Wayne Taylor Racing win Rolex 24

Wayne Taylor Racing won its record-tying third consecutive Rolex 24 at Daytona, using a new car and a new lineup to beat some of the best racers in the world.

Filipe Albuquerque held off Kamui Kobayashi and Renger van der Zande – both part of WTR’s winning teams the last two seasons and both seeking to become the first winners of three consecutive Rolex races – to give the overhauled Taylor team its fourth win in the last five years at Daytona International Speedway.

Albuquerque was challenged over the final 25 minutes by van der Zande, driving a Cadillac for Chip Ganassi Racing, until the team suffered a second tire failure with seven minutes remaining.

Kobayashi cycled into second but didn’t have enough to catch Albuquerque, who closed out the first overall victory for Acura in the prestigious twice-round-the-clock endurance race.

WTR left General Motors after 28 years at the end of last season to become a factory Acura program and the team needed every minute of the last two months to get its car ready for Daytona. Wayne Taylor replaced his entire lineup for the move to Acura and hired Albuquerque, as well as his oldest son, Ricky Taylor, Helio Castroneves and Alexander Rossi. The trio all drove the Acura the last three seasons for Team

Penske but needed new jobs when Penske closed at the end of last year.

Ricky Taylor and Castroneves, the three-time Indianapolis 500 winner, are the reigning IMSA champions and had the familiarity with the Acura to ensure the team was prepared despite no offseason testing.

It was WTR’s fourth Rolex win in five years and fifth overall, one behind Ganassi’s record six victories. The threestraight wins tie Ganassi’s mark.

It’s the first Rolex for Castroneves and Rossi. Albuquerque won in 2018 driving a Cadillac and Ricky Taylor won in a Cadillac for his father’s team in 2017.

The victory snapped a four-year winning streak for Cadillac, which got a second-place finish from an Action Express all-star car that included seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson. Kobayashi carried the load for an Action Express lineup that also included Indianapolis 500 winner Simon Pagenaud and 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller.

When Taylor switched to Acura, he released drivers van der Zande and Ryan Briscoe, and chose a new lineup with familiarity of the car. Ganassi snatched van der Zande, who was battling Kobayashi to become the first winner of three straight.

The Dutch driver closed on his former team multiple times in the final 25 minutes but couldn’t make a pass for the lead and was eliminated when his tire was punctured.

“I could see his eyes in my mirrors,” Albuquerque said of van der Zande.