By Holly Cain
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – As expected, the thrilling race for the general lead of the Rolex 24 At Daytona 12 hours after the famous season opener of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship was just as vibrant as it was at the fall of the green flag. And halfway through the race, a familiar name led the way.
Filipe Albuquerque had the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing / Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 DPi up front, with the No. 48 Action Express / Ally Racing Cadillac DPi-VR and Mike Rockenfeller behind by less than a second with Chip Ganassi’s Kevin Magnussen Racing and reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott, in the pole-winning No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac, chased. The top five Daytona Prototype International (DPi) were still on the first lap – within 40 seconds of the lead in one of the most competitive runs in Rolex 24 history.
The centerpiece of the Rolex 24 also served as the second hub for the awarding of points for the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, which rewards top performers in certain 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 all night long on the NBC Sports platforms. Tune in to the NBC Sports app until 6 p.m. ET. As daylight dawns in Daytona Beach, live coverage shifts from 6am to 2pm to NBCSN before the dramatic closing hours air from 2pm to 2pm on NBC. The checkered flag will wave at approximately 3:40 PM. The entire race will be streamed on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold.
After a series of early warnings for the full track – four in the first three hours of the race – the drivers settled in and there were only two yellow flags in the next nine hours. Only three of the 49 entries – all in LMP2 – were withdrawn from the race.
Following are other highlights from hours 6-12, per class:
Daytona Prototype International: Johnson’s Midnight Special
Jimmie Johnson drove a double stint in the No. 48 Ally Racing Cadillac just after midnight. The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion took over the car after co-driver Kamui Kobayashi pushed him into the overall lead and kept the point on his first fuel run, but got behind Renger van der Zande in the No.1 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac on his second stint .
No. 5 The night of Cadillac is getting dark
The No. 5 Mustang Sampling / JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac, with Tristan Vautier on board, dropped out of the fray after a tie with Patrick Long in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R GTD entry shortly before 1am. to enter the infield portion of the road course.
The number 5 had been on the first lap the entire race. Vautier immediately pulled the car behind the wall and into the garage, where it stood for nearly 90 minutes while the crew made repairs. By then it had been 47 laps below the pace.
Castroneves enjoys a brief championship moment
It took Helio Castroneves more than two decades of professional racing to take his first season title, with Ricky Taylor in the 2020 WeatherTech Championship. But now that he will only compete in one series race this year, the Rolex 24, the Brazilian wants enjoy the moment – however short the duration.
“This is the first time I’ve come back as the defending champion,” said Castroneves after his first race in the Konica Minolta Acura No. 10, which he shares with Taylor, Albuquerque and Alexander Rossi. ‘It was really cool. I talked about that with Ricky. It feels good. ‘
Taylor will carry that honor all year round, as he is a full season rider in the No. 10. For Castroneves, this was his only chance since returning to the IndyCar Series in April.
Le Mans Prototype 2: Cetilar Racing sneaks to class lead
Cetilar Racing, who fielded the only Dallara chassis in the LMP2 field, stormed the lead in the class after restarting a full course warning with 13.5 hours remaining. The entry with No. 47 Cetilar, with four Italian drivers, lurked in the shadows in the early hours until it shot past the leading No. 8 Tower Motorsport ORECA LMP2 07 and No. 11 WIN Autosport ORECA that dominated until then.
Le Mans Prototype 3: No. 6 Muehlner Motorsports America is counting 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 less than 20 minutes from the start of the race with apparent damage to the suspension, the No. 6 that started first in LMP3 fell a whopping four laps behind the pace in the class.
Co-drivers Moritz Kranz, Laurents Hoerr, Kenton Koch and Stevan McAleer methodically brought the No. 6 back into the fray, taking the LMP3’s lead by the seventh hour and competing with the No. 74 Ligier JS P320 for the lead in the class. After 12 hours, the Ligier No. 74 held the point above No. 6 of Muehlner Motorsports America.
GT Le Mans: Corvettes continue to set the pace
Five GTLM cars remained on the first lap after 12 hours, but it was the Corvette Racing duo that took the lead. The team is aiming to return to Victory Lane for the first time since 2016 on the Rolex 24 and deliver the Corvette C8.R its first victory in the endurance race.
In the middle of the race, the No. 4 Corvette driven by Nick Tandy had a 5.894 second lead over the No. 3 Corvette driven by Jordan Taylor.
“So far it’s been going pretty well,” said Alexander Sims, co-driver of the No. 4 Corvette who led the most laps. “I had my first two stints in the Corvette in Daytona, and I feel like I’m still learning a lot. Those were the first two full stints I did, and I learned a lot about the evolution of the car. .
“So we’re at the front of the field. It may seem like everything is under control, but we’re pushing hard and not leaving much on the table. We’re in the right place right now.”
GT Daytona: the night is the 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 the lead of the class for a long stretch, until the full course warning with 13.5 hours to go.
At the restart, Maro Engel in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 and Mikael Grenier in the No. 75 Sun Energy 1 Mercedes came quickly ahead of the Ferrari and in the top two GTD places. The battle for position remained tense between the two brands and Ferrari driver Daniel Serra was able to split the two Mercedes and move into second place just before the middle of the race.