The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX05 will start from pole position for next weekends Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona after beating off the strong challenge of the #5 JDC Miller Cadillac, Ricky Taylor having just enough at the end of the race to fend off a charging Richard Westbrook with drama coming at the start of the very last lap.
That came with the Cadillac taking a look up the inside of the Acura at T1, a touch sending the Caddy spinning, rejoining just in time to retain second ahead of a late race charge from the #48 Ally Cadillac in the hands of Kamui Kobayashi after a 100 minute race that ran full green throughout.
Early race leader the #60 MSR Acura had gambled on fuel but the caution-free race left the pink and white car unable to attack at the end but still ahead of a trio of Cadillacs with the pair of Chip Ganassi-run cars with dealt a drive-through for pitman speeding and the #31 Whelen car forced to take a splash of fuel after they took gambled mid-race.
LMP2 ended as a PR1 Mathiesen one-two with Ben Keating earning an early lead in the #52, Mikkel Jensen bringing it home 20 seconds clear of the sister #11 car. That could have been different after Rene Rast dramatically closed in on Jonathan Bomarito in the closing stages but was delayed in avoidance of the spin from Westbrook.
LMP3 saw issues and incidents throughout but was won very convincingly by the #36 Andretti Autosports Ligier, Josh Burdon coming home with over a minute’s gap to the only unlapped car in the race, the #6 Muehlner Motorsports Dugueine which started at the very back of the field. The #13 AWA Ligier took third and was the only other undulated car. The #54 CORE Autosport’s car did not take the start.
GTD saw the GTD Pro winning trio ahead of the winner in GTD. Porsches dominated almost throughout but did not take the win, and the pole – that went instead to the #63 TR3 Lamborghini after a fine late run from Mirko Bortolotti that saw him pass first Felipe Nasr in the #9 Pfaff 911 GT3 R and then Alessio Picariello in the then leading #79 Weathertech Racing Porsche.
The pole setting #2 KCMG Porsche featured in the early part of the race in a lead battle but had its race spoiled by a faulty fuel rig that delayed the car for some 30 seconds in the pits and still did not deliver enough fuel for the car to finish without a splash.
The GTD battle saw near nose-to-tail action for much of the second half of the race between the defending 2021 Rolex 24 class winners Winward Racing’s #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 and the #59 Crucial Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3. Lucas Auer had enough in hand to take the win, Paul Holton coming hone right in his wheel tracks with the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche and #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus next up in the class but behind another gaggle of GTD Pros.
Despite their recent boost in BoP the Corvettes came home 8th and 9th in class with the RLL BMW M4 GT3s 12th and 13th.
The #96 Turner BMW meanwhile had even less luck, the cr retired after suffering damage to the right front corner after contact with Tom Gamble’s #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin which also retired as a result.
