It’s hard to attend the Rolex 24 - aka the Daytona 24 hours - and not begin drawing comparisons with Le Mans. It is, after all, a bunch of prototype and GT racers going hammer-and-tongs for 24 hours on circuit, with a festival atmosphere among the crowd.

But while there are similarities in abundance, Daytona feels very much its own thing. It’s much tighter, for a start, with no need to stray into the woods to get close up glimpses of the cars in action. The infield camping sections are also filled with expensive RVs, rather than scruffy stag dos.

It’s also wonderfully American, with the national anthem belted out before race start (2:40pm EST on Saturday) and a hot dog stand never more than 30 seconds way. You can read what happened at the 2016 Rolex 24 here, but for now, let us take you on a pictorial tour of the race, starting with a Dodge Viper and Lamborghini Huracan LOUDLY duelling it out on the exceedingly steep Daytona banking…

Picture: Nathan Deremer