DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — After all Brad Pitt is on the Rolex 24 at Daytona, probably the most prestigious endurance race in the US.
The actor just isn’t at Daytona International Speedway as a fan though. He’s actually on course filming scenes for his yet-to-be-titled Formula One movie, and the storyline comprises an arc wherein Pitt, an aging driver, has returned to sports automobile racing.
His presence has been a little bit of a headache to lots of the other drivers in the sphere, mainly due to heavy security at the motive force motorhome lot, where Pitt has a spot for his downtime during filming. IndyCar driver Scott McLaughlin complained he was denied access to his motorhome because he wasn’t carrying his credential for entry — an unusual rejection for an athlete clearly in uniform coming directly from the racecar.
NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace, a daily within the Daytona infield lot, said he’s been bumped to an overflow lot, same for lots of the top drivers within the race. Amongst them? Former F1 champion Jenson Button and IndyCar driver Colton Herta, who wondered if he should ask Pitt for advice on easy methods to make it into F1.
They’ve all complained that the filming scenes have kept them awake at night as shooting begins long after the track has been cleared of the particular Rolex 24 practices. A filming session requires at the least six cars on course at a time.
Amongst them are three identically prepared Porsche 911 GT3’s painted because the actual movie automobile. The cars are also equivalent to the Wright Motorsports entry that may actually race within the twice-round-the-clock event that begins Saturday.
The opposite cars on course are a Mercedes and a BMW which were described as “non-descript cars looking like they’re racing,” in addition to a 1999 Lola V8 that’s the official “camera vehicle” and rumbles loud enough to sound like a stock automobile and keep the drivers awake.
Herta and Button each complained the filming has woken them up this week. Button had a practical view concerning the disruptions.
“This race goes to be super cool and the shortage of sleep is the one issue, but I’m within the low-cost seats,” Button said. “I believe we’re doing OK. We have an enormous race coming up and Brad Pitt is playing an element within the event.”
Jerry Bruckheimer, who also produced “Days of Thunder,” is producing this F1 movie. Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton is each a producer and technical adviser, and the director is Joseph Kosinski, who directed “Top Gun: Maverick.”
It’s due for release in summer 2025.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
This Article First Appeared At www.autoblog.com
