United Autosports declared LMP2 winner at Rolex 24 after penalty to Tower Motorsports
After a lengthy-post-race inspection found that the skid block underneath the car had exceeded the maximum allowable wear of five millimeters, As a result, Tower Motorsports and drivers John Farano, Sebastien Bourdais, Sebastian Alvarez, and Job van Uitert have been demoted to 12th and last in LMP2.
A subsequent protest by Tower Motorsports was filed and later denied by IMSA.
The No. 22 United Autosports ORECA 07 of Daniel Goldburg, Paul di Resta, Rasmus Lindh and James Allen originally finished 44.697s behind the No. 8 Tower Motorsports car, and are now elevated to first place in LMP2 and eighth place overall.
'We came to Daytona with one very clear goal and we have achieved it,' said Richard Dean, United Autosports CEO. 'To win the Rolex 24 At Daytona any year is pretty special, but to win it only a few months after celebrating victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours makes it an extra-special moment. Zak [Brown] and I would like to thank the entire team for their dedication and commitment. We can all be very proud of what we have achieved.'
'It's massive to have another 24-hour win,' said Di Resta, who also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with United in 2020. 'We've achieved the two big ones in LMP2 both with United Autosports in the No. 22… which is a very cool thing to say. It takes relentless dedication.
'We felt very hard done by on race day with the penalty — and after watching the video back, it does feel wrong. But we kept fighting, you fight all the way to the very end. It's massive for the championship — Daniel Goldburg did a remarkable lap to qualify on pole, and now with what we've achieved… it's just huge.'
'It's never the way you want to win but it feels great to win the Rolex 24 at Daytona again!' said Allen. 'I can't thank my teammates enough — Daniel, Paul and Rasmus — as well as the whole team at United Autosports USA for both the opportunity and the hard work and dedication they put into this program. I'm so happy to have shared this victory with them and wish them success for the rest of the championship!'
This is United Autosports' second 24-hour race win in the last eight months, after winning the LMP2 class at the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans. It's Allen's second LMP2 win at Daytona in three years, following his famous photo-finish victory as part of Proton Competition in 2023. Goldburg, Di Resta, and Lindh all pick up their first career IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship wins.
'The team, the drivers and I all had a similar feeling on Sunday,' Goldburg said. 'We knew we should be pleased with pole and second… but we just weren't. We had executed the race so well, made no mistakes … and then a strange penalty took us out of the fight for the lead right at the end.
'It took about 36 hours for me to come to terms with it, and I did ultimately feel pleased. Then I got the call to say we've won it! Wow. Just wow. What a start to the season.'
The No. 74 Riley ORECA is second in the revised classification, and the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports car completes the podium in LMP2.
This was not the only significant post-race penalty handed down after Sunday's finish: The No. 21 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 was moved to the rear of the GTD class (22nd) for a drive-time violation, as Stevan McAleer had driven more than the maximum four hours in a six-hour period overnight.
Story originally appeared on Racer
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