With roots in Ribeirão Preto, Hélio Castroneves opened the highest-ranked IMSA season (in Portuguese: International Motor Sport Association) on the podium.
The 45-year-old driver and partner Wayne Taylor Racing won this Sunday (31), 24th of Daytona, in the United States. The Castrons shared the wheel of Acura # 10 with Ricky Taylor, Philip Albuquerque and Alexander Rossi.
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With the result, Heleo became the sixth Brazilian to win a traditional resistance race in Florida. The 500 Miles Triple Champion of Indianapolis joined names like Raul Bosel, Christian Fitipaldi, Oswaldo Negri, Tony Kanan and Pippo Derani.
In the 11th hour, the Castrones team took the lead in the race. Quartet remained prominent except for pit stops.
However, the trio of Chip Ganeshi, created by former formula driver Kevin Maguson, Ranger van der Zande and Scott Dixon, managed to take the lead after a good stopping strategy.
The teams feuded intensely until the final minutes, when the Ribeira-Pretano quartet resumed. The Cadillac team in second place and Mazda in the third completed the podium.
Despair
For the GTD (Gran Turismo Daytona) category, the Corsa team’s Ferrari 488 GT3, the team for which Ribeiro-Pretano Marcos Gomes competed in the race, faced problems all over the stage and had to leave the race.
The team started in 8th place overall.
The 2015 Stock Car Champion partnered with Ryan Briscoe, Ed Jones and Brett Curtis.
