The Classic Daytona 24 paddocks are a place of chaotic wonder

We’ll be bringing you all the very best from Historic Sportscar Racing’s premier event, and it seems only sensible to begin with a tour of the paddocks – because that is the only place you can guarantee you’ll see absolutely everything that’s here this weekend.

One of the profound joys of being at any HSR event is the open-ness that the organisers have to allowing pretty much every era of sports racing car to compete in its ranks. That means that we really don’t have to wait too long before we can see some of the newest and greatest machinery in history out on track in an arena that’s a little less serious than high-level IMSA or GT World Challenge racing.

So around the paddocks this weekend we’ve found modern LMP2 cars and stonking GT3 cars, resting among Jaguar E-types, Porsche 935s and Group C cars. The sheer number of different types of motorsport here is staggering – there’s even some NASCARs. The only real rule is that must have fenders.

Of course this many cars – literally hundreds, working out of space that’s mostly occupied by half that amount at most means it’s all a little jumbled up. But let’s be honest, that just means it’s the good kind of chaos.

Photography by Pete Summers.