Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R Team for Daytona, facts and figures 21.01.2019: Round 1 of 10 – 57th Rolex 24 – Daytona Event: 24-hour IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (3.56-mile, 12-turn speedway road course). Live Broadcast (race time 2:35 p.m. EST Saturday): NBCSN

Round 1 of 10 – 57th Rolex 24 – Daytona

 
Event: 24-hour IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (3.56-mile, 12-turn speedway road course).


 
Live Broadcast (race time 2:35 p.m. EST Saturday): NBCSN – 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday; NBC Sports App – 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday; NBCSN – 9 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday; NBC Sports App – 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday; NBCSN – 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Thursday qualifying – 3 to 5 p.m. on NBCSN (DPi class at 4:25 p.m.).
 

 



Driver Lineup:
 

Driver: Jordan Taylor
Birthdate: May 10, 1991
Birthplace: Orlando, Florida
Residence: Apopka, Florida
Personal: Single
 

Driver: Renger van der Zande
Birthdate: Feb. 16, 1986
Birthplace: Dodewaard, Netherlands
Residence: Amsterdam
Personal: Wife, Carlijn
Daughter, Lola
 

Driver: Kamui Kobayashi
Birthdate: Sept. 13, 1986
Birthplace: Amagasaki, Japan
Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Personal: Single
 

Driver: Fernando Alonso
Birthdate: July 29, 1981
Birthplace: Oviedo, Spain
Residence: Lugano, Switzerland
Personal: Single



Primary Crew Members:

 
Owner: Wayne Taylor (Port Elizabeth, South Africa)
 
Team Manager: Travis Houge (Dolliver, Iowa)
 
Crew Chief: Chris Bennett (Indianapolis)
 
Race Engineer: Brian Pillar (Alliston, Ontario, Canada)
 
Asst. Engineer: Adam Banet (Floyd Knobs, Ind.)

 
Mechanics/Crew: Derrick Barnes (Indianapolis), Levi Beasley (Indianapolis), Frank Camacho (Long Beach, Calif.), Chad Hurst (Speedway, Ind.), Brett Knostman (Orange, Calif.), Michael Langston (Pearl, Miss.), Hali Money (Brownsburg, Ind.), Bill Mullen (Hamilton, Ohio), Chris Seaman (Hamburg, Pa.), Chris Sheffer (Mission Viejo, Calif.), Keith Stein (Highland, Ind.), Evan Thompson (Brownsburg, Ind.), Nicholas Voils (Indianapolis).


 
Truck Driver: Paul Sheehan (Olivia, Minn.)

Over-the-Wall Crew Members:
 
Front Tire Changer: Michael Langston
Rear Tire Changer: Chris Bennett
Airjack: Chris Bennett
Fueler: Chris Seaman
Fire Bottle: Paul Sheehan
Driver Change Assist: Bill Mullen
Tire Assist: Derrick Barnes, Paul Sheehan
Deadperson: Hali Money
Tire Carrier: Nick Voils
Signboard: Derrick Barnes
Fire Bottle: Chad Hurst
 






Car Specifications
 

No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R

 
Dallara Chassis: Carbon fiber monocoque with aluminum honeycomb and Zylon side panels. Carbon fiber bodywork with Kevlar panel inserts.


 
Cadillac Engine: Cadillac V-Performance-based 5.5-liter V-8 with production-based aluminum block and heads. Earnhardt-Childress Racing-designed, semi-stressed engine mounting system with integral oil lubrication. Lubrication: self-contained dry sump system. Dynamic pressure (ram-air) intake system with IMSA-mandated sonic air restrictors. Rear-facing, top-exit, dual-outlet, multi-branch exhaust header system. Produces approximately 580 horsepower at 7,050 rpm (IMSA mandated power level).
 


Fuel Capacity: 18.49 gallons (70 liters).

 
Bosch Engine Management: MS5.0 ECU, C60 data logger, traction control.




 
Cosworth Electronics:


Power: IPS48, SSR300A, RLU, RSP20.

Data: CLU Plus Pro.
 

Gentex Rear-View Camera: GNTX-R, Rear-Camera Mirror.

 
Cosworth Steering Wheel: CCW Mk2, paddle shift, 4.5-inch TFT LCD.

 
Tilton Clutch: 5.5 Carbon Disc.
 

XTRAC Gearbox: P1159F, transverse sequential six-speed.

 
KYB Steering: Electrically assisted rack-and-pinion.

 
Suspension: Front/rear double wishbone independent pushrod.

 
Brembo Brakes: Monobloc six-piston light aluminum calipers, carbon fiber discs and pads.

 
Weight/Length/Width/Height: 2,050 pounds (930 kg)/15.58 feet (187 inches)/6.23 feet (74.8 inches)/3.78 feet (45.3 inches).

 
Motegi Racing Wheels: Forged AL6061-T6 rims. Front 18.0 inches x 12.5 inches; rear 18.0 inches x 13.0 inches.

 
Michelin Tires: Front 300/680-R18; rear 310/710-R18.





 
Notes of Interest
 

•    Full-time co-drivers Jordan Taylor and Renger van der Zande of the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R return to the scene of their team’s thrilling 2017 victory joined by two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso and former Formula One and current FIA World Endurance Championship star Kamui Kobayashi for this weekend’s 57th renewal of the iconic Rolex 24 At Daytona, the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener.


•    Taylor and his older brother Ricky Taylor co-drove to the 2017 Rolex 24 win with now-retired Italian veteran Max “The Ax” Angelelli and four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon. It was the first of five wins in a row for the Taylor brothers to start the season, and it catapulted them to the series driver and team titles by a 19-point margin.



•    Ricky Taylor, whose daring, late-race pass of race leader Felipe Albuquerque in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R earned the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R team the 2017 Rolex 24 win, left to join the new, two-car Team Penske Prototype-class entry for 2018 to open the door for van der Zande, the Dutch sportscar veteran, to join the younger Taylor as full-time co-driver a year ago this weekend.


•    Van der Zande helped the team pick up where it left off on the 3.56-mile, 12-turn Daytona superspeedway road circuit when he qualified on the pole for last year’s Rolex 24 in his maiden qualifying voyage with his new team. He led the opening 18 laps of the race, and he and Jordan Taylor and IndyCar Series veteran Ryan Hunter-Reay stayed comfortably with the leaders over the first third of the race. But various issues ultimately cost several unscheduled pit stops and laps while making repairs, and the team retired during the 17th hour and left Daytona credited with 15th place.


•    Taylor, van der Zande and Hunter-Reay rebounded with a solid runner-up finish in last year’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, and closed the season together with a thrilling victory thanks to van der Zande’s last-lap pass at the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in October.


•    With the Petit Le Mans victory and four podium finishes in all, Taylor and van der Zande rallied to finish third in the final 2018 championship standings, seven points out of first.


•    The 27-year-old Taylor will be making his 12th career Rolex 24 start this weekend and his seventh in a row with the team. Prior to last year’s disappointing 15th-place result, he and the team logged five consecutive race-weekend finishes on the podium, highlighted by the 2017 victory and runner-up finishes in 2013 (with Angelelli and Hunter-Reay), 2014 (with Ricky Taylor, his father Wayne Taylor and Angelelli), and 2016 (with Ricky Taylor, Angelelli and former Formula One star Rubens Barrichello). The team’s third-place finish in 2015 was amended to a 16th-place result five days after the race due to a maximum drivetime violation.



•    In those five consecutive Rolex 24s from 2013 through 2017, the No. 10 Prototype led 963 of 3,359 laps – 27.2 percent, the last three showing race-high totals of 265 laps in 2015, 152 in 2016, and 263 in 2017, preceded by 227 laps led in 2014 that was second-highest for the race.



•    This weekend’s race marks the sixth career Rolex 24 for the 32-year-old van der Zande. Prior to his third-place finish with Spirit of Daytona Racing in 2017, he scored LMPC-class finishes of fifth, sixth and fourth with the Starworks Motorsport team.



•    Alonso, the 37-year-old Spaniard, will be making his second career and second consecutive Rolex 24 appearance and his first race of any kind since embarking on a sabbatical from full-time F1 competition after November’s 2018 season finale in Abu Dhabi. It was his 17th F1 season, the last four of which were spent with McLaren. Alonso’s first career Rolex 24 a year ago came with the United Autosport LMP2-car effort, which resulted in a 13th-place finish due to mechanical issues. Alonso owns 32 career F1 victories and back-to-back world championships in 2005 and 2006. He’s also enjoyed recent success in the WEC. His No. 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing team leads the WEC 2018-19 superseason standings after back-to-back victories at Spa-Francorchamps and in his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut, followed by consecutive runner-up finishes at Fuji and Shanghai.



•    It will be the first career Rolex 24 for Kobayashi, the 32-year-old from Japan who is in his third season with Toyota Gazoo Racing and currently co-drives that team’s No. 7 entry, which is second in the superseason standings after runner-up finishes at at Spa-Francorchamps and Le Mans, followed by victories at Fuji and Shanghai. Prior to his current success in the WEC, Kobayashi was a fixture on the F1 circuit. He made his F1 debut with Toyota at the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix and followed that with a points-paying finish of sixth at that season’s final race in Abu Dhabi. He then drove for Sauber from 2010 through 2012, highlighted by a podium finish at the Japanese Grand Prix – the first F1 podium by a Japanese driver in 22 years – followed by a season with Caterham in 2014.



•    Wayne Taylor, the three-time sportscar-racing champion as a driver and two-time champion as a team owner, will be inducted into the South African Hall of Fame in his native country during special ceremonies slated for Feb. 24 in Sun City. He will join an elite list of inductees already enshrined that features philanthropist and former president Nelson Mandela, golfers Gary Player and Sally Little, racecar drivers Jody and Ian Scheckter and Sarel van der Merwe, surfer Shaun Tomson, and Olympic athletes Sydney Maree and Zola Budd.








Laz Denes- photo DIS