Wayne Taylor Racing claimed a last-gasp victory at the 55th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, with the result decided by a late altercation between the two leading Cadillac DPi-V.R.s
A risky lunge by Ricky Taylor on the inside of race leader Filipe Albuquerque at turn one resulted in contact between the two, which resulted in Albuquerque spinning and losing the position.
Taylor, driving the #10 Cadillac DPi-V.R., held on until the end of the race to win the opening round of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship by 0.671 seconds.
Joining the 27-year-old in victory lane were Jordan Taylor, NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon, and Max Angelelli in his final professional motor race.
Albuquerque entered the final 30 minutes with a slim advantage over Taylor, following a safety car caution period that bunched up the two protagonists.
The pair of Cadillac DPis battled relentlessly throughout the season-opening contest, as the GM-run manufacturer dominated the timesheets in Prototype whilst the global-spec LMP2s hit problems.
The third-placed Visit Florida Racing Riley Mk.30 finished a lap down having led the contest briefly just after halfway.
In fourth was the best-placed Nissan-Onroak DPi entered by defending winner Extreme Speed Motorsports.
In GTLM, Ford defeated Porsche at the end of an epic race-long battle between the two manufacturers.
Dirk Müller held off a fierce charge from Patrick Pilet to give the Ford GT its second 24-hour race win and its first since Le Mans in 2016.
Müller shared the #66 car with Joey Hand and Sebastien Bourdais, while Pilet was joined by team-mates Dirk Werner and Frederic Makowiecki on the podium.
The new Porsche 911 RSR had an impressive debut showing in a closely matched GTLM field, with the sister #912 car also finishing on the lead lap.
Pilet wound up three seconds adrift of Müller at the chequered flag, with James Calado taking third in the Risi Competizione Ferrari 488.
Despite challenging during the second half of the race the lead Corvette C7.R failed to seal a spot on the podium, with Antonio Garcia settling for fourth.
The GT Daytona category was decided by a thrilling final-hour dogfight between the Land Motorsport Lamborghini, the Riley Motorsports Mercedes and the winning Alegra Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3-R.
Taking part in the Rolex 24 as a one-off, the Alegra car assumed the lead with Porsche factory driver Michael Christensen behind the wheel, who went on to beat Christopher Mies in the Lamborghini by 0.293 seconds.
Rounding off the list of class winners was the Performance Tech squad which dominated Prototype Challenge by over 20 laps.
For full Rolex 24 at Daytona results, click here.
