conclusion Saturday and Sunday at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) with the successful 11th running of the HSR Daytona Classic 24 Hour presented by Mission Foods. Five full days of on-track action culminated with the HSR Daytona Classic 24-hour twice-around-the-clock race from Saturday at 2 p.m. until just before the same hour today.

The longest and oldest race on the HSR Classic Endurance Championship presented by Mission Foods schedule, the HSR Daytona Classic 24 Hour featured Run Groups A through G competing in succession – with Groups C and D sharing the track – for a full 24 hours on the iconic DIS road course. Each of the six Run Group overall winners were presented with B.R.M. Chronographes “The Kube” Black Engraved Desk Clocks after the final checkered flags waved throughout Sunday morning and early afternoon.

The weekend’s main headline was written by European-based Iconic Racing that added to the team’s already stellar “HSR Classic” win record with its first triple-sweep of victories in the 11th HSR Daytona Classic 24. The impressive first-place haul was anchored by the duo of Gérard Lopez and former World Endurance Champion Marcel Fässler, who combined to win both Run Group A and F for the second time at the HSR Daytona Classic in the past three years.

The Group A triumph was a triple-sweep of its own as Lopez and Fassler won for the third-straight year at Daytona in the white, red and blue 1969 Lola T70 MkII to remain undefeated in Group A at the “World Center of Racing.” The only thing that has changed on the Lola is its car number, which is now No. 27 after carrying No. 60 the first two years.

The first Lola win in 2023 was secured by Lopez and Fassler in addition to a victory in Run Group F in an ex-JDC Motorsports 2019 No. 5 Cadillac DPi, the same car the Iconic team and drivers drove to another win in the division this weekend.

The competition in Group F was a bit more intense than Group A this weekend as Lopez and Fassler once again battled with the similar Cadillac DPi entries of Mission Foods and Juan Gonzalez and Matador Motorsports and Pierce Marshall. The Cadillac trio also clashed earlier this year in the HSR Watkins Glen Classic 6 Hour where the No. 5 team and drivers also prevailed over the Mission Foods and Matador entries.

This weekend, it was Gonzalez, his nephew Roberto Gonzalez and three-time Rolex 24 At Daytona winner Butch Leitzinger that garnered runner-up honors in the 2017 No. 81 Mission Foods/GMT Racing Cadillac DPi. The always-competitive winning duo of Marshall, his coach and co-driver Eric Foss and the Matador Motorsports 2017 No. 02 Cadillac DPi took third-place honors.

Iconic’s third victory was delivered by Florent Moulin, who won his first HSR Classic race in this decade in his 2000 No. 92 Dodge Viper GTS-R. Moulin, Iconic and Art and Revs brought the pristine Viper back to Daytona 25 years after the car finished fifth in the inaugural Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Rolex 24 At Daytona in 2000.

In Run Group B, Todd Treffert combined the great pace he has shown all year, and the unfortunate retirements of his top competitors, to comfortably secure his third HSR Classic group victory in four attempts this season. As he did in the season-opening HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour last March and in September at the inaugural HSR Classic Road Atlanta 10 Hour, Treffert took control of the Classic 24 by the halfway point despite a quick Camaro and a pair of fast Chevrons that ran on pace with Treffert’s sharp 1974 No. 41 Porsche 911 Carrera Cup RSR “Baby” Turbo prepared by the 901 Shop. After the Camaro and the Chevrons all retired, Treffert cruised to a comfortable one-lap lead over the second-place finisher.

The race’s most commanding victory was turned in by Owen Trinkler who was given the keys to the Gil West 2019 No. 911 Porsche 991.2 GT3 R in Run Group E. Trinkler swept all four segments, and led virtually every race lap, in the Vintage Racing Company prepared Porsche to take the victory by 21.292 seconds over the second-place Autometrics 2016 No. 515 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Cory Friedman.

Run Group G joined Group E in delivering a flat-out and furious battle between mega amounts of GT Modern cars and competitors that are now eligible in the recently announced Mission Foods GT Challenge. The winners, who emerged from a tight pack of leading front runners, were the British duo of Mike Jordan and his son Andrew Jordan who won by less than a minute in their Jordan Racing Team 2010 No. 77 Porsche 997.2 GT3 Cup. The Jordans first won in HSR Classic 24 competition at Daytona in 2023.

The weekend’s final Run Group winner was the 1985 No. 75 Porsche 962 of Preston Brown and Denis Dupont who co-drove to Group C honors. The victory was mainly uncontested, but the No. 75 team and drivers never quit racing and made it to victory lane with the similarly Jagermeister-adorned 1979 No. 52 Porsche 935 K3 of Dr. Mike Smith, who took Group C GT class honors.

Dr. Smith also played a major role in one of the weekend’s top off-track highlights. In HSR Classic Daytona 24 Hour pre-race ceremonies, a special presentation was made by popular Italian driver Max Papis on behalf of his company MPI™ Inc., the leading motorsports steering wheel manufacturer and the “Official Steering Wheel Supplier of HSR.” Part of MPI’s vast HSR support is the new MPI Performance & Passion Award, which is an honor bestowed on the competitor in the HSR Classic Daytona 24 demonstrating the best “heart, hustle and horsepower” throughout the oldest HSR Classic Endurance Championship presented by Mission Foods race.

The selection committee chose Dr. Smith as a worthy recipient who, not surprisingly, the outgoing and gregarious Papis knows well. Dr. Smith has fielded his pristine collection of Porsche 935s in the HSR Classic 24 since the inaugural event in 2014. The stable includes a Martini Porsche 935 and both the Blue Coral and Jagermeister Porsche 935 K3s. Dr. Smith is a chiropractor by trade and connected with Papis early on when “Mad Max” left no stone unturned in researching even the proper placement and ergonomics of steering wheel design and positioning and how it relates to driver posture. HSR President John Doonan joined both Smith and Papis for the presentation.

Another podium sweep in this weekend’s Classic 24 included the quick trio of 50-plus years old Porsche 911 S/T entries from the 901 Shop that swept GT in Run Group A. David Agretelis garnered another HSR Classic triumph and led his 901 teammates Robert Spence and Craig Watkins in the overall finishing order.

Next up on the HSR schedule is the season-ending HSR Sebring Pistons and Props, presented by the Alan Jay Automotive Network, December 4 – 7.