The past weekend saw the 58th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, a race that serves as the opening round of the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the defending team Wayne Taylor Racing running the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R in the premier DPi class was successful yet again in the Daytona International Speedway classic.
Doing the driving this year were the combination of Renger Van Der Zande, Kamui Kobayashi, Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe. Together, they brought Wayne Taylor Racing its third Daytona win in the modern DPi era that started in 2017, and Cadillac's fourth.
Kobayashi was behind the wheel at the end of the race. The ex-Formula One driver finished more than a minute ahead of the No. 77 Mazda DPi of Mazda Team Joest. In third place was the Cadillac DPi of JDC Motorsports.
This year's race saw 38 teams compete, which was the smallest field to date. Nevertheless, there was plenty of action throughout, including multiple lead changes and a few harrowing moments such as when Briscoe missed the red light at the end of the pits during the race’s fourth caution, with the pit violation earning his team a 60-second penalty.
No. 24 BMW M8 GTE of BMW Team RLL at the 2020 Rolex 24 at Daytona
In the LMP2 class, victory went to the No. 81 Oreca LMP2 of Dragon Speed USA thanks to the efforts of drivers Harrison Newey, Ben Hanley, Henrik Hedman and Colin Braun.
In the GTLM class, the tightest class of the race, the No. 24 BMW M8 GTE of BMW Team RLL came out on top. Doing the driving were John Edwards, Jesse Krohn, Augusto Farfus and Chaz Mostert. The new Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs of Corvette Racing also competing in the GTLM class and sporting the new mid-engine layout of the C8 Chevy Corvette could only manage fourth and seventh place in their race debut.
And finally, in the GTD class, the No. 48 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Paul Miller Racing was victorious. Doing the driving were Andrea Caldarelli, Corey Lewis, Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow.
Teams now take a break before competition heats up again in mid-March for the 12 Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway.
