Historic Sports Car Racing hosted the Classic 24 Hour at Daytona Nov 14 & 15.
Jerome Jacalone fielded a 2007 Ferrari this year co-driven by his very capable brother, Joe Jacalone.
The effort was headed up by crew chief Ken McGuire and Ferrari Master Mechanic Mike Cavallino was also on board providing technical assistance.
The activities actually began with practice on Thursday and a qualifying event on Friday.
Many classes of large and small bore cars were there, including Porsche 962s, the Greenwood Corvette, and the Huffaker Monza, and many famous drivers as well, including Dorsy Schroeder and Bobby Rahal.
The air was filled with the staccato sound of the many Porsche six cylinder engines, the awesome rumble of the various V8s, the scream of the 12 cylinder cars and finally, the whistle of the turbos thoughout the weekend.
The race was indeed for 24 Hours, although held in hour long events for each of the various classes.
The actual hours the Ferrari competed were 5-6pm and 11-12midnight on Saturday, followed by similar hours on Sunday, 5-6AM and 11-12noon.
The car ran like the proverbial swiss watch most of the weekend, requiring only routine servicing and the removal of oil from the exterior and grass and debris from the intakes (caused by the misfortunes of others) after each segment of the race. It was a very long night for the crew, with perhaps two hours of sleep total.
As mentioned, the Ferrari ran like a Lexus…until the final moments of the final stint, when it suffered an apparent engine control system malfunction.
With no time for repairs, Joe soldiered on to bring the car home at a reduced speed for the closing laps to complete the event.
Official results are not yet in, but it is believed that the car dropped from sixth to seventh or eight in it’s class.
Many thanks to Jerome and Joe Jacalone for including me in this effort, as well as the crew for sharing not only their expertise, but their friendship.
