Christmas came early for Welsh international racing driver Seb Morris with a visit to Daytona International Raceway in America.
He was there last week for his first test at the wheel of the new Cadillac DPi-VR prototype run by top team Action Express Racing and which he will drive in January’s prestigious Rolex 24.
Awarded with a fully-funded prize drive in one of the world’s biggest endurance races after winning this year’s Sunoco Whelen Challenge, the 21-year-old travelled to Florida for his maiden run at the famous banked circuit which will be the venue for his first twice-round-the-clock encounter.
Getting to grips with his new environment in double-quick time, the Wrexham driver delivered an expectedly professional and assured performance as the 6.2-litre V8 Whelen Engineering backed Cadillac was put through its paces around the awesome 31-degree banked course.
Joining vastly experienced team-mates Eric Curran and Dane Cameron, the WeatherTech SportsCar Champions, and Toyota factory LMP1 driver Mike Conway, Curran actually went on to set the fastest lap of the test on the second test day, a time of 1m37.797 seconds which was a third of a second quicker than the sister Action Express car.
“It was such fun – really, really special”, said Seb, “We had a few technical issues early on day one but everything went well after that and I had about 20 or so laps in the car. When you get onto the banking for the first time, words can’t really describe what that feeling is like.
“The Cadillac is mega quick, I likened it to a World Series Formula Renault 3.5 car with the acceleration but without the aero drag so the car keeps pulling and pulling. You’re in sixth gear within 16 seconds and you look at the readout and see you’re doing 200mph, that’s something I’ve never done and one of the things I’ve always wanted to achieve ticked off the list.”
Following the Christmas and New Year break, Seb will return to Daytona for the ‘ROAR before the Rolex 24’ between Friday, 6 January, and Sunday, 8 January, where the Action Express team will compete and make final preparations for the blue riband Rolex 24 on 28 and 29 January.