1978 Daytona 24 hour race

Sketch of the Daytona International Speedway, the race was held on the combined oval and street course

The 17th 24-hour race of Daytona , also the 17th Annual 24 Hour of Daytona, Championship of Makes, Daytona International Speedway , took place on February 4 and 5, 1978 at Daytona International Speedway and was the first race of the sports car World Championship this year. At the same time, the race was the first round of the IMSA GTO and GTU championship in 1978.

The race

The organizer received 82 entries for the first sports car world championship run of the season. Finally, on the afternoon of February 4, 68 racing cars of the GTX, GTO and GTU classes started the race. From the pole position went Danny Ongais into the race. The American achieved a time of 2: 00.152 minutes on his fastest lap in practice on his Porsche 935 / 77A .

After 24 hours of racing time, the racing drivers Rolf Stommelen , Toine Hezemans and Peter Gregg were waved off as winners.

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	GTX	99	Brumo's Porsche	Rolf Stommelen Toine Hezemans Peter Gregg	Porsche 935 / 77A	680
2	GTX	6th	Dick Barbour Racing	Dick Barbour Manfred Schurti Johnny Rutherford	Porsche 935 / 77A	650
3	GTO	58	Diego Febles Racing	Diego Febles Alec Poole	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	645
4th	GTO	33	Boricua Racing	Bonky Fernandez John Paul Phil Currin	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	637
5	GTX	14th	Kremer Porsche Racing	Josef Brambring Dieter Schornstein Louis Krages	Porsche 935 K2	635
6th	GTX	09	Belcher Racing	Gary Belcher Doc Bundy Al Holbert	Porsche 934/5	632
7th	GTX	32	Earle & Akin Racing Associates	Steve Earle Bob Akin Rick Knoop	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	632
8th	GTO	65	Dan Ward Racing	John Morton Tony Adamowicz Hal Sahlman Bobby Carradine	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4 Competizione	622
9	GTX	59	JMS Brumos Porsche	Peter Gregg Claude Ballot-Léna Brad Frisselle	Porsche 935	621
10	GTX	13	Hal Shaw Racing	Hal Shaw, Jr. Jim Busby Howard Masters	Porsche 935	608
11	GTU	01	J. Dana Roehrig	Dave White Gary Mesnick J. Dana Roehrig	Porsche 911 S.	604
12	GTU	34	Drolsom Racing	George Drolsom Hugh Davenport Mark Greb	Porsche 911 S.	592
13	GTX	21st	Konrad Racing	Franz Konrad Reinhold Joest Volkert Merl	Porsche 935	590
14th	GTU	08	Terry Wolters	Terry Wolters Jack Refenning Ray Mummery	Porsche 911 S.	584
15th	GTX	24	Executive Industries	Tom Frank Bob Bergstrom	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	580
16	GTU	84	Bondurant Racing School	Chris Doyle John Maffucci Bob Speakman	Datsun 260Z	577
17th	GTU	60	R&R Racing	John Thomas Ren Tilton Rusty Bond	Porsche 911 S.	551
18th	GTU	29	Richard C. Weiss	Richard Weiss Bill Alsup Bill Follmer	Porsche 911 S.	550
19th	GTX	37	Clay Young	Bob Buchler Eddie Johnson Clay Young	Chevrolet Camaro	550
20th	GTO	46	Mauricio de Narváez	Mauricio de Narváez Albert Naon Tony Garcia	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	547
21st	GTU	22nd	Music City Racing	Bill Harriss Volker Bruckmann	Porsche 911 E.	546
22nd	GTX	5	Team Grand Competition on Canart	François Migault Lucien Guitteny Gregg Young	Ferrari 365 GT4 / BB	521
23	GTO	68	Luis Mendez	Luis Mendez Mandy Gonzalez Tato Ferrer	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	509
24	GTU	91	Bob Bondurant	Bob Bondurant Steve Cook Ron Southern	Datsun 260Z	508
25th	GTO	78	Western Motor Works	Bobby Hillin William Henderson Richard Turner	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4 Competizione	506
26th	GTU	9	Anatoly Arutunoff	Brian Goellnot José Marina Jack May Anatoly Arutunoff	Lancia Stratos HF	505
27	GTO	94	Preston Henn	Preston Henn Hal Sahlman Sandy Satullo	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4 Competizione	502
28	GTU	36	Case Racing	Ron Case Dave Panaccione	Porsche 911	500
29	GTU	53	Mazda Auto Tokyo	Jim Downing Stu Fisher Walt Drilling Roger Mandeville	Mazda RX-3	498
30th	GTU	61	Alfred Cosentino	Taku Akaike Al Cosentino	Mazda RX-3	498
31	GTX	38	Mike Meldeau	Bill McDill Mike Meldeau	Chevrolet Camaro	497
32	GTO	10	Bob's Speed ​​Products	Guy Church Rick Kump Bob Lee	AMC AMX	481
33	GTU	50	Native tan	Charles Kleinschmidt Lee Culpepper	MGB GT	477
34	GTO	77	Amos Johnson / Dennis Shaw	Amos Johnson Dennis Shaw Charles Woodward	AMC Hornet AMX	475
35	GTX	7th	Heimrath Racing	Ludwig Heimrath senior Jacques Bienvenue Norm Ridgely	Porsche 935	466
36	GTO	07	Morrison's Inc.	Dave Cowart Charles Mendez Joe Castellano	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	459
37	GTX	82	Solomone Racing	Carm Solomone Fred Lang Buzz Fyhrie	Chevrolet Camaro	456
38	GTX	15th	Bavarian Motors International	Bruno Beilcke Sepp Grinbold Alf Gebhardt	BMW 3.0 CSL	427
39	GTU	55	Emiliano Rodriguez	Emiliano Rodriguez Hiram Cruz	Lotus Europa Ford	402
40	GTX	95	Bob Hagestad	Hurley Haywood Bob Hagestad Doc Bundy	Porsche 935	400
41	GTX	18th	Ours & Hours Racing	Dick Gauthier Jack Swanson Brad West	Chevrolet Camaro	395
42	GTX	56	Carter Brothers	Richard Valentine Craig Carter Murray Edwards	Chevrolet Camaro	361
43	GTU	87	Pedro Vazquez, Jr.	Pedro Vazquez Ron Oyler Joseph Hamilton Gunter Hamilton Gunter Seipolt	Porsche 911 S.	360
44	GTO	02	Al Levenson	Dick Neland Al Levenson Tom Brown	Chevrolet Corvette	353
45	GTU	52	Mazda Auto Tokyo	Yoshimi Katayama Yōjirō Terada Roger Mandeville	Mazda RX-3	271
46	GTX	19th	Chris Cord Racing	Chris Cord Jim Adams	Chevrolet Monza	261
47	GTX	73	Howey Farms	Clark Howey Dale Chef David Crabtree	Chevrolet Camaro	259
48	GTU	76	Quality Inn	Frank Thomas Lee Mueller Logan Blackburn	Porsche 911	224
49	GTX	72	Bill Arnold Racing	Carl Thompson Billy Hagan Rusty Schmidt	Chevrolet Corvette	169
50	GTO	20th	Richard L. Bostyan	Richard Bostyan Jerry Thompson Don Yenko	Chevrolet Corvette	152
51	GTO	25th	Kenper Miller	Kenper Miller Paul Miller Oscar Koveleski	BMW 3.5 CSL	125
52	GTX	05	Dale Kreider	Stephen Bond Dale Kreider Philip Then	Chevrolet Monza	123
53	GTO	8th	Jolly Club	Felice Besenzoni Luciano Dal Ben Byron Wever	Ferrari 308 GTB	117
54	GTO	48	Autodyne Inc.	John Carusso Emory Donaldson Luis Sereix	Chevrolet Corvette	90
55	GTO	80	Herb Adams	Herb Adams Pat Bedard Marv Thomson	Oldsmobile Cutlass	89
56	GTX	0	Interscope Racing	Danny Ongais Ted Field Milt Minter	Porsche 935 / 77A	88
57	GTX	12	Porsche Kremer Racing	Bob Wollek Henri Pescarolo Didier Jaunet	Porsche 935 / 77A	86
58	GTU	51	Wynn's International	John Hotchkis Robert Kirby Dennis Aase	Porsche 911 S.	85
59	GTO	4th	Jolly Club	Dino Mallet Bob Bondurant Sergio Romolotti	Ferrari 308 GTB	82
60	GTO	03	Guido Levetto	Guido Levetto Dan Rice	Chevrolet Camaro	79
61	GTX	54	T & C	John Tunstall Stephen Behr Lou Timolat	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	70
62	GTO	39	Greg Pickett	Greg Pickett Neil Bonnet Bruce Canepa	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	67
63	GTU	27	Z & W Enterprises	Pierre Honegger Bill Scott Mark Hutchins	Mazda RX-3	57
64	GTX	2	McLaren North America	David Hobbs Ronnie Peterson	BMW 320i Turbo	47
65	GTO	17th	Tim Chitwood	Sam Fillingham Tim Chitwood KP Jones	Chevrolet Nova	45
66	GTX	3	Jolly Club	Carlo Facetti Martino Finotto	Porsche 935	6th
67	GTU	85	John Hulen	John Hulen Ron Coupland Nick Engels	Porsche 914/6	0
Disqualified
68	GTU	71	Bill Scott	Francisco Romero Ernesto Soto Hardie Beloff	Porsche 911 S.	615
Not started
69	GTX	66	Bobby Carradine	Don Devendorf Tony Adamowicz Jeff Kline	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4 Competizione	1
70	GTX	86	Hugh Kleinpeter	Janet Guthrie Hugh Kleinpeter Jef Stevens	De Tomaso Pantera GT4K	2
Not qualified
71	GTU	88	Hamilton House Racing	Joseph Hamilton Chuck Wade Marty Hinze	Porsche 911 S.	3

¹ not started ² engine failure in training ³ not qualified

Only in the entry list

Here you will find teams, drivers and vehicles that were originally registered for the race but did not take part for a variety of reasons.

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis
72	GTU	11	Robert Hoskins	Rob Hoskins Jeffrey Brooks Van McDonald	Triumph TR7
73	GTU	26th	Eleven-Tenths Racing	Ernie Smith Gene Budd	Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce
74	GTX	41	Ted Schumacher	Ted Schumacher Robert Hubbard John Kelly	Triumph GT6
75	GTX	42	William Harris	William Harris Ted Kempgens Greg Donohue	Ford Pinto
76	GTX	43	Allan F. Bodoh	Don Pike Byron Wever Allan Bodoh	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR
77	GTX	45	Vann's auto body	Gary Steele Bob Zulkowski Jim Gaeta	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR
78	GTX	47	Robert V. LaMay	Robert LaMay Mike Powell Eric Orberg	Ford Mustang
79	GTX	63	Charles F. Fur	Charles Pelz Wiley Doran David L. Cunningham	Chevrolet Camaro
80	GTU	70	Race car	Marion L. Speer Windle Turley Bobby Hillin Steve Anderson	Porsche 911 S.
81	GTU	75	Paul B. May	Paul May Logan Blackburn Ken McNicol	Datsun 510
82	GTO	89	Barrick Motor Racing	Turner Woodard Don Parish Dave Causey	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
GTX	Rolf Stommelen	Toine Hezemans	Peter Gregg	Porsche 935 / 77A	Overall victory
GTO	Diego Febles	Alec Poole		Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Rank 3
GTU	Dave White	Gary Mesnick	J. Dana Roehrig	Porsche 911 S.	Rank 11

Racing data

• Registered: 82
• Started: 68
• Scoring: unknown
• Race classes: 3
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: windy
• Route length: 6.180 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 24: 00: 45,400 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 680
• Total distance of the winning team: 4202.319 km
• Winner's average: 175.005 km / h
• Pole position: Danny Ongais - Porsche 935 / 77A (# 0) - 2: 00.152 = 185.259 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Rolf Stommelen - Porsche 935 / 77A (# 99) - 1: 51.845 = 198.915 km / h
• Racing series: 1st round of the 1978 World Sports Car Championship
• Racing series: 1st round of the IMSA GT series 1978

literature

• Peter Higham: The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. A complete Reference from Formula 1 to Touring Car. Guinness Publishing Ltd., London 1995, ISBN 0-85112-642-1 .

Web links

• Race results at wspr

Previous race 6 Hours of Vallelunga 1977

Sports car world championship

Successor to the 12-hour race at Sebring in 1978