Rolex 24 At Daytona: Wayne Taylor Racing Acura Leads at Halfway Point

Rolex 24 At Daytona: Wayne Taylor Racing Acura Leads at Halfway Point

By Holly Cain

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – As expected, the tight contest for the overall lead of the Rolex 24 At Daytona was as spirited 12 hours into the famed IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener as it was at the drop of the green flag. And at the midpoint of the race, a familiar name was showing the way.

Filipe Albuquerque had the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing/Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 DPi out front, holding the No. 48 Action Express/Ally Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R and Mike Rockenfeller off by less than a second with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kevin Magnussen and reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott, in the pole-winning No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac, giving chase. The top five Daytona Prototype international (DPi) were still on the lead lap – within 40 seconds of the lead in one of the most competitive runs in Rolex 24 history.

The midpoint of the Rolex 24 also served as the second juncture for points to be awarded for the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup that rewards top performers at designated stages of the four endurance races on the WeatherTech Championship schedule. The leaders after 12 hours were: the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura in the DPi class; the No. 47 Cetilar Racing Dallara in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2); the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier JS P320 in the new Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) class; the No. 4 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R in GT Le Mans (GTLM); and the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 in GT Daytona (GTD).

Flag-to-flag coverage of the iconic Rolex 24 continues throughout the night on the NBC Sports platforms. Tune in to the NBC Sports App until 6 a.m. ET. As daylight breaks in Daytona Beach, live coverage shifts to NBCSN from 6 a.m.-2 p.m. before the dramatic concluding hours are broadcast from 2-4 p.m. on NBC. The checkered flag will wave at about 3:40 p.m. The entire race streams on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold.

After a spate of early full-course cautions – four in the race’s opening three hours – the drivers settled in and there were but two yellow flags over the next nine hours. Only three of the 49 entries – all in LMP2 – had retired from the race.

The following are other highlight notes from Hours 6-12, by class:

Daytona Prototype international: Johnson’s Midnight Special

Jimmie Johnson pulled a double stint in the No. 48 Ally Racing Cadillac just after midnight. Taking over the car after co-driver Kamui Kobayashi pushed it into the overall lead, the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion held the point over his first fuel run but fell behind Renger van der Zande in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac on his second stint.

No. 5 Cadillac’s Night Turns Dark

The No. 5 Mustang Sampling/JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac, with Tristan Vautier aboard, fell from contention after tangling with Patrick Long in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R GTD entry shortly before 1 a.m. The collision happened as the cars were about to head into the infield section of the road course.

The No. 5 had been on the lead lap all race long. Vautier immediately pulled the car behind the wall and into the garage, where it remained for nearly 90 minutes as the crew effected repairs. By then it was 47 laps off the pace.

Castroneves Savoring Short Championship Moment

It took Helio Castroneves more than two decades of professional racing to earn his first season title, coming in the 2020 WeatherTech Championship with Ricky Taylor. But now that he’s only slated to drive in one series race this year, the Rolex 24, the Brazilian is intent on enjoying the moment – no matter how short the duration.

“This is the first time that I come back as defending champ,” Castroneves said after his first race stint in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura he’s sharing with Taylor, Albuquerque and Alexander Rossi. “It was really cool. I was talking with Ricky about that. It’s a pretty good feeling.”

Taylor will carry that honor all year since he is a full-season driver in the No. 10. For Castroneves, this was his only opportunity since he returns to the IndyCar Series in April.

Le Mans Prototype 2: Cetilar Racing Sneaks into Class Lead

Cetilar Racing, fielding the only Dallara chassis in the LMP2 field, charged into the class lead following a restart from a full-course caution with 13.5 hours remaining. The No. 47 Cetilar entry, featuring four Italian drivers, lurked in the shadows in the earlier hours until shooting past the front-running No. 8 Tower Motorsport ORECA LMP2 07 and No. 11 WIN Autosport ORECA that had dominated to that point.

Le Mans Prototype 3: No. 6 Muehlner Motorsports America Charges Back to Lead

The comeback story of the first half of the race was the No. 6 Muehlner Motorsports America Duqueine M30-D08. After pitting with apparent suspension damage less than 20 minutes into the race, the No. 6 that started first in LMP3 dropped as many as four laps off the pace in class.

Co-drivers Moritz Kranz, Laurents Hoerr, Kenton Koch and Stevan McAleer methodically moved the No. 6 back into contention, taking the LMP3 lead by the seventh hour and contending with the No. 74 Ligier JS P320 for the class lead. After 12 hours, the No. 74 Ligier held the point over the No. 6 Muehlner Motorsports America entry.

GT Le Mans: Corvettes Continue Setting the Pace

Five GTLM cars remained on the lead lap after 12 hours, but it was the Corvette Racing duo doing the leading. The team is trying to get back to Victory Lane at the Rolex 24 for the first time since 2016 and give the Corvette C8.R its first endurance race win.

At the race’s midpoint, the No. 4 Corvette driven by Nick Tandy held 5.894-second lead over the No. 3 Corvette being driven by Jordan Taylor.

“It’s going fairly well so far, I would say,” said Alexander Sims, co-driver of the No. 4 Corvette that’s led most of the laps. “I had my first two stints in the Corvette at Daytona, and I feel like I’m learning a lot still. Those were the first two full stints I’ve done, and I learned a lot about the evolution of the car over that stint.

“So we’re at the front of the field. It may look like it’s all under control, but we’re pushing hard and not leaving much on the table. We’re in the right position at the moment.”

GT Daytona: Night Time Is Right Time for Mercedes-AMG

The long periods of green-flag running proved most beneficial for the Mercedes-AMG and Ferrari runners in GTD. The No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 held strong to the class lead for a lengthy stretch, until the full-course caution with 13.5 hours to go.

On the restart, however, Maro Engel in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 and Mikael Grenier in the No. 75 Sun Energy 1 Mercedes quickly pulled ahead of the Ferrari and into the top two GTD spots. The battle for position remained tight between the two makes and Ferrari driver Daniel Serra was able to split the two Mercedes and move into second place just before the race’s midpoint.

Rolex 24, H12: WTR Acura holds narrow lead at halfway

Following a period of Cadillac domination courtesy of Action Express and Chip Ganassi Racing, a full-course caution period in Hour 11 - the result of Frankie Montecalvo’s Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 stopping at the Bus Stop chicane - closed up the lead battle.

At the start of the 10th hour, Ganassi had effectively taken the lead from AXR’s #48 machine as Renger van der Zande jumped NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson in the pitstop phase.

At the same time, the JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac was effectively eliminated from contention when Tristan Vautier made contact with the Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R at Turn 1, which sent the former behind the wall for lengthy repairs.

Van der Zande was some eight seconds to the good when he pitted to hand over to ex-Formula 1 star and IMSA debutant Kevin Magnussen towards the end of the hour, but the Dane’s advantage was eliminated by the onset of the caution.

The top five all pitted when the yellow flags flew, but at the restart Albuquerque - who had moved up to second before the caution after taking over the WTR Acura from Alexander Rossi - swooped around the outside of Magnussen and into the lead.

Albuquerque held the lead up until his stop at the start of Hour 12, and after coming under some pressure from Simon Pagenaud in the #48 AXR Cadillac, the Portuguese driver was half a second ahead of Rockenfeller as the clock ticked past 3.40am local time.

Magnussen was third and 12s down on the leaders, while reigning NASCAR champion Chase Elliott was running 35s off the lead in fourth in the Whelen Engineering-sponsored #31 AXR Cadillac and just ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya in the Meyer Shank Racing Acura.

The sole Mazda had clawed its way back on the lead lap thanks to the caution, but then had to pit for a new rear deck when its rear lights stopped working.

That left the RT24-P shared by Harry Tincknell, Jonathan Bomarito and Oliver Jarvis three laps down, while the JDC-Miller Cadillac was circulating 46 laps down.

LMP2: Cetilar Dallara leads the Orecas

In LMP2, the Cetilar Racing Dallara had opened up a big lead over the best of the Orecas, the Tower Motorsport by Starworks car.

Matthieu Vaxiviere had grabbed the advantage in the Tower car with a pass on the WIN Autosport Oreca of Steven Thomas, but that was negated by the caution period - which allowed the Dallara driven by Giorgio Sernagiotto to take the lead.

Sernagiotto handed over to Roberto Lacorte towards the end of the 12th hour, but the Italian was still 25s clear of Vaxiviere at the halfway mark. Christopher Mies ran third in the sole remaining DragonSpeed car, a lap behind, as the WIN car was delayed by a brake change.

In LMP3, the #74 Riley Motorsports Ligier, with Scott Andrews at the wheel, held a massive three-lap lead over the #6 Muehlner Motorsports Duqueine.

The Sean Creech Motorsports Ligier that had been in the mix was also three laps off the lead after having had to go behind the wall, with Wayne Boyd at the wheel.

GTLM: Corvette still in command

Corvette Racing maintained a 1-2 in the GT Le Mans class, with Nick Tandy in the #4 machine around six seconds clear of Jordan Taylor in the sister #3 C8.R.

Tandy took the advantage after taking over from Tommy Milner in Hour 10, and while Taylor initially stayed within a few seconds of the Corvette newcomer, his pace faded as his stint went on, falling back towards the third-placed BMW M8 GTE of Jesse Krohn.

Risi Competizione’s Ferrari 488 GTE fell to fourth in class after the caution, following a long spell in third behind the Corvettes, while the second BMW of Philipp Eng was fifth.

In GT Daytona, Maro Engel in the HTP Winward Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 held a 23s lead over Daniel Serra’s AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE at the halfway point.

Prior to the caution, the Ferrari in the hands of Simon Mann had been more than 20 seconds to the good, but the caution shuffled the order considerably, allowing Mikael Grenier to surge through into the lead in the SunEnergy1 Mercedes.

Engel made it a Mercedes 1-2 after moving up to second, before taking the lead late in Hour 11. Mann likewise passed Grenier before handing over to factory Ferrari driver Serra.

Grenier was running third ahead of Darren Turner in the Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and Zacharie Robichon in the Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Two of the leading contenders in the class dropped down the order, as the Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 lost ground with a brake change and the only surviving Vasser Sullivan Lexus lost five laps with a reported water system problem.

‘So excited to be uncomfortable’

The nerves hit Jimmie Johnson as he stood on the starting grid before the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

The seven-time NASCAR Cup champion is beginning a new chapter of his career – at 45 years old – in unfamiliar race cars. He was tabbed to start the most prestigious sports car race in America for his Action Express team, and Johnson had just one goal for his first stint in the Cadillac.

“Certainly didn’t want to break the toy in the first couple of hours,” Johnson said after driving about 70 minutes Saturday around Daytona International Speedway.

He gave the No. 48 over to teammate Simon Pagenaud and then turned to Kamui Kobayashi, the two-time reigning winner of the Rolex 24, for an animated debrief.

Jimmie Johnson, the seven-time NASCAR champion, is competing in his eighth Rolex 24 but his first in a decade. Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Johnson, a little more than two months removed as the most dominant NASCAR driver of the past two decades, has “jumped into the deep end of the pool with weights on my ankles” as he transitions into new formulas of racing. This Rolex 24 is the eighth of his career but first in a decade, and it’s a warm-up for his move to IndyCar, where he’ll be a rookie in a field stacked with drivers half his age.

His career change has made for a busy offseason of testing alongside some of the top drivers in the world, and the demands have lit a spark in Johnson. He was winless in the final three seasons of his NASCAR Cup career.

“I know the world that I’m stepping into, and I know what I walked away from and the comfort that I had there, and I’m very aware of how uncomfortable I am going to be stepping into this new arena, and it makes me feel alive,” Johnson said. “I am so excited to be uncomfortable and so excited to learn something new, so excited to drive these cars and really kind of grow as a driver and have a bunch of new experiences in life.

“It makes me feel more alive than I have in quite some time.”

The Rolex began with a healthy field of 50 cars, a strong rebound after an event-low 38 entries last season. Daytona officials said infield attendance would be limited for the event but did not release a capacity number. Campers were permitted only in motor homes, with tents banned and masks required on property.

Alegra Motorsports announced right before the race began that driver Michael de Quesada tested positive for COVID-19 and had left the speedway to self-isolate. He was replaced in the Mercedes competing in the GT Daytona class by Mike Skeen.

Otherwise, the event went on as scheduled. The midway bustled with fans visiting manufacturer displays, the Ferris wheel was up and running and many of the best road course racers in the world were eager for the twice-round-the-clock endurance event.

Johnson held his own in his first stint driving the Cadillac, and the Action Express entry, fielded in part with Hendrick Motorsports and sponsored by Ally, has a solid chance at the overall win. His team will have to contend with the full-time Action Express entry, which brought in reigning NASCAR champion Chase Elliott for his sports car debut.

Hendrick sent a handful of its employees to Daytona, including former Johnson crew chief Chad Knaus and Jeff Gordon, who was part of the Rolex-winning team in 2017 for Wayne Taylor Racing. Johnson climbed atop the pit stand after his drive to chat with both Elliott and Gordon.

Elliott seemed despondent after his first run in his first sports car race. He said he was “terrible,” “way off the pace” and “didn’t do a good job at all.”

“I need to step up for these guys the next go-around,'' he said, adding he hit the curb early in his run. “I was a little worried I damaged the underneath. Definitely can’t be doing stuff like that.”

His No. 31 Action Express entry had slipped to last in his class after the driver change between Elliott and Mike Conway. But the Cadillacs appeared to have an edge, at least according to Acura factory driver Dane Cameron. The Acura program has two DPi entries, both new to IMSA’s top series.

That includes Wayne Taylor Racing, which returned to Daytona as winner of the past two Rolex 24s, as well as three of the past four dating to Gordon’s win. But the team switched from Cadillac to Acura during the offseason and is still adjusting to the move. The transition has been eased by drivers Ricky Taylor, Helio Castroneves and Alexander Rossi, who all piloted the Acura the past three years for Team Penske.

But the Cadillacs – there are four in the seven-car DPi class – have so far been leaders of the pack. The Action Express entry with Elliott in the lineup started from the pole after winning last weekend’s qualifying race, and Chip Ganassi Racing has not shown any signs of rust after a year out of the series.

The Ganassi entry was the overall race leader a little over two hours into the race behind starter Renger van der Zande, who along with Kobayashi won two straight with WTR. Both are seeking to become the first driver to win three consecutive Rolex watches.

Ganassi, who has eight Rolex victories, is also using reigning IndyCar champion Scott Dixon and Kevin Magnussen, who moved to sports cars after seven seasons in Formula One.

As Dixon awaited his turn in the car, he marveled at the job Johnson has done over the past two months. Dixon and Johnson will be Ganassi teammates in IndyCar.

“I think a lot of people, what they see, especially on our team, is just his work ethic and he grinds out everything,” Dixon said. “He’s just trying to get up to speed as quick as possible. This probably has to be the biggest task for anybody that has ever tried going from polar opposite ends of motorsport.”

Johnson acknowledged he’s an old dog trying to learn new tricks.

“It’s been fun really challenging myself behind the wheel in an entirely new way,” Johnson said. “These high-downforce cars, it’s just a lot of fun, number one, and just a massive challenge to rewire all the things I’ve learned from driving the heavy sedans.”