Daytona 24 Hours - Romain Dumas up the pace

This week Romain Dumas will be in Florida to take part in the Daytona 24 Hours race. It will be the fourth time he has competed in this legendary event, but where he has still yet to make his mark. This year the Porsche works driver will be at the wheel of a GT3 Cup car, No 67, entered by Team TRG and co-driven by Emmanuel Collard, Tim George Jnr., Spencer Pumpelly and Bryan Sellers. In the GT class, the battle for victory will be just as ferocious and hard-fought over as in the DP prototype category. To get to the end of the 24 hours without committing any mistakes and avoiding technical problems will be the key to winning this year. With minimal differences between the favourites for a podium finish, race strategy and coping with the safety car periods will take on an added importance, and especially so for Team TRG who have no less than 7 entries.

After an off-season punctuated by tests and training, this quite special event at Daytona will allow the Porsche driver to get back into the rhythm of racing. This year the 24 Hours of Daytona will again provide a great American spectacle.  It will mark the start of the 2008 season for Romain and a good warm-up for what will be the main objective of the year - the American Le Mans Series.

The main contenders in this championship will convene at Sebring at the end of the month for the Winter Test. The Penske team will hope to confirm its technical findings and performance from its private test sessions. This time the duties of the drivers of the RS Spyder No 7 will be to concentrate on outright performance, taking into account the particular climatic conditions found in Florida in January.

(Photos: motorsport.com)
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