Pulling an All-Nighter: Prepping for the Grind of the Rolex 24 - Speedway Digest

By John Oreovicz

IMSA Wire Service

There inevitably comes a time in nearly every sports car driver’s career when they face the prospect of competing in their first 24-hour race. And what a daunting prospect that must be, both physically and mentally.

It’s hard enough for a driver to stay fresh and keep a race car in one piece through a two- or three-hour sprint race. Imagine keeping all those factors operating smoothly while racing twice around the clock. At the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the season opener for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, more half of the 24 hours will be run in darkness. Fatigue can be every bit as fierce an opponent as the competitors on the track.

Are there steps a driver can take to prepare for the Rolex 24, or the four other races of six hours or longer that make up the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup? Sandy Mitchell thinks so. This will be the second Rolex 24 start for Mitchell, who serves as the endurance driver for Forte Racing in the No. 78 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 alongside full-season co-pilots Misha Goikhberg and Loris Spinelli. It will be the third 24-hour race of Mitchell’s career. He’s taken what he learned at Daytona in 2022 and the 2023 Spa 24 Hours to prepare for this year’s campaign.

“The physical training can be a bit different in the offseason if you know you’re going into quite a full-on season with endurance racing,” Mitchell said. “But a big part of endurance racing is the kind of mental switch. You still have to get your elbows out and be aggressive on all those restarts, but equally, it’s about keeping the car in one piece.

“The race is so long; if you get some damage that costs you a couple tenths of a second (per lap), that might be OK in a sprint race but it can add up to laps in the endurance races. So, the mental switch may be bigger than the physical, and of course on the actual race weekend, you’ve really got to look after yourself.”

Brabham Relying on ‘Secret Sleeping Talent’

Matt Brabham, grandson of three-time Formula 1 World Champion Jack Brabham, has emerged as one of the world’s most versatile racers, driving anything from Indy cars to Formula E to stadium super trucks. Surprisingly, he has competed in only one round-the-clock endurance race – the 25 Hours of Thunderhill.

For his first attempt at the Rolex 24, or any WeatherTech Championship race for that matter, Brabham is sharing the distinctive No. 99 AO Racing ORECA 07 known as “Spike” with PJ Hyett, Paul-Loup Chatin and Alex Quinn in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class.

“I think I just try to prepare for everything the same, but for this race, I’ve been doing a lot more iRacing, because I wanted to get used to the traffic,” Brabham revealed. “iRacing is so good for that because they have all the IMSA classes online, so I’ve been doing all those IMSA races to figure out where people generally pass, where the traffic is bad and how GT cars are in terms of the closing rates. Obviously, LMP2 is like a middle class in terms of speed, so it’s about looking in the mirror, making sure you don’t turn down on the GTP cars, while also getting around the GT cars as well.”

Prior to an endurance race, teams generally work out a preferred timeline for their lineup, so drivers will generally know if they will be expected to handle a significant portion of the overnight shift. That hasn’t been determined yet for Brabham, but he’s not concerned.

“My secret talent is being able to sleep in the most crazy conditions,” he said. “I sleep on airplanes the whole way to Australia. There was an earthquake when I was racing at Sonoma a few years ago and I slept through the entire thing and had zero idea. When I did the 25 Hours of Thunderhill, I would be sleeping in the motorhome and they had to come and wake me up for my stint. So I’m hoping that talent transfers to this race and I can just sleep whenever and be fresh whenever I get in the car.”

Mitchell noted that if a driver knows he’ll be asked to drive in the wee hours, they can adjust their body clock the way travelers sometimes modify their bedtime to prepare for a trip to a faraway time zone.

“You can always alter your sleeping pattern for maybe the two or three days beforehand – going to bed earlier or getting up earlier, things like that, or vice versa – and getting a little rest in the afternoon can be quite good so that you still have a bit of energy going into the nighttime,” he said. “I find that’s something you worry about before the weekend, but once you get into the race, you just have to go with the flow and be able to be a little bit dynamic because the plan can always change.”

Zilisch Believes Youth Is on His Side

Connor Zilisch is tackling his very first 24-hour race, teaming with Dwight Merriman, Ryan Dalziel and Christian Rasmussen in the No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA in the LMP2 class. Although he recently signed a NASCAR driver development deal with Trackhouse Racing, the youngster claims sports car roots and is eager to hone his craft in this year’s five Michelin Endurance Cup events.

“Running the Rolex 24 is making my childhood dream come true, but mostly, I’m just trying to be a sponge and soak up everything,” Zilisch said. “I’ve got some really experienced teammates, so I’ve been listening to what they are saying. They know the ins and outs of it. Asking questions, and not being afraid to ask questions is one of the big things for me coming into this – not being shy. I want to be a better driver when I get to Sebring than I was here.”

Zilisch said he is not worried about the prospect of being asked to drive in the middle of the night or take the dawn shift.

“I feel like as a 17-year-old kid, if that’s what I’m worried about, I’ve got issues,” he said, laughing. “I feel like on that side of things, I’m looking pretty good. I work out a lot, so I don’t think that will be a big issue for me – at least I hope not, knock on wood. Late model races end at midnight, and I can’t go to sleep until 2 or 3 a.m. It’s tough to switch off when you have that adrenaline pumping through you.”

Indeed, excess adrenaline is not what drivers crave when they need to catch a bit of rest for their next stint. It’s surely difficult to switch off back in the motorhome to recharge after a hectic couple hours on the track.

“The best bit of advice that helped me was whenever I’m not in the car, I try to watch the race the least amount possible,” Mitchell said. “Ultimately, the only thing I can do to really change the outcome of the race is do the best job I can when I’m in the car. So if I’m not in the car, I try and just get my feet up or do something else that’s not related to racing. Take my mind out of it to kind of let the adrenaline come out of the body and get a little bit of rest – and then, of course, get fired back up before you get in the car.

“The more rested and ready to go you are, the better job you’re going to do in those next two or three hours in the car.”

The 62nd Rolex 24 gets underway Saturday, with live coverage starting at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBC. NBC Sports has complete coverage on its platforms, with the end of the race also airing on NBC from noon-2 p.m. Sunday.