DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Acura dominated the debut of hybrid engines in North American sports car racing with a 1-2 finish Sunday at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, where Helio Castroneves and the automaker won the prestigious endurance race for a third consecutive year.
Castroneves won the Rolex in 2021 in an Acura with Wayne Taylor Racing and has won with Meyer Shank Racing the past two seasons. Castroneves, who turns 48 in May, was overcome with emotion after Tom Blomqvist closed out the victory.
The Brazilian driver then led his teammates, who included Simon Pagenaud and MSR newcomer Colin Braun, in his signature “Spider-Man” celebratory climbing of the fence.
“I love climbing the fence with Helio,” said Pagenaud, who won for the second consecutive year and is a teammate of Castroneves’ in IndyCar. Team owner Michael Shank said during Pagenaud’s final drive in the car, “Simon is driving the stint of his life.”
Castroneves acknowledged that he got emotional at becoming the first driver to win three consecutive Rolex 24s.
“It’s a very tough sport. You lose more than you win,” Castroneves said. “It did touch me. That’s why I love this sport so much. It is very hard, and when you get it, you celebrate.”
Castroneves has been a huge part of building Meyer Shank Racing, which since helping Castroneves win a record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500 in 2021 has added consecutive Rolex titles and the IMSA championship. MSR is now a two-car IndyCar program with Castroneves and Pagenaud and has a bona fide budding star in Blomqvist, who was rewarded with an IndyCar test by the team after last year’s championship season.
“What a car we built; we had a duty to take it to the finish,” Blomqvist said. “Then had to take it to another level to secure the win.”
The 29-year-old British driver has earned a starring role with Honda Performance Development.
“He’s a nugget,” Shank said. “He truly believes he’s the fastest guy out there. We’re in the Tom Blomqvist business for a long time.”
Despite being the reigning champions, MSR and Acura were a bit of an unknown ahead of Daytona. The twice-round-the-clock endurance race this year marked the launch of a new hybrid era of racing, and the change in technology for IMSA’s top GTP class makes it the only motorsports series in North America to race with hybrid engines.
The move has been a massive draw to automakers eager to compete…
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