LMP3 at Rolex 24: #17 AWA Duqueine win

With the 5 Ligier JS P320 dominating the 4 Duqueine D08 during practices and qualification, one were expecting that LMP3 class of the 61st Rolex 24 At Daytona would be for one of the Ligier teams as they also dominated last year championship by taking the first 5 places .

📷 © Luc Warnotte. At 14:43, 3 minutes after start, the 4 Duqueine D08 were already gaining places in LMP3 class.

📷 © Luc Warnotte. JDC Miller Motorsports’ Duqueine D08 #85 followed by AWA Duqueine D08 #13 stared pointing their nose in the lead during the third hour and progressively demonstrated we had to count with them for victory of the class.

📷 © Luc Warnotte. Anthony Mantella, Wayne Boyd, Nico Varrone and Thomas Merrill with #17 AWA Duqueine D08 dominated the LMP3 class during the second half of the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

The #17 AWA Duqueine D08 dominated the LMP3 class during the second half of the Rolex 24 At Daytona with drivers Anthony Mantella, Wayne Boyd, Nico Varrone and Thomas Merrill.

“It was a relief (to see the checkered flag),” Boyd said. “All the boys were laughing at me because every two minutes on the radio I was asking how long was left.”

Most other cars in the class faced mechanical or other issues during the race. The margin of victory for the #17 AWA Duqueine over the second-place #33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier JS P320 was a whopping 12 laps.

“My teammates built that lead,” Mantella said. “My job was to keep the car clean and stay out of trouble.”

📷 © Luc Warnotte. The #17 car went to the lead for the first time on Lap 315 (during the 11th hour), pushing past the #33 Sean Creech Ligier JS P320. Those two cars had a pitched battle until Lap 634 (during 21st hour) when the #33 went behind the wall for lengthy repairs to fix a shifting issue.

“I was actually more nervous (with the large lead) than fighting with the other car,” Varrone said. “It was more nervous than when we were fighting another car because, if you lose, that’s OK. But if you lose with such a massive lead, it would hurt more.”

📷 © Luc Warnotte. AWA #17 Duqueine D08 with A. Mantella, W. Boyd, N. Varrone and T. Merrill win LMP3 class at ROLEX 24 2023. The AWA team emerged in the second half of the Rolex 24 At Daytona leading a total of 256 laps of the 368 run during the second half of the race.

It was the first IMSA victory for Mantella, Boyd and Varrone. Merrill now has two career IMSA wins.

📷 © Luc Warnotte. Sean Creech Motorsport #33 Ligier JS P320 with L. Willsey, J. Barbosa, N. Pino and N. Siegel end second of LMP3 class at ROLEX 24 2023, 12 laps behind the class winner. Sean Creech Motorsport have been leading the LMP3 class from the beginning totaling the highest number of laps in the lead (282).

When the Creech entry had mechanical problems, no other LMP3 car was able to give chase. Creech climbed back up the leaderboard to score the second-place finish.

“As always, a hard-fought (Rolex 24),” Creech said in a post-race tweet. “Once again, we brought it home P2. Proud of a super effort by the entire team to keep us on track in a race of survival.”

Sean Creech Motorsport, which will run the entire series, didn’t go home empty handed, leaving Daytona with the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup points lead.

📷 © Luc Warnotte. Performance Tech Motorsports #38 Ligier JS P320 with J. DeAngelis, C. Allen, C. Bloum and C. Shields end third of LMP3 class at ROLEX 24 2023, 16 laps behind the class winner.

Rounding out the podium was the #38 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier with drivers John DeAngelis, Christopher Allen, Connor Bloum and Cameron Shields.

📷 © Luc Warnotte. AWA #13 Duqueine D08 with O. Fidani, M. Bell, L. Kern and M. Kranz end LMP3 class at ROLEX 24 2023 in P4, 20 laps behind the winning sister car.

📷 © Luc Warnotte. JDC Miller Motorsports #85 Duqueine D08 with T.Bechtolseimer, T. van der Helm, L. Mars and M. Filippi end LMP3 class at ROLEX 24 2023 in P5, 22 laps behind the winning car.

The four DNF

📷 © Luc Warnotte. FastMD Racing #87 Duqueine D08 with Y. Kanamaru / A. Serravalle / N. Boulle / J. Vance DNF, abandoning 1 hour from the end!

📷 © Luc Warnotte. Andretti Autosport #36 Ligier JS P320 with J. Andretti / G. Chaves / D. Dickerson / R. Lindh DNF despite being a strong contender in LMP3 class with 136 laps of the 360 laps run during the first half of the Rolex 24 At Daytona in the lead.

📷 © Luc Warnotte. MRS GT-Racing #43 Ligier JS P320 with S. Alvarez / J. French / G. de Oliveira / D. Frost DNF. The team has been leading 12 laps LMP3 class during the first half of the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

📷 © Luc Warnotte. Riley #74 Ligier JS P320 with G. Robinson / F. Fraga / J. Burdon / G. van Berlo DNF.

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📷 © Luc Warnotte. ROAR 2023: LMP3 Qualifying.

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📷 © Luc Warnotte. Rolex 24 Friday practices LMP and GTD.