2002 Daytona 24hr

The Rolex 24-hours of Daytona ranks beneath only Le Mans in the world's classic endurance sports car races.     

 Having won the British title in the series of 60-minute races, the step into international events was an obvious progression for Sumpter. "It's what GT racing is all about, real endurance. This race is an ideal stepping-stone to where I'd like to be in the years to come. Daytona is a very challenging race, with a really strong entry," said Mark in the build up to the race. "This is a serious effort by Eurotech, the support from the sponsors is reflected in the scale of the team's operation here," he added.  

   Unlike the monsoon conditions that dogged the 2001 race, this year's event was graced by warm Florida sunshine throughout and temperatures were nudging the 80 degree mark when the number 73 Porsche took to the track for the first time on Thursday. Incidentally, the team's preferred race number of 77 was not available as that had been allocated to Hollywood legend Paul Newman for his entry into the race. He chose number 77 to reflect his age!   

 After Mike Jordan had run an initial shakedown stint on Thursday, Mark took over for his first taste of the Daytona track. As well as a technical infield complex, the circuit used for the sportscar race also included a major portion of the famous banking, where the Paragon-backed Porsche was reaching 175mph.     

Mark was soon into the groove during his quarter-hour stint, but noticed that the car was starting to move around on the banking. The problem soon became apparent when the right rear tyre blew on the next lap. Fortunately Mark kept a cool head and slowed the car down safely before easing into the pit lane with only minor damage to the bodywork.   

 The night practice session was another steep learning curve, but the experience gained in the final night race of the 2001 British GT season proved useful. "I'm getting used to the circuit and the way the car behaves. It is a totally different ball game to the sprint races I'm used to, you need to be far more disciplined and the driving is far more gruelling," Mark reported. 

 Confusion over the start time for the final qualifying session left the Eurotech team no chance of improving their grid position, so the John Guest/Paragon Porsche-backed car would start from 54th place on the 80-car grid, 15th in the 28-strong GT class.    "There are teams here with a lot of experience in endurance racing," said Mark as he looked ahead to the round-the-clock race. "But we've got a race plan coming together, we're learning fast and if we're disciplined and stick to it with some good luck, who knows?"  

 Jordan was nominated to take the first driving stint from the 1pm start on Saturday afternoon and the team's race plan soon started to bring dividends. While other Porsches in the class went at it like a sprint race, Jordan settled into a steady rhythm, and took the car into a superb fourth in class after 90 minutes, before handing over to David Warnock. Fourth driver Graeme Langford would follow Sumpter in the driver rotation.  After Warnock's 100-minute stint, Sumpter hopped aboard for his opening stint, but the first big problem was about to hit. "Out of the second hairpin, as I changed from third to fourth, the engine just spun freely," explained Sumpter." I had no drive and not much momentum, so I pulled off and waited for a tow truck. They hooked me up, but then had to wait about five minutes to get across the track. We'd lost about five laps by the time we got back to the pits." 

   The loss of drive was the result of a broken output flange and repairs took more than half an hour. Mark sat patiently in the car while the work was done and then rejoined the race to complete his stint. It was a mighty blow, but there was still 20 hours to go.  The car ran well for the next four hours, before another driveshaft problem also caused damage to brake and clutch lines. Soon into Mark's second stint he found the clutch getting worse and worse. "Within five laps, I had to hook the clutch pedal up with my foot after every gear change," explained Mark. There was nothing for it, but to change the clutch line as well as the damaged brake line. Making imperial and metric connections work took a long time and the car was stationary for nearly two hours.   

 When Mark finally rejoined, the team was dealt a further crushing blow when another driveshaft failed on his second lap. "I was in the car for hours," joked Mark. "I did get out and walk about for some of the time and about 3am I was thinking that maybe we should stop. But when Mike took the flag at 1pm on Sunday afternoon, I was glad that we'd carried on!"  Inevitably, losing so much time in the night cost them any chance of a strong finish, but simply completing the race was a fine achievement. The car ran strongly for the final eight hours to finish in 31st place, 19th in class.   Had the major delays not happened, a top four finish in class was a distinct possibility. "Of course it's frustrating when things go wrong but we finished the race and the team was fantastic," said Sumpter.  There is no doubt that this experience has given Mark and the whole team a taste of where they want to get to in motor racing.