Foyt Team Wins When Leaders Falter

While the winners celebrated their good fortune, Englishman Derek Bell sadly explained the problems that cost him and his teammates a victory Sunday in the Daytona SunBank 24-Hours sports car endurance race that had seemed secure until the final two hours.

The quartet of A.J. Foyt, Frenchman Bob Wollek, Al Unser and Belgian Thierry Boutsen drove a Porsche 962 prototype--virtually identical to the one driven by Bell, Al Holbert and Al Unser Jr.--to a stunning triumph at Daytona International Speedway in America’s most prestigious endurance event.

“It’s just an awful feeling,” said Bell, who watched helplessly as Wollek drove into the lead while Bell was desperately trying to restart his Porsche. “It (the victory) didn’t just slip away, it went with a dirty great fall.”

The Bell-Holbert-Unser Jr. car led from the fourth hour until just 43 minutes from the end, a total of 574 laps around the 3.56-mile, seven-turn road circuit.

But a combination of fuel flow and electrical problems turned the last two hours of the race into a nightmare.

Wollek drove the last two hours for his team, which had trailed by as much as 13 laps Saturday night and was still four laps behind going into the final two hours.

The winners, who took the lead for good on lap 681, completed 703 laps, covering 2,502.68 miles at an average speed of 104.162 m.p.h.