Alonso Set to Join Kobayashi in WTR Cadillac DPi for Rolex 24

Photo: United Autosports

Fernando Alonso is set for his second consecutive Rolex 24 at Daytona appearance, with the Spaniard poised to join Wayne Taylor Racing alongside Kamui Kobayashi for January’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opener.

Multiple sources have confirmed to Sportscar365 that the two Toyota Gazoo Racing LMP1 drivers are finalizing plans to join the the 2017 Prototype championship-winning squad alongside its returning full-season lineup of Jordan Taylor and Renger van der Zande in the No. 10 Cadillac DPi-V.R.

When reached by Sportscar365, team owner Wayne Taylor insisted no contracts have been finalized, although an announcement on its lineup is set for Wednesday.

“I have five drivers I’m working with on contracts,” Taylor told Sportscar365.

Alonso, who made his sports car racing debut at Daytona this year in one of United Autosports’ Ligier JS P217 Gibsons, recently revealed that a return to the Florida endurance classic is among the races on his radar for next year.

The two-time Formula 1 world champion, who took part in his final F1 race last weekend in Abu Dhabi, currently only has the three remaining FIA World Endurance Championship races of the 2018-19 season with Toyota and the Indianapolis 500 on his calendar.

“The [Rolex 24] itself is challenging and the way that in America, the way they race with the safety cars and try to keep the race close until the last couple of hours,” Alonso told Sportscar365 earlier this month in Shanghai.

“I think it’s quite fun to do. It’s in the middle of January with the weather in Miami in Florida, so it has some attractive things.”

Kobayashi, meanwhile, would make his IMSA debut, in a deal that’s understood to be heavily favored by Japan-based Konica Minolta, the team’s primary sponsor.

The powerhouse team would boast one of the highest-profile driver lineups in the race’s modern era.  

WTR gave Cadillac its maiden victory in DPi competition at Daytona in 2017 with the lineup of Jordan and Ricky Taylor, Max Angelelli and NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon, who came out of retirement for the one-off race.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John