The Rolex Sports Car Series trophy has been one of the most coveted awards in the history of racing not only because of the level of competition involved, but also due to the trophy’s design. This year the champions will have a new motivation as the more meticulously designed trophy has been unveiled. The champions of 2011 will be awarded with the new Rolex Sports Car Series Perpetual Trophy. The trophy was unveiled at the Daytona International Speedway on the 29th of January. The unveiling ceremony took place amidst enthused drivers and teams right before the Rolex 24 At Daytona was flagged off. Since the trophy was designed by Steuben Glass, the ceremony was attended by officials from the glass design company, besides those from GRAND-AM.

The sculpture has been specially commissioned in order to celebrate the Daytona Prototype champions of the Rolex Sports Car Series. Eric Hilton is the master designer behind the more elaborately designed perpetual trophy. He is a 35 year veteran with Steuben Glass and has various other grand works to his credit. Steuben Glass can also be credited with the design of the Jim Trueman and Bob Akins Awards. The awards are essentially presented to the topmost Pro-Am drivers in the Rolex Sports Car Series. The other coveted trophy designed by the glass company includes the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen trophy.

Talking about being given the opportunity to design the trophy, Jeffrey Brenner, the Director of Special Markets and Special Commissions at Steuben Glass commented that the company was extremely proud of its partnership with the prestigious GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and that it was thought worthy of being a part of the introduction of the perpetual trophy. He added that the company appreciated the synergy created by the association of these iconic American brands. Eric Hilton went on to state that it was a very complex design he had executed and that he created the design after a thorough consultation with many people at the GRAND-AM. He further stated that the trophy represented a vision of precision and teamwork, the two cornerstones upon which the entire Rolex Sports Car Series runs. He went on to add that the major sculpture also employed many of the elements that the glass company is celebrated for.
The New Rolex Series Perpetual Trophy was unveiled by the defending champions, Scott Pruett and Max Papis. The trophy will be on display at the GRAND-AM headquarters that are situated at the Daytona Beach. The one-of-a-kind trophy will be presented as part of the 2011 annual year-end awards ceremony. The designing company, Steuben Glass is known for its extraordinary range of crystal that is made keeping in mind a variety of tastes, just as the Rolex timepieces that are crafted to suit the most refined of tastes. Steuben Glass has made its mark in the glass design industry over the past century by balancing advanced technologies and traditional glassmaking techniques Together the brands will be recognizing the endurance and skills of the participants of the 2011 Rolex Sports Car Series with the stunning trophy.

Day five of the 2011 Rolex Miami OCR opened up to winds making up for lost time and races being concluded. The weather conditions helped organizers wrap up races that could not be held due to a drop in winds on day four. The brisk northwesterly breeze made for the determination of medals in three Paralympic classes on Friday. On the other hand, ten of the Olympic classes were able to fight it out on the waves for a right to compete in the Medal Races to be held on Saturday. The Medal Races include the Finals as well as the top ten in each class along with Petit Finals for the Elliot 6m which happens to be women’s match racing.

Winning gold in the 2.4mR class was the World Champion from France, Damien Seguin. He is currently ranked as the World No. 1 and has twice been a 2.4mR IFDS World Champion. Though the talented sailor had maintained his lead from day two, grabbing the gold did not come easily. On day five Damien Seguin was following John Ruf in the first race of the day. He was ultimately declared the winner when John Ruf was disqualified for beginning prematurely in the race and was not able to exonerate himself. Damien Seguin was, however, very calm as he explained that he only needed to loosely cover Thierry Schmitter and simply finish better than sixth. Theirry Schmitter ended up taking the second spot and winning the silver. Taking home the bronze was Allan Leibel from Canada.

In the Sonar Class, John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas from Great Britain took the top position and gold. This tale too was not without its twists, as Udo Hessels, Mischa Rossen and Marcel Van de veen from Denmark were in the lead for the first two races. However, the Dutch team did not compete in the third and final race. Commenting upon the sudden withdrawal of the team and his subsequent win John Robertson stated that since there were only two points between his team and the Dutch, nobody would ever know now how the finals would have played out. John Robertson’s team posted a final score of 30 as against a 36 posted by the silver medalists from France, namely Bruno Jourden, Eric Flaguel and Nicolas Vimont Vicary. The Dutch team of Udo Hessels, Mischa Rossen and Marcel Van de veen had to settle for a bronze.

In the Paralympic Skud 18 class, the leaders from day one, Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch won with a score of 1-1-2 and six victories in nine races. Dan Fitzgibbon stated that though it wasn’t an easy feat, they were quite confident as they were comfortably ahead. The second place and silver was bagged by the American duo of Scott Whitman and Julia Dorsett from the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics. Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell of Great Britain took the bronze in the Paralympic Skud 18 class. The results of the finals of the Rolex Miami OCR are eagerly awaited by the rest of the teams.

The Grand Marshall dinner made for an exciting prelude to the Rolex 24 At Daytona in its signature traditional ceremonial fashion. The dinner was held at Daytona, USA on the 28th of January. The highlight of the dinner was the presentation of the Rolex Bob Snodgrass Award for Excellence. On the first annual presentation of the award, Bob Stallings, owner of GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing was chosen as the privileged recipient. The award has been instituted in the cherished memory of Bob Snodgrass. It has been created to recognize and honor such team owners and managers who have demonstrated all three qualities, namely integrity, real passion for the sport and a genuine love of cars. Bob Snodgrass was known to exemplify all three qualities during his life and career.

The 2010 Rolex Bob Snodgrass Award for Excellence was bestowed upon Bob Snodgrass after a panel of highly acclaimed motorsports professionals short-listed four of the most successful and celebrated team owners, who had participated in the 2010 Rolex Sports Car Series. Hurley Haywood, one of the panelists went on to state that it was an extremely tough decision since all the nominees were outstanding candidates in their own right. He further stated that all of them had put together top performing teams in the Daytona Prototype class for the 2010 season. However, he added that Bob Stallings was unanimously considered one team owner who aptly mirrored the qualities that Bob Snodgrass was best known for, as even though his team only had one victory in the 2010 season along with seven top 5 and eleven top 10 finishes, he constantly endeavored to be a successful businessman off the tracks as well as a winning team owner on them.

Expressing his gratitude, Bob Stallings stated that he was truly humbled by the award. He added that he got to know the late Bob Snodgrass only a few years before his death and that he was a fantastic human being. He stated that Bob Snodgrass did give him guidance every now and then and was one such owner worth emulating. Bob Snodgrass, the president of Brumos Racing passed away in 2007. As team owner, Bob Snodgrass holds the credit of three out of eight wins by the team at the Rolex 24 At Daytona. He was famous not only for his wit and humor, but also as an accomplished vintage car racer and being instrumental to the entry of the Brumos team into motorsports.

Bob Stallings on the other hand is known to be a workaholic. He has seen tremendous success previously in the fields of commercial banking and finance. His journey into motorsports began with a gift from his wife which included spending four days at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. This unlocked a new passion for the businessman and it took him only three years to make it to the winner’s circle after which he founded the GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing team in 2004. In the year 2006, he replaced himself from the team in order for it to fulfill its championship potential. The year 2007 has so far been the best year for the team as it bagged seven wins, 10 poles and various qualifying and race lap records at the Rolex Sports Car Series.

Prior to the Rolex 24 at Daytona, a legendary racer was honored for his exemplary contributions to motorsports. The Road Racing Drivers Club named Augie Pabst as the recipient of the 2010 Bob Akin Award. The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America describes Augie Pabst as “one of the fastest, most charismatic and popular drivers in his day”. He will be later inducted to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. Augie Pabst was presented with this award at a dinner before the running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona which is the season opener for the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series.

This award is considered as the top award in motorsports for vintage/historic, amateur or semi-professional drivers. The recipients of this honor are selected by Akin’s son Bobby, Brian Redman and Archie Urciuoli who are the members of Road Racing Drivers Club, and approved by RRDC president Bobby Rahal. This distinctive trophy was conceived by the RRDC in honor of their past president and long time member Bob Akin. Designed by Steuben Glass, this trophy is given to extraordinary racers, who have contributed to the sport of motor racing, have a passion for motorsports and automobiles and who share a high level of sportsmanship and fair play. Archie Urciuoli, Akin and Rahal presented this prestigious award to Augie Pabst. Talking to the media Rahal said that he got to know Bob Akin when he first drove with him in 1979 and then 1980. According to him Bob represented a true motor sports racer and was a respected figure in the sport. Unfortunately they lost him in an accident in 2002.

Augie Pabst comes from the family that founded Pabst Brewing Company in 1844. His racing career spanned across ten years from 1956 to 1966. He resides with his wife in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin and considers the historic Road America in Elkhart Lake as his home track. He has won the 1959 USAC Road Racing Championship and the SCCA B-Modified Championship in 1960. He was regarded as one of the most versatile racers in the late ’50s and early ’60s. His success came from driving the legendary Meister Brauser Scarab. He retired in the early 1966 but he still drives his car in vintage car competitions.

Talking about how he felt with the award, he said that he was honored and humbled. He remembered Bob Akin as a remarkable driver, a great person and a great sportsman. His contribution to professional and vintage racing is outstanding. He recalls how they had fun together in vintage racing in the nineties. Bob Akin raced his Cooper with his Scarab. In the beginning the Scarab was faster but with years passing the Cooper would go past the Scarab.

Sam Posey, Charlie Gibson, John Fitch, Jim Haynes, Cameron Argetsinger, Jim Downing and Steve Earle are the past recipients of the prestigious Bob Akin award.

Biscayne Bay continued to disappoint sailors as the fourth day of the 2011 Rolex Miami OCR saw even lighter and more inconsistent winds. With only one day left to go for the conclusion of the regatta, nine out of the 13 events on schedule had to be wrapped in spite of the weather conditions. While the Olympic classes still had one day to change the course of the regatta by pulling off last minute moves and securing a spot in the final medal races, the three Paralympic classes did not enjoy such a liberty. And though the winds were too light for comfort, both the Gold as well as the Repechage groups went on to complete their quarter final round-robin matches to establish who would stand in the face off in the semi finals.

Ruling the Gold class were Lucy MacGregor, Mary Rook and Kate MacGregor from Great Britain as they posted a score of 4-1. Following closely were Ekaterina Skudina, Elena Syuzeva and Irina Lotsmanova with a score of 3-2. Talking about the race, Lucy MacGregor stated that she felt they still had a few areas that needed improvement. She further stated that barring the starting she was really confident about her performance on the waters. She added that while they could do with stronger starts, they were in fact sailing better than anyone else on the course and if they could get the starts right they would be really good. Talking about the absence of her usual middle crew Annie Lush, Lucy MacGregor stated that the talented sailor had met with an accident five days before the event was about to begin. Annie Lush had fallen of the boat while it was on land. She added that in her absence the crew was trying to get their communication right and learn quickly with Mary Rook joining in at the last minute.

Lucy MacGregor’s team will be facing off the New Zealand team that finished second in the Repechage. The team includes Stephanie Hazard, Susannah Pyatt and Jenna Hansen. The other teams that have secured themselves a spot in the semi finals include Anna Tunnicliffe’s all American crew, Silja Lehtinen’s Finnish squad and Nicky Souter’s Aussie lineup. In case of the Stars class, the Brazilian duo of Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada posted a score of 11-12 on the scoreboard in spite of breezes as low as four knots. Robert Schiedt went on to state that while their score was not one of the best, a lot of other top players did even worse. He added that in fact they barely survived the day as they sailed a bit too conservatively and ended up missing a few critical decisions. Xavier Rohart from France had been making a slow recovery from his biking accident; however, he managed to secure a second place after the two races on Thursday, which was nothing less than a feat in itself. With so many upsets and turning around of scores it would be interesting to watch how the finale of the 2011 Rolex Miami OCR unfolds on the 29th.