ROLEX 24 POST RACE REPORT
The Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing pair of V-Series.R GTP teams arrived at the 24-hour challenge determined to claim their spot at the top of the podium. Louis Delétraz and the No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R GTP started on the front row from second position with teammate, Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R GTP rolling off from sixth.
For the second year in a row, Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing kickstarted the 2026 season at the crown jewel of the IMSA calendar, the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing pair of V-Series.R GTP teams arrived at the 24-hour challenge determined to claim their spot at the top of the podium. Louis Delétraz and the No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R GTP started on the front row from second position with teammate, Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R GTP rolling off from sixth.
At the drop of the green flag, Delétraz and Albuquerque were eager to settle into a rhythm right off the back. In their early stints, both teams worked on finding a sustainable pace as well as managing their tires and position for long-term success throughout the 24-hour race. Ricky Taylor, No. 10 Cadillac WTR full season co-driver, and Jordan Taylor, No. 40 full season co-driver, took over for their first stints behind the wheel. Multiple cautions in the opening hours allowed for the GTP field to stay within a relative distance to one another and saw many on similar strategies, including both Cadillac WTR teams. After both Taylors completed their respective stints on track, Will Stevens and Colton Herta were up next to handle driving duties.
During the driver pitstop with the No. 10 Cadillac WTR team, the crew noticed an issue with their airjack that needed to be addressed. Once the team recognized the issue, the next pitstop, luckily under caution, allowed for the team to repair the airjack and return on track without losing any track positions. As the field restarted under the lights, Stevens and Herta started making headway on track. Near 1 a.m. ET, a caution flag flew due to a dense fog that limited visibility over Daytona International Speedway. Not anticipating a six-and-a-half hour long caution (the longest in IMSA and Rolex 24 at Daytona history), the overnight hours turned into a strategy game of tires, energy and driver changes amongst all teams.
The field finally restarted after 7 a.m. ET and it was refreshing to all teams to return back to green flag action. Thankfully after that long caution, it was all action-packed racing for the final hours on the clock. Both the No. 10 and No. 40 Cadillac WTR teams found themselves in the top five to six positions on track, even leading during pitstop sequences. Once the fog officially burned off, the track and ambient temperatures increased to some of the warmest of the weekend. The heat then began to challenge both the No. 10 and No. 40 teams to be strategic on their driver rotations and tire selection to stay within the hunt.
With two hours remaining, while making strides in track position and pace, the No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R GTP experienced a mechanical failure that ultimately forced the team to retire before the checkered flag in 11th place. Delétraz was back at the wheel of the No. 40 Cadillac WTR to finish out the race, but no yellows in those closing hours and lots of lap traffic made it difficult to progress forward for a podium position and saw them cross the finish line in sixth.
“Congratulations to Cadillac and the Cadillac Whelen team,” said Wayne Taylor, Team Co-Owner. “As we saw today, this race is a hard-fought battle and to podium is a great accomplishment. We are naturally disappointed with our results. The No. 10 had a mechanical failure in the final hours, and the No. 40 was up against limited cautions and couldn’t capitalize on track position. I’m very proud of my guys. They put together great race cars, pivoted when needed and the drivers did a great job. They should all be proud.”
Next on the 2026 IMSA schedule for Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing is the Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 21, 2026, at Sebring International Raceway.
Louis Delétraz, full season co-driver, No. 40 Cadillac WTR V-Series.R: “Well, we made it to the end and congratulations to the No. 31 for the second place and to Cadillac. We made it to the end with no mistakes by the drivers and no mistakes from the team. I think sometime after midnight something broke at the back of the car, to be confirmed, but we lost a lot of pace out of it. I think we were quite good on deg (degradation), but then again when its losing pace, we just didn’t have it. We had a good strategy on fuel and its good points on the championship. Looking forward to more and can’t wait to get to Sebring already.”
Jordan Taylor, full season co-driver, No. 40 Cadillac WTR V-Series.R: “Yeah, obviously not a great day for the whole team and for us. I think we salvaged sixth place there at the end with a good call on fuel strategy, but overall, disappointed because a couple of times I thought we were in the mix for the race. So, just hopefully we can go to Sebring with a little more pace and win there.”
Colton Herta, IMEC co-driver, No. 40 Cadillac WTR V-Series.R: “Hard fight to the end for us in the 40 car. It was not the race that we wanted, but good points for the full-time guys. We never gave up and tried our hardest, so proud of that and definitely some stuff to look at and get better on for Sebring. Looking forward to that one.”
