Peregrine Racing Makes Endurance Debut at Rolex 24
Daytona Beach, Fla. (February 1, 2022) — After showing class-leading pace in the early hours of the 60th Running of the Rolex 24 at DAYTONA, Peregrine Racing’s Carbahn Motorsports prepped No. 39 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO finished seventeenth in class. Thanks to selfless teamwork by the Peregrine crew after multiple unavoidable collisions, the green and black machine ran longer into the night than a host of competitors, but was ultimately unable to finish the race.
Former Rolex 24 winner Corey Lewis took the green flag for Peregrine, holding eighth place. Lewis handed the car to Sandy Mitchell in a strong fourth position for Mitchell’s first IMSA race experience. In the fourth hour of the race, the British GT3 champion took the lead and set the fastest lap at that stage. As dusk settled, a concertina effect set off by a spinning GTD Pro car ahead of Jeff Westphal led to a radiator puncture for the No. 39.
Crew members worked tirelessly through the night to get the car back on track. Despite falling nineteen laps down with seventeen hours to go, the drivers and crew soldiered onward, with Robert Megennis looking strong in his first laps for Peregrine in race conditions. Unfortunately, a rival car skidded into the back of the Peregrine Lamborghini at the bus stop chicane as nighttime ambient temperatures reached near freezing. In the early hours of Sunday morning, Peregrine made the difficult decision to retire and regroup for the upcoming enduro at Sebring where they’ll look to take their championship-contending pace to the finish.
“I am so proud of the hard work and execution by everyone at Peregrine Racing and Carbahn Motorsports that contributed to our entry in the 60th Running of the Rolex 24 at DAYTONA,” said team owner Sameer Gandhi. “With 35 GT3 cars on track, we knew it was going to be a tough, closely-contested battle. A heroic effort was required and that’s exactly what the team put forth. Everyone worked tirelessly through challenging weather conditions during testing at the Roar to deliver a car that could have contended for the win, and our drivers went out and led the Rolex. We retired due to bad luck and circumstances outside of our control, but there is no doubt in my mind that we are a championship contender. There’s lots more racing ahead of us!"
In the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge four-hour endurance race, Peregrine Racing’s Carbahn Motorsports prepped No. 93 Porsche 718 Cayman GT3 RS finished in fourth position after starting 24th on the grid. Mark Siegel put in a strong stint to open the race. An alternate pit strategy at the opening of Tom Dyer’s turn behind the wheel saw the team fall a lap down. Dyer put together an epic stint to not only get back on the lead lap, but take the overall lead of the race before pitting to hand the controls to Tyler McQuarrie. Cycling out in P6, Mcquarrie set to work closing the gap ahead, fighting door-to-door to the finish and securing fourth place.
Peregrine Racing will return to action for the second round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 19. Green flag for the 12-hour race waves at 10:40 a.m. EST on Saturday, March 19. Full coverage can be streamed on Peacock with network coverage on USA beginning at 3:30 p.m. EST. Peregrine Racing’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge campaign will resume at Sebring with the green flag for the Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 on Thursday, March 17 at 4:20 p.m. EST.
INSIGHT FROM THE GTD COCKPIT:
Robert Megennis
“As a team we should leave Daytona with our heads held high. While I'm gutted that we had to retire from the race, I think we executed so well during the Roar and the Rolex 24. Every member of the team put in 110% effort, and it really showed. We had a super fast car, and we led a decent amount of the race. We had good pit stops, and even when something went awry we rebounded quickly. I have so much confidence going into the rest of the season, and I know we will have the potential to win races this year. Thank you to Optimizely, DataRobot, Palantir, SailPoint, and every member of the team for even getting us out there and giving us the opportunity to fight up front.”
Sandy Mitchell
“We had a fantastic start to the race,” said Sandy Mitchell. “We then lost a lot of time under a series of yellow flags, which didn’t help us. That put us on the back foot again, but we still had good pace and managed to fight our way back through the field. However, there were a few more incidents in the GT class with the cars being so bunched up due to yellow flags, and unfortunately we were unavoidably caught up in one; the innocent victims, really. The car suffered a bit of front-end damage forcing Jeff to come into the pits to have the radiator replaced. That put us a number of laps down. After that, we were looking to finish the race to ensure we scored some good points in the IMSA Championship, but after another couple of small incidents the damage was getting progressively worse, so we decided to retire the car around 5 a.m. It was a shame because everyone had worked so hard. This was the first time the team ran the new Lamborghini in full race trim, and the improvements we made to the car’s pace during the pre-race practice sessions was hugely impressive. The team did a fantastic job. We proved how quick the car is by leading the GTD class at the start of the race and posting the fastest lap before the incidents. I was really happy with that. It just wasn’t our race this time round.”
Jeff Westphal
“I think the Rolex 24 showed great promise for us in terms of getting the car ready in a short amount of time,” said Jeff Westphal. “The team operated flawlessly. They knocked the pit stops out of the park. Strategically, we nailed it. We just came through the race with really terrible luck. We had contact with three different drivers, all unavoidable situations, that all required repairs to the vehicle. It’s unfortunate that the race didn’t go as we had hoped, but I think what we were able to achieve in a short amount of time with the car in the shakedown makes me optimistic and it’s positive for the rest of the year.”
Corey Lewis
“Endurance racing is always so bitter-sweet, but overall I couldn’t be more proud of the entire peregrine racing team, as we showed that we are a front-running team and that we are contenders for the top step. The crew worked tirelessly to keep us in the fight and the pit stops were very strong! It was great to work with Jeff, Rob and Sandy for the first time in full race mode! I know we can get the job done in the remaining endurance races. I’m already looking forward to Sebring in March! We are just getting started and I hope we can come home with some new hardware!”
INSIGHT FROM THE IMPC COCKPIT:
Mark Siegel
“We finished fourth in the Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Daytona,” said Mark Siegel. “It was our first race in the No. 93 Peregrine Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. To have a finish like this in a tough four-hour race is a great start to the season. The car is fantastic, the team at Carbahn has done a great job, so I’m really looking forward to the rest of the races this year.”
Tom Dyer
"I feel good about our result in the season opening race. Fourth is the best finish for the No. 93 car so everyone is pleased about that. Mark and Tyler did a great job during their stints and everyone was pleased with the new car. To come back from being a lap down to finish fourth is a great result to start the season. More to come from this squad!"
Tyler McQuarrie
“We have to be super excited for our first race in the No. 93 Peregrine Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. It was the first for a lot of crew guys. It wasn’t flawless. We had some mistakes in the pits that put us a lap down, but we just kept fighting. Mark did an awesome job in his opening stint. He did everything he had to do. I think he handed the car off to Tom in seventh. Tom just fought his way back and was flying to get us back on the lead lap. I jumped in and luckily we had some pace at the end. In our last pit stop we went with rear tires only, so the car had a little too much understeer to really fight. I thought we had a podium in the last couple of laps. We were third with one lap to-go and just got freight-trained by the BMWs. So we’re lacking a little top speed, but in the first race of 2022, we’re super excited with fourth. A big thanks to Carbahn and Peregrine and all the crew.”
