Daytona 24 Hours: Let the racing begin!

The 2010 racing season has started. The Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and the Continental Tire Challenge were held last weekend in Florida while the first Formula One test of the season was conducted in Spain.

The Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in pictures

Here are how Canadians did in the two Florida races:

Rolex Daytona 24

Top Canadian was Mark Wilkins of Toronto, who co-drove a Ford Riley DP to fifth. Michael Valiante of Vancouver was seventh. Scott Maxwell of Toronto was 13th overall and sixth in the GT class. Paul Dalla Lana of Toronto was 15th overall and eighth in the GT class.

The Maple Leaf-adorned Team Canada – Bullet Racing's Porsche GT3, featuring Ross Bentley, Sean McIntosh and Darryl O'Young of Vancouver and Kees Nierop of Kelowna – finished 20th in the race and 13th in the class.

Dave Lacey of Toronto was 22nd overall and 14th in the GT class. Mike Forest of Edmonton was 27th in the race and 12th in the prototype class.

Continental Tire Challenge

Ken Wilden of Oakville rode a Ford Mustang GT race car to a ninth-place finish overall. Fraser Wellon of Mississauga finished 14th overall in a Porsche 997.

Benoit Theetge and Donald Theetge, of Boischatel, Que., were 27th overall but fourth in the Street Tuner (ST) class. Taylor Hacquard of Vancouver was 33rd and 10th in the ST class.

David Empringham of Toronto was 50th overall and 27th in the Grand Sport (GS) class in a Mustang Boss 302R. Gunter Schmidt of Midland was 52nd overall and 25th in the ST class. Maxwell (doing double duty) finished 56th overall and 30th in the GS class.

Andrew Danyliw of Toronto and Jamie Holtom of Ottawa were 70th overall and 33rd in the ST class. Dalla Lana was 73rd – and 38th in the GS class.

Daniel DiLeo of Uxbridge was unable to start.

The big Canadian success story was Karl Thomson's Compass360 Racing team. Lawson Aschenbach of West Palm Beach, Fla., and David Thilenius of Howell, Mich., drove the Compass360 Honda Civic SI to a 24th-place finish overall but first – No. 1 – in the Street Tuner class.

The Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in pictures

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