Ryan Briscoe says he didn’t see the pit lane red light that threatened to cost Wayne Tayor Racing a second straight overall victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Briscoe was behind the wheel of the #10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-VR when he pitted under caution and rejoined the track while the light at the end of the pitlane was red, causing a 60-second stop-and-hold penalty, dropping the Aussie out of the lead and putting him a lap down.
“I actually left the pit box and we’re right down at the end there, so the red light is over to the left as soon as I pull out of my pit box,” Briscoe explained. “And when I pulled out, I was actually checking my mirrors to see where the competition was.”
“It’s my bad, I just didn’t see it,” he claimed.
“Thankfully, we had a couple yellows fall our way, we were able to get back on the lead lap and just go to work.”
The team recovered and retook the lead, after which Kamui Kobayashi was able to bring the car home for the team’s second consective win in the Florida endurance classic.
The team won the race with a revamped line-up after 2019 winners Fernando Alonso and Jordan Taylor were no longer driving. In their place were Briscoe and five-time Indycar champion Scott Dixon.
“I can’t explain it,” team owner Wayne Taylor said about the win.
“When they come into this little team of ours, they are just so focused, and so passionate about winning.
And unfortunately, we are really bad losers. So, when we win like this…I have got to talk about Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, van der Zande. Kobayashi – I mean, the guy is a superstar.”