Multimatic DSSV Dampers Take the Pole and Sweep the Podium at the Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (February 17th, 2012) – Multimatic Dynamic Suspensions Spool Valve (DSSV®) equipped Daytona Prototypes dominated the 50th running of the mid-winter classic Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, owning the podium at the end of the grueling 761-lap endurance race. First and third went to the numbers 60 and 6 Ford powered Rileys of Michael Shank Racing (MSR), a long term customer with considerable DSSV damper experience. Second place went to pole sitter Ryan Dalziel and the number 8 Ford/Riley of Starworks Motorsport, a team also running on DSSV dampers at Daytona.

“The new Ford powered Rileys are tremendous cars no doubt, but damper selection is absolutely critical these days if you want to run at the front of the pack.” said Steve Challis of Starworks Motorsport, the chief engineer behind the car that took pole and ultimately finished second in the grueling race. “I have had very good experience with Multimatic DSSV dampers in the past and with the use of SpecFinder™ Software, it made finding a good balance for the new Riley chassis much easier.”

“I would like to thank both Multimatic and Carl Haas Auto for providing us with such a good product”, said team owner of the winning car Michael Shank after the race “it was an integral part of our success in winning the 50th anniversary Rolex Daytona 24 Hour. We were able to transfer the basic damper valving from  last years car to the new Riley, then use the adjusters to tweak final damping characteristics to accommodate the high speed banking and the lower speed infield section.”

Both MSR and Starworks Motorsport worked independently with Multimatic’s long time North American DSSV damper distributor, Carl Haas Auto, to develop bespoke configurations for their individual programs including initial setup and valving.

Quotes:

Carl Haas

“Congratulations to Mike and his team. He has been a long time customer of ours and it’s great to see him win the biggest race of the Grand-Am season”

Larry Holt, Vice President of Multimatic Engineering

“The MSR/Starworks sweep of the Daytona podium was a pretty strong statement not only for these outstanding teams but also for Riley, Ford and Multimatic. Great chassis and outstanding engines from my good friends Bill Riley and John Maddox combined with some mechanical grip advantage throughout the 24 hours from Multimatic’s spool valve damper technology made for an unbeatable combination. My personal congratulations go to Michael for the win after coming so close in the past; his organization totally deserved it.”

Jean-Francois Chretien, Multimatic Motorsports Engineer

“The DSSV technology provides an analytically determinate, repeatable and stable damper. Coupled with the use of Multimatic’s proprietary SpecFinder™ software, the damper will duplicate the behavior of a theoretical damper model providing consistent and exact results. When you take this level of accuracy and bring it into the world of motorsports, it provides teams like Michael Shank Racing and Starworks Motorsport with the competitive edge they require to be successful. DSSV dampers have achieved great results in the world of motorsports – Red Bull Racing has won back-to-back Formula One championships using the technology, so we must be doing something right.”

For more information about Multimatic DSSV damping technology, visit www.multimatic.com or contact Alan O’Leary at Carl Haas Auto, which is the North American distributor of Multimatic DSSV dampers.

Alan O’Leary
Carl Haas Auto
500 Tower Parkway
Lincolnshire, IL 60069
P: (847) 634-8200
F: (847) 634-8208
haasautoao@aol.com

Jonathan Vinden
Director of Communications, Multimatic
85 Valleywood Drive
Markham, ON
Canada L3R 5E5
P: (905) 470 0025
jvinden@multimatic.com