Rolex 24 Recovery Positions Team for Strong Pursuit of Third Straight Bob Akin Award
By Tony DiZinno
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Canadian team 13 Autosport’s first race with its new name featured an unanticipated curveball at the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona. For a second straight year though, the team formerly known as AWA was one of the standout performers in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class.
On Thursday night at the end of night practice, a refueling fire created a conflagration out of the engine bay of the No. 13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R in its pit stall.
That created something of an endurance race before an endurance race for the crew, needing to work a full overnight shift at Daytona International Speedway to prepare the car to be back on-track Friday in advance of the Rolex 24 itself for final practice.
As longtime team strategist and engineering veteran Jeff Braun wrote on Instagram, “This was my 38th Daytona 24 in a row as part of a team and I am proud to say I have never been part of ‘my crew’ pulling two, 24-hour events in three days. Love each one for their dedication and friendship.”
Matt Bell, who shares the No. 13 Corvette with Orey Fidani for the full season, Lars Kern for the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup and Ben Green for the Rolex 24, added to the thanks and recovery efforts the crew did to get the car ready once more.
“It’s one where no one ever wants to be in that position,” said the Gold-rated Englishman. “Our plan actually was to skip the (Friday morning session), have an easy day for the crew, get some well rest and prep… and that plan went up literally in smoke.
“So, it was a monumental effort to get the car turned around overnight. I have to say a huge thanks to the crew. They’ve given us the opportunity to race properly. The car felt great in P3. We have the car to compete.”
Indeed they did, with their same IMSA chassis from 2025, which was pressed into action at Sebring by dint of winning the Rolex 24 in GTD in 2025. The team retired the Rolex 24 winner, moved up its intended 24 Hours of Le Mans chassis to race in IMSA, and then acquired a new Le Mans chassis which will remain as its Le Mans chassis for 2026.
But Daytona had to run first, and 13 Autosport nearly completed an ashes-to-ascension comeback to repeat in GTD, thanks to an extraordinary effort across the board.
The 13 Autosport Z06 GT3.R led the GTD race four times for 32 laps in a solid start to its full-season championship push. The team mirrored its strategy to its 2025 victory by having Fidani and Kern drive much of the race’s first half before putting in the team’s two Pro-level drivers to the end. However, a late spin dropped them off the podium to fourth. Both Bell and Fidani noted the recovery on the whole.
“I couldn’t be prouder of this crew,” Fidani said. “Everyone dug deep, worked through the night, and we showed up ready to race, that says everything about this team. We were right in the fight all weekend, and while we wanted that podium, a fourth-place finish in the biggest race of the season is still extremely rewarding.”
It’s still a strong start, ending fourth in a 21-car GTD field, and second among those with Bronze-rated drivers entered for the Bob Akin Award. Fidani is the back-to-back winner of the Bob Akin Award and as such, plans to take the 13 Autosport team back to the 24 Hours of Le Mans thanks to the IMSA-awarded invitation that goes with it.
It figures to be a deeper Bob Akin Award field in 2026, with Inception Racing’s No. 70 Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO joined by class returnees and/or newcomers DragonSpeed (No. 81 Corvette Z06 GT3.R) and Myers Riley Motorsports (No. 16 Ford Mustang GT3) set to run a full campaign. Gradient Racing’s No. 66 Ford, Magnus Racing’s No. 44 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo and the Nos. 912 Manthey and 123 Muehlner Motorsports America Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) also ran as Bronze-rated entries within GTD at the Rolex 24.
With at least four full-season and potentially more Bob Akin Award-rated entries in some 2026 events, it expands what was largely a two-horse race in 2025. As Bell explained, the goal is more than just that award for Fidani this year.
“We welcome the competition; it’s great to have people chasing you,” Bell said. “The Akin thing is funny, because the further up you finish, it takes care of itself. There’s different strategies to do with the Endurance Cup, winning that. But if you focus on being in win contention in GTD in WeatherTech, you automatically score well in the Akin. The focus isn’t on Akin, but it is, if that makes sense.”
Bell, of course, had a heart-in-mouth moment to cap off 2025 at Motul Petit Le Mans when Fidani carved his way through a multi-car incident on the opening lap which eliminated Brendan Iribe of Inception, the team’s closest competitor, from the honors.
“Brendan and the Inception guys have given us phenomenal competition,” Bell said. “We wanted a harder race at Petit. We were devastated to see how they went out; not their fault at all. But we were equally happy with the outcome.
“It was a bit of a nerve-wracking moment! Orey did a phenomenal job to avoid it. It’s intense competition. But it’s the best series in the world, IMSA. I say it every year. And that went our way, not theirs.”
The strong opening salvo from 13 Autosport has again positioned it well for both the Bob Akin Award and a higher GTD finish itself, and as Bell explained, the vibes are strong heading into the rest of the campaign starting with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
“It was the right time to come to an agreement with Andrew (Wojteczko) for Orey to take ownership of the team and kick it all onto the next level,” Bell explained. “It’ll help us kick it all onto the next level. We’re bolstering, improving and making it our own. Orey’s already made significant investment which is phenomenal to see. And we’re all proud of it to defend the title.
“I’ve been so impressed with the whole team coming back with this bit of confidence. Speaking to the engineers, crew chief and more, we’re amazed and happy at where we’ve been but equally determined to do things all better. Everyone’s not resting on their laurels and we want to take it up a notch.”