The No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R co-driven by Joao Barbosa, Filipe Albuquerque and Christian Fittipaldi broke the Rolex 24 At Daytona’s long-standing race distance record. The 56th running of the event saw the Cadillac clock a total of 2,876.48 miles completed; 808 laps around the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway.
The previous Rolex 24 mileage record of 2,760.960 miles was set in 1982 by John Paul Jr., Rolf Stommelen and John Paul Sr. in a Porsche 935 that completed 719 laps around what was then a 3.84-mile circuit. The record for laps completed of 762 set in 1992 by Masahiro Hasemi, Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Toshio Suzuki in a Nissan R91 also was eclipsed by the No. 5 Action Express Racing entry this weekend.
In all, the top-15 finishers in the race broke the distance record in a race that had just four full-course caution periods for a total of 20 laps.
“This is a great endurance achievement and story,” said IMSA CEO Ed Bennett. “We are extremely proud of all the drivers, teams, manufacturers and IMSA officials who played important roles to achieve this together.”
Barbosa and Fittipaldi each claimed their third overall victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona and first since 2014, when they teamed with Sebastien Bourdais to win in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP. Barbosa also earned a GTS class victory in the 2003 Rolex 24, while Albuquerque added an overall victory to a 2013 GT class win in the Rolex 24.
