In only two starts in the Daytona 24 Hours, Kamui Kobayashi won the race twice. This time it was the Japanese driver’s job to bring the #10 Konica Minolta-sponsored Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R to the finish, taking the chequered flag after a record-breaking 833 laps.
DAYTONA 24 HOURS | DPI PREVIEW | LMP2 PREVIEW | GTLM PREVIEW | GTD PREVIEW | CORVETTE C8.R TECH ANALYSIS | INTERVIEW NICK CATSBURG | INTERVIEW DENNIS OLSEN | INTERVIEW RENGER VAN DER ZANDE | PRE-RACE NOTEBOOK | RACE UPDATE 1: SATURDAY AFTERNOON | RACE UPDATE 2: SATURDAY NIGHT | RACE UPDATE 3: SUNDAY NIGHT | RACE UPDATE 4: SUNDAY MORNING | RACE UPDATE 5: SUNDAY FINISH | SATURDAY GALLERY | INTERVIEW JESSE KROHN
The black Cadillac started the Rolex 24 at Daytona from fifth place. Within a few hours, Kamui Kobayashi, Ryan Briscoe, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon were already duking it out with Mazda Team Joest for the lead before fully taking control of the race late on Sunday morning.
“It’s brilliant to win,” Kobayashi says. “It’s not an easy race to win. The team did a great job, Max [Angelelli, team co-owner] organized everything amazingly. The car was brilliant to drive – it’s a fantastic feeling.”
WTR bounced back from two penalties, each time coming back to the front with seeming ease. The current leader in the FIA World Endurance Championship standings attributes the car’s handling to the remarkable comebacks.
“There was no plan – I just did my best getting back to the top. It’s not easy, but you always have to push, the car is able to be pushed anyway.
“I was pretty happy to drive this car – a little bit long in the last stint, but you enjoy the moment when you can drive a good car.”
Christian Rodriguez contributed additional reporting.
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