In Race 1 of the VP Racing Challenge Series meeting at Daytona International Speedway, 17-year-old Luca Mars drove from the back of the 20-car Grand Sport X (GSX) class field to take the Ford Mustang GT4’s first win in its global competition debut.
Mars was placed at the back of the grid when his #59 KOHR Motorsports Mustang GT4 failed post-qualifying scrutineering and had all of its lap times deleted, but using the strength of the Ford’s V8 motor, he gradually fought his way into podium contention.
Gregory Liefooghe in the #43 Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4 led a four-car breakaway for much of the race, ahead of polesitter Michael Cooper, Marc Miller, and Patrick Wilmot. With less than 17 minutes to go, a Full Course Yellow was called when Robbie McWilliams crashed his #22 Archangel Motorsports Aston Martin.
Mars had gotten past Wilmot and, when the race restarted with six minutes left, he’d pick his way past Cooper, then Miller, then coming out of the Le Mans Chicane on the last lap, Mars surged past Liefooghe around Speedway Turn 4 and won by 0.051 seconds.
The task was daunting but Mars was up for the challenge. “I like making passes,” he said. “I like that challenge. It was hard work because at times I had to get past four or five cars and had to be strategic. I just knew I had to be there at the end.
“I knew I had time with 45 minutes. I had to be aggressively cautious and keep the car clean. I knew we had a fast car with the new Mustang, it was hooked up. So coming into the last lap I had a draft and it was a battle to the line and the Mustang beat out the BMW.
“It’s awesome to win the car’s first race, everyone worked so hard, it’s a great feeling,” Mars added after learning of his milestone achievement. “This race gave us great feedback on the car. For the four-hour Pilot Challenge race (next week), we know we have to be faster on the longer stint tyres. But this race was good to learn the car and a great first experience.”
Ahead of that debut win for the Mustang GT4, LMP3 class polesitter Steven Aghakhani took his first win after a year’s absence from competitive driving.
But it was by no means straightforward after Alex Kirby took the lead on the opening lap, while Aghakhani slumped to third, then moved back to second after Marco Kacic slid off at turn one.
Aghakhani closed in lap by lap, but Kirby held his advantage through waves of GSX traffic. Their battle would be settled after the final restart.
Aghakhani drove his #6 MLT Motorsports Ligier JS P320 past Kirby’s #7 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier with two laps left, then drove on to win the race, 1.2s ahead of Kirby in second.
The Californian talked through his rough start to his strong finish, saying: “During the start of the race, I didn’t have the knowledge of warming up the tyres well enough, which is why Alex got the jump, he had more rear tyre and was able to get a run on me. We just kept our heads down and started clawing it back. I firmly believe I would have caught him even without the yellow.
“The pass at the end was the only big window I saw show up, I knew it was either this or second place. I made it work, we went side by side through turn two and made the pass at turn three.
“It was crazy, in 2023 I did no driving, so coming back to Daytona with a new car and new team – and we won. It’s absolutely amazing. Knowing I have that second nature of driving is a good feeling.
“The biggest thing was I got a lot of mental clarity. In 2022, my last year before I took off, was fuzzy mentally. Having that time off in 2023 I come here with a clear mind, high hopes and a clearer picture than I had then. Being with a new team, with a new car – it’s been a refresher. It’s reminded me why I loved racing.”
Cody Ware finished third in the #51 Rick Ware Racing with Ave Motorsports Ligier after spinning on the opening lap, while Kacic and his #87 FastMD Racing by Remstar Duquiene D08 recovered from the slide at turn one to finish fourth.
Images © Jake Galstad / IMSA
