Tom Blomqvist finished just two seconds short of a historic third victory at the Rolex 24 at Daytona as he and his #31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R team crossed the finishing line in second place after 24 hours of racing.
Lining up in the #31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R alongside Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken, the trio started the twice-around-the-clock event from pole position after Pipo Derani secured the team pole position.
Locked in a race-long battle with the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963, the pair of cars traded the lead throughout the 24 hour race with the final hours setting the scene for a titanic battle.
The Porsche seized the advantage a little more than 19 hours into the 24-hour endurance contest as they pulled away from Tom and the #31 to build a 10-second lead. However, Tom and the team fought back in the Cadillac, culminating in Blomqvist cutting the gap and completing a daring pass for the lead on Felipe Nasr into Turn 1 with an hour and 20 minutes remaining.
With Tom beginning to build an advantage at the front of the field, a full-course caution with just 52 minutes remaining eliminated Tom's 2.2-second advantage. As the race reset for a final sprint to the finish, the pits reopened with the Porsche team able to jump Tom and the #31 Action Express Racing Cadillac.
In the final sprint to the finish, Tom pushed as hard as he could to find a way past the Porsche but crossed the line just 2.112 seconds behind in second place.
"We came up just short! The team have done a fantastic job since we arrived in Daytona and my two teammates both drove great races so a huge thank you to everyone for their efforts. Our Cadillac V-Series.R was fast all race, and maybe if there was one less yellow we could have got the win, but big congratulations to the #7 on the victory."
- Tom Blomqvist
In association with MBP
