MSR’s Castroneves Leads Acura Sweep in Rolex 24

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Helio Castroneves held off Ricky Taylor to give Meyer Shank Racing overall victory in the 60th Rolex 24 at Daytona, ten years after the team’s breakthrough first win in the Florida endurance classic.

The four-time Indianapolis 500 winner took his No. 60 Acura ARX-05 across the line 3.028 seconds ahead of the Wayne Taylor Racing entry to give a 1-2 finish for the luxury automaker its second consecutive victory.

Castroneves, who scored back-to-back Rolex 24 wins, shared top honors with Simon Pagenaud and the Ohio-based team’s new-for-2022 full-season IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pairing of Oliver Jarvis and Tom Blomqvist.

The twice-around-the-clock enduro came down to a final 30-minute shootout that saw the Acuras restart first and second after both the Cadillac DPi-V.Rs from Action Express Racing and JDC-Miller Motorsports pitted for a second time while under yellow to top up on fuel.

All four DPis had exchanged the lead in the closing hours in a frantic race-long battle.

Taylor and co-drivers Filipe Albuquerque and Alexander Rossi were denied their second consecutive win and what would have been WTR’s record-setting fourth straight triumph in the race.

They shared driving duties with the team’s new Michelin Endurance Cup driver Will Stevens, who put the car two laps down after a spin and subsequent puncture in the fifth hour.

The No. 10 Konica Minolta-sponsored Acura DPi got back onto the lead lap by the ninth hour through a series of wave-bys and remained in contention throughout.

Loic Duval took the No. 5 JDC-Miller Cadillac to a third place finish, passing defending DPi champion Pipo Derani in the final 20 minutes of the race.

Duval completed the podium alongside Tristan Vautier, Richard Westbrook and Bronze-rated driver Ben Keating in their Mustang Sampling-sponsored entry.

The No. 31 Action Express Cadillac of Derani, Mike Conway and Tristan Nunez finished fourth after overcoming three night-time incidents with Nunez at the wheel.

AXR’s sister No. 48 Cadillac completed the top-five in class but finished 11th overall after losing more than 20 laps in the 13th hour due to an accident for Jimmie Johnson and an unidentified GT car.

Johnson’s Ally-sponsored Cadillac sustained right-rear damage and resulted in repairs to the floor, diffuser and suspension.

Both of the Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillacs also faced significant setbacks, with an alternator issue hitting the No. 01 entry of Sebastien Bourdais just past halfway and two fuel pump failures for the No. 02 Cadillac a few hours later.

While the No. 01 car lost more than 40 laps as it replaced the electrical wiring loom, CGR’s No. 02 Cadillac returned to action nearly 30 laps behind en route to a sixth place class finish.

All seven DPi cars had been on the lead lap at the halfway mark.

RESULTS: Rolex 24 at Daytona

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