The 24 Hours of Daytona was a real test of endurance – it was less about all-out speed and more just making it to the tip. Times have changed, and a glance on the lap times and selection of surviving cars on the 2013 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona has turned the race right into a full day’s sprint race. This weekend’s 51st running was the best in history, with outcome coming all the way down to the ultimate lap in an exhilarating result.

Audi competed in last year’s Daytona with what it often called a development strategy. Translated, it means a corporation that has dominated endurance racing since 2000 needed to occur and learn the fine details of competing under different rules than the remainder of the realm with GT series racing. The R8 Ultras suffered from clutch and brake problems, leading to a 31st in GT Class finish for the APR Racing number 51, and 32nd for the Oryx Racing number 74. Although not quite the consequences Audi hoped for, the information gathering certainly was successful. That very same race was dominated by Porsche with 911s sweeping the GT podium.

This year, Audi hoped for a higher result. With a top qualifying position of 6th from the Alex Job Racing WeatherTech Team, they seemed a piece off the pace. Team managers again used words like learning, experience and “hoping for a terrific outcome.” Was this German modesty or was there actually fear of another, development year

A few hours after the fairway flag waved, it became clear the highest qualifying teams ran some blistering laps during qualifying that were a couple of seconds off race-pace. The Audi teams, however, were only some ticks off their qualifying times. In the course of the evening, there has been no real performance standout. Porsche, Ferrari, and Audi were all looking strong, even the Camaro of Stevenson Motorsports was looking adore it may be the dark horse within the race. The lead switched multiple times a few of the top teams. On the 12-hour mark, seven teams were at the same lap.

Not anyone realized that dawn broke, because the fog was so thick the race was run under caution for just about two hours. On the 20-hour mark, six GT cars were still at the lead lap with Magnus Racing 911 GT3 leading the sector and looking out strong. At hour 21, it was Porsche, Ferrari, Ferrari within the top three, but seven GT cars remained at the lead lap. Hours 22 and 23 showed the significance of pit-stop strategy because the lead rotated with tire change and fueling times drastically affecting track position.

In the previous few laps, it gave the look of an Audi sweep of GT with the Alex Job Racing Weather Tech car running away in first while the Rum Bum Racing and APR Racing R8s battled for second. The number 52 APR car got round the Rum Bum car within the infield and it appeared the finishing order was set. Because the number 113 Rum Bum Audi came over the banking, the unimaginable happened: the auto started to slow. The team knew it’d be all the way down to the wire and estimated a late pit stop would relegate them to a 7th place finish at best. Even coasting around the line, they still finished 7th. The number 69 AIM Racing Ferrari that had run strong all day finished at the third step of the rostrum.

Expect a more extensive study Team Audi soon.