Dempsey Racing / Konrad Motorsport master the Rolex 24

This year’s edition of the 24 Hours of Daytona will enter the book of the teams’ history as one of the most difficult races ever. Technical problems as well as a ride through the grass offside the race track threw the team of the Austrian Franz Konrad and Hollywood star Patrick Dempsey back to the end of the field. Without a chance for the victory, but with a huge fighting spirit the crew fought back and saw the chequered flag on positions 21 and 24.

That was not what the team Dempsey Racing / Konrad Motorsport expected from the 24 Hours of Daytona. After covering promising positions in the first part of the race, the team suffered two bitter setbacks later on in a minimum of time. “At first we had a technical problem with car #27, which cost us several hours of repair in the pit”, explained team manager Franz Konrad. Right after that also the sister car had to come in for an unscheduled stop. The Swiss Rolf Ineichen went off the track trough the grass and badly damaged the front of the Porsche. “I got in the sandwich of two prototype vehicles and in order to avoid a collision I chose the way through the grass. Unfortunately that manoeuvre caused a lot of damage on the car”, so the 35-year-old.

Due to the incident, the team which covered already sixth position dropped back far to the end of the field. Especially team manager Franz Konrad regretted the two setbacks. “Our race performance was perfect. We would really have been able to fight for the victory, but that’s motor racing. One never knows what happens. However, I think our drivers were able to prove that we were on a competitive basis in Daytona. Despite the bad luck we are satisfied with the yield.”

Konrad feels also very positive about the partnership with Patrick Dempsey. “The cooperation between Dempsey Racing and Konrad Motorsport was a perfect decision. We really complement each other in the best way”, explains the Austrian. “Now we are looking forward to the next race in Sebring, which takes place in the middle of March.” The sister car, which beside others was driven by Hollywood star Patrick Dempsey, finished the race on 24th position after the technical problems during the night.