The Rolex 24 At Daytona 2010 saw an unexpected victory of Action Express amidst a lot of weather swings and setbacks. However, 2008-2009 British Radical UK Cup champion, Derek Johnston had to settle for the tenth position in the class. Derek Johnston, who became victorious in the inaugural Sunoco Rolex 24 At Daytona challenge was mighty excited before the race started. The man was awarded $ 100,000 for taking over the winner’s position in the Rolex 24 At Daytona Driver Challenge following which he had invited attention from all corners. He also delivered an impressive performance at the Roar before the Rolex 24. Derek Johnston was being seen as one of the most potential racers and all eyes were glued on to him for winning the overall Rolex 24 At Daytona. However, destiny unfolded a different game plan, granting Derek Johnston the 10^th position in the race.

Memo Gidley, one of the Derek Johnston’s team members paced up at the beginning of the Rolex 24 At Daytona and smoothly led the first hour of the race. In the following hours, Brad Jaeger and Fabrizio Gollin maintained their pace. But soon enough they suffered major setbacks when their car was caught in mechanical problems which resulted in Fabrizio Gollin forced to give their vehicle Doran Racing #77 a visit to the pit for repairs, a visit which lasted for over 90 minutes. The gearbox of the car was changed and the rear was reassembled. By the time the car got back to the track, much damage had been done. The unstable and unpredictable weather conditions also added to the agony. The setbacks continued to take place when Derek Johnston had to get the tyre of the car changed. In spite of major problems that the team faced during the race, they stayed united and reserved a place in top ten positions in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

The Rolex 24 At Daytona was won over by Action Express team with Joao Barbosa piping Scott Pruett by mere 52.303 seconds to win the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16. The team consists of Terry Borcheller, Ryan Dalziel, Mike Rockenfeller and Joao Barbosa.

Incidentally this was 48^th Rolex 24 At Daytona championship where 48 year old Derek Johnston participated. Derek Johnston won the Sunoco Driver Challenge by bagging the most points. The race was a driver’s challenge between the series fuelled with Sunoco in UK and Europe.In his own words, Derek Johnston regarded the whole Driver’s Challenge experience as an amazing one and considered Daytona’s organizing team as friendly and welcoming. Derek Johnston’s team members Fabrizio Gollin and Memo Gidley saw him as an asset for the team after he became victorious in the Daytona 24. He won the Radical UK Cup in an SR8 as well as the European series. Derek Johnston’s fancy for wheels got a boost when he started racing motorbikes in 1993. Apparently his talents witnessed a halt after he broke his leg and wrist during his third race. After another brief break he finally took up car racing and soon became a leading name in car racing world. He has now topped that with a stupendous performance at the just concluded Rolex 24 At Daytona, the most difficult of endurance races.

Tags: Derek Johnston, Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, Memo Gidley, rolex, Rolex 24 at Daytona

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 9:10 am and is filed under Rolex Culture, Rolex Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.