The road racing circuit kicked off in style this weekend with the Daytona 24 Hours. With close racing throughout the field, the race was an instant classic. What also made it a historic occasion was that the race was won for the first time by an LMP2 car; the Ligier JS P2 Honda entered by Extreme Speed Motorsports. Built and designed by by Onroak Automotive, the JS P2 has been at the sharp end of the LMP2 field since its introduction at Le Mans back in 2014. A spirited drive by Daytona debutant Pipo Derani helped the ESM Ligier JS P2 score the type's first ever outright victory.
Over the weekend, the auction season also kicked off and the sales were topped by this Mercedes-Benz 540 K Spezial Roadster sold by RM Sotheby's for $9.9 million and this Ferrari 166 MM Touring Berlinetta that found a new owner at the Gooding sale for close to $6.5 million.
There is little time to take stock as Paris will host further auctions from Wednesday as part of the Retromobile week. Ferraris once again look set to set centre stage with most of the headlines grabbed by the Pierre Bardinon 335 S that has been consigned to Artcurial auction with a pre-sale estimate of Euro 28-32 million. Also part of the same sale is the very last 250 GT SWB built, which is expected to sell for around Euro 10 million. The RM Sotheby's Paris Auction has this, the very first 400 Superamerica S2 as one of the highlights. Originally shown at the 1962 Earls Court Motor Show, it looks set to sell for Euro 3-3.3 million.
Hyundai meanwhile have released the first images and details of the i20 R5. Based on the recently introduced World Rally Car, it is due to compete in national and continental championships.

Enjoy the links:

Auctions: Top 25 results 2016 - Ultimatecarpage.com

1962 - 1964 Ferrari 400 Superamerica S2 Pininfarina Aerodinamico - Images, Specifications and Information

1960 - 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta - Images, Specifications and Information

2016 Hyundai i20 R5 - Images, Specifications and Information

2014 Ligier JS P2 Honda - Images, Specifications and Information