24 Hours of Daytona – Cadillac, WTR and BMW achieve the double

We take (almost) the same ones, and we start again! For the second consecutive year, Cadillac and Wayne Taylor Racing in DPi, and BMW in GTLM win the 24 Hours of Daytona (Florida).

However, it was not so obvious for the prototype driven by Renger Van der Zande, Kamui Kobayashi, Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe. The latter, then comfortably leading the event, ran a red light when leaving the pits and received a Stop&Go penalty less than six hours from the deadline. 

Thrown back more than a lap behind the leaders, the Cadillac then took advantage of a neutralization and the American wave-by rule to return to the same loop as the first competitor. Faster than all its rivals, the Wayne Taylor Racing team ended up taking the lead before the finish.

A Frenchman is on the podium in the general classification. This is'Olivier Pla, second alongside Oliver Jarvis and Tristan Nunez with the official Mazda DPi. 

A time able to play to win, the French Loïc duval and Sébastien Bourdais (Cadillac) finish on the last step of the podium with Joao Barbosa. Within the Penske team, simon pagenaud is fourth. 

En GTLM, le suspense a perduré jusqu’à la dernière heure, avec un dépassement crucial de l’imposante BMW M8 de John Edwards, Chaz Mostert, Augusto Farfus et Jesse Krohn sur la Porsche 911 RSR de Nick Tandy, Frédéric Makowiecki et Matt Campbell à 45 minutes de la fin.

Great pass for the lead @Jessekrohn #BMWM8GTE @Rolex24Hours@BMWUSARacing #IMSA

pic.twitter.com/BTIZ5k7P1y

— Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (@RLLracing) January 26, 2020

The German manufacturer completes the podium, ahead of the all-new Corvette C8.R of Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg. Finally, Lamborghini achieves the double in GTD, with the Sellers-Snow-Lewis-Calderelli team ahead of Lally-Mapelli-Pumpelly-Potter.

Find it in AUTO issue 2252hebdo, on sale Monday evening digitally and Wednesday on newsstands, analysis of the 24 Hours of Daytona by our special correspondent.