By IMSA Wire Service
Wayne Taylor Racing recorded the victory in Sunday s Rolex 24 for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Daytona International Speedway. Photo: IMSA Wire Service
Filipe Albuquerque suspected something was amiss with his closest competitor near the end of the race. He was right.
Albuquerque watched in his mirrors and heard his team’s reaction over the radio Sunday when Renger van der Zande was forced to pit with a flat right rear tire with 7 minutes, 50 seconds left in the race, allowing Albuquerque to sail to victory in the 59th Rolex 24 At Daytona. The historic race opened the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.
Wayne Taylor Racing, Acura Win the Rolex 24 at Daytona
This is the first-ever win in the race for Acura. Corvette and Mercedes are winners in the GT classes. Icon SportswireGetty Images
Wayne Taylor Racing has won three Rolex 24s in a row, but none came harder than this.
As with past DPi-era Daytonas, Cadillacs were the class of today s field. All four Cadillacs entered in the race led at one point or another, and the four led the bulk of the race s first 20 hours without facing any serious competition from Acura or Mazda. WTR, of course, left Cadillac for Acura this past offseason.