Wayne Taylor Racing Wins Rolex 24 Qualifying Race

The mission was more than just winning the pole position for the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

The mission was points. Thirty-five of them, to be exact.

Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque claimed the Motul Pole Award by winning Sunday’s Rolex 24 Qualifying Race at Daytona International Speedway. Their No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 finished ahead of the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac DPi-V.R, giving WTR and its other co-drivers, Will Stevens and Alexander Rossi, the pole for the 60th running of the 24-hour race that starts Jan. 29.

This is the second year that the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship has awarded points for qualifying. Last year, the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R claimed the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) championship over WTR by 11 points – the same margin it gained in qualifying points during the course of the 2021 season.

“We need to start putting points in our pockets, but our main goal now is just to get the win at Daytona,” Albuquerque said. “That’s the main thing. We take it step by step because it’s way too early to think about the championship, but we can tell that it’s going to be really close.”

Winning the pole and the accompanying points wasn’t an easy accomplishment. Taylor in the No. 10 and Richard Westbrook in the No. 5 battled nose-to-tail for the final 25 minutes of the 100-minute race that ran caution-free. On the final lap, Westbrook spun trying to pass Taylor in turn 1. He recovered to secure second place and a front-row start for the No. 5 car co-driven with Tristan Vautier, Loic Duval and Ben Keating.

Kamui Kobayashi brought the No. 48 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi V.R home third in the DPi class for co-drivers Mike Rockenfeller, Jimmie Johnson and Jose Maria Lopez.

The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura started seventh in the seven-car DPi field after a penalty for a wing angle infraction during Saturday’s qualifying session. Within 30 minutes of Sunday’s race, the car was in the lead.

“The team doesn’t miss a beat,” Ricky Taylor said. “They’re always prepared for anything. They’re such a great group of guys. That’s what separates the great teams from the not-so-great teams. When you do have a bump or a mistake, everybody knows everybody is trying their best. We don’t blame anybody for being on the edge, and they do the same with us.”

After four more practice sessions Thursday and Friday, the 61-car field will take the green flag for the Rolex 24 at 1:40 p.m. ET Saturday. NBC’s live coverage begins at 1:30 p.m.

PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports Entries Battle In LMP2

Keating and Mikkel Jensen wheeled the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07 to the Rolex 24 pole position in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class over the team’s No. 11 car co-driven by Steven Thomas and Jonathan Bomarito.

Keating overcame a slow start from the No. 1 starting position in class during Sunday’s qualifying race and lost the lead to Thomas. However, Keating rallied back and pulled away to win by 20.050 seconds.

“It wasn’t until we started passing GT cars that he got held up and gave me the opportunity to pass him,” said Keating, a co-driver for both the No. 5 Cadillac DPi and the No. 52 ORECA LMP2 in the Rolex 24. “Once I got around him, I was really able to manage the traffic very well and use it to my advantage over and over again. That’s initially what allowed me to build the gap.”

The No. 52 car, which Keating and Jensen will co-drive in the race with Scott Huffaker and Nicolas Lapierre, will start eighth overall in the race. Following the No. 11 car on the grid will be the No. 68 G-Drive Racing by APR ORECA co-driven by Rene Rast, Oliver Rasmussen Ed Jones and Francois Heriau.

Andretti Autosport Claims LMP3 Honors

Josh Burdon and Jarett Andretti combined to lap the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) field and win the class qualifying race and earn the Motul Pole Award in the No. 36 Andretti Autosport Ligier JS P320 they co-drive with Rasmus Lindh and Gabby Chaves.

“Things happened to other competitors and we just happened to run the whole race and set the pace and get through traffic right,” said Andretti, son of the late John Andretti and cousin of Andretti Autosport principal Michael Andretti. “… The (LMP3) cars are not meant to go 24 hours. If you have a problem, you have to fight through the problem and get back on track as soon as possible. … Attrition and survival is really the name of the game in this class.”

The No. 6 Muehlner Motorsports America Duqueine D08 co-driven by Moritz Kranz and Ayrton Ori finished second on Sunday. The No. 13 AWA Duqueine D08 co-driven by Kuno Wittmer and Orey Fidani finished third, where they will start in class for the Rolex 24 with co-drivers Lars Kern and Matthew Bell will start third.

“It all went to plan,” Burdon, Andretti’s co-driver, said. “It’s quite a new group they’ve assembled here. It shows we’re on the right track. We have the infrastructure and all the tools available. We have some little things to work on to be strong in the race, but overall, it’s a really good start and good momentum.”
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Patience Pays For Lamborghini In Rolex 24 GTD PRO Qualifying Race

It was only a 100-minute race, but Mirko Bortolotti remained patient in working his way toward the front in Sunday’s Rolex 24 Qualifying Race at Daytona International Speedway. Bortolotti then made the late, race-winning pass to capture GTD PRO class honors, the Motul Pole Award and the right to start up front in class at the 60th Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan 29.

Driving the No. 63 TR3 Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 after taking over for co-driver Andrea Caldarelli, Bortolotti swept past Alessio Picariello’s No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 GT3R in Turn 6 with just 14 minutes remaining and held on to win by just 0.475 seconds in a fierce tussle to the finish.

The TR3 factory-backed team is loaded with veteran talent but is new to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Bortolotti and Caldarelli will team with fellow Lamborghini drivers Marco Mapelli and Rolf Ineichen in the fabled 24-hour race.

Bortolotti said the team has a competitive and reliable package after doing “its work.” He stayed busy in the cockpit and kept the car out of harm’s way in traffic – no easy task with 60 cars racing on Sunday.

“The traffic played a big (positive) role for us and sometimes that can be the other way around,” Bortolotti said. “You can get some benefit from traffic, and I think that’s what helped pull me up to the leaders. It’s nice to get a win here, but it doesn’t mean much for next weekend.”

While the 100-minute race provided a small sample size compared to 24 hours, Caldarelli said it showed just how competitive and exciting that the Rolex 24 will be.

“This race showed it’s going to be a very, very close Rolex 24,” Caldarelli said. “It’s going to be a tough race, really, anyone can win. This was a fun race for us and all the fans out there.”

The No. 79 Porsche, which crossed the finish line second in class, was assessed a post-race time penalty equivalent to a drive-through for failing to adhere to minimum tire pressures as defined in a Michelin Technical Bulletin for the event. It moved the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Mathieu Jaminet and Felipe Nasr to second in the GTD PRO race.

A similar penalty was assessed to the No. 97 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, which had finished fourth. That promoted the sister No. 15 Proton USA Mercedes driven by Dirk Mueller and Austin Cindric to third place in the final results.

Winward Makes Win Look Easy in GTD

Russell Ward and Lucas Auer made winning the GT Daytona (GTD) portion of Sunday’s race look easy since their No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 led all but three laps. It was anything but a cakewalk, they said.

The No. 57 edged the No. 59 Crucial Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 by just 0.509 seconds, a margin that never wavered much from that over the final hour. Ward started second on the grid but quickly went to the front and held position until turning the car over to Auer on the lone pit stop. Auer kept No. 59 driver Paul Holton in his mirrors the rest of the way.

“The purpose of the Roar (test weekend and qualifying race) is to shake the dust off and get everybody up to speed, and the crew did a fantastic job getting everything ready,” Ward said. “It’s awesome to come back here and be right on pace. It gives me a feeling that we are in a really good position.

“You never know what will happen in the race (Rolex 24). You have to keep it clean. If we can do what we did in this 100-minute race for 24 hours, it will come to us naturally. It’s a really good start to the week.”

Ward and Auer will be joined by co-drivers Philip Ellis and Mikael Grenier as Winward attempts to defend its 2021 Rolex 24 GTD victory. Ward and Ellis were part of that win. Auer is a Rolex 24 rookie.

“For me, it was important to get laps in and see how the DPis and LMP2s would overtake and where I needed to position myself,” Auer said. “I tried to learn from every lap. For me, this is quite new, so I tried to learn every lap and get it home.”

The No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Ryan Hardwick and Jan Heylen finished third but also was assessed a post-race penalty equivalent to a drive-throhgh for not adhering to minimum tire pressures. It elevated the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 shared by Frankie Montecalvo and Townsend Bell to third place in GTD.

Practice for the Rolex 24 begins Thursday. Live coverage of the 24-hour race begins on NBC at 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday.