By james art 
Deaton Beach, Florida – Camui Kobayashi marked her return to Rolex 24 in Dayton, putting Wayne Taylor Racing, at the head of five hours in a twice day -to -day endurance race.
Alas, the two-time winner at Rolex will not win a third watch this year after his Cadillac was broken two hours later on Saturday night when Luis Dellett was driving. Dettlera was struck at the back, turned heavily into the wall, and then bounced back to the racing surface where it was struck by the opposite traffic.
The six -car crash – the first major incident in the race – ended every opportunity Kobayashi to get another Rolex. Another Cadillac – the one supported by the IMSA and NASCAR chairman Jim France – led during the crash in what appeared to be a battle with the defending winner of the Porsche Penske Motorsport, BMW M Team RLL and Wayne Taylor’s second car.
This is a huge disappointment for Kobayashi, who has not been able to participate in the season to open the season in the last two years, because as a Toyota factory pilot in the World Endurance Series, this was considered a conflict of interest. But the former Formula One pilot missed the Daytona International Speedway event so much that he asked his Japanese bosses for permission to compete for WTR in the new Cadillac program this year.
The car was ninth when Kobayashi got up shortly after five hours and only needed a few laps to earn Cadillac number 40 at the forefront.
“It’s fun to look at him, we knew it would be like that,” said navigator Jordan Taylor. “We could see him all weekend during training. It’s just Camui – that’s why people love him, they like to watch him on television. He is a funny person to be around, and that’s exactly what I would expect to restart him – when everyone is not sure about the conditions, he just goes forward. “
Taylor called Kobayashi “a little wild man and such a unique man”, but then described the restrained 10 days that the pilot had in Dayton. He bought a portable sauna at Dick’s Sporting Goods across the track and placed it in front of the camper he uses on the track.
While other drivers went to dinner or to Orlando to watch the NBA match, Taylor said Kobayashi was opening in his sauna and staying every night. And on the eve of the competition, Taylor said that Kobayashi went to a 24-hour washing machine and watched Netflix while “washed his refractory lingerie and racing suit.”
“He just makes a sauna every night, as well as a cold diving,” Taylor continued. – He is just a character.
After her stay, Kobayashi admired her sauna, who was “only $ 450 was quite cheap”, but too big to take her home after the race. He also said he had to look for ice bags for his cold dives because the tap water was not cold enough, and called his trip to the washing machine “perfect”, then smelled his hand and stated that it smells great.
Although Kobayashi dominated his stay, he lost leadership once when the six -time Indycar champion Scott Dickson took Meyer Shank Racing, led by ACURA. It was a bright point for MSR, which won Rolex back in 2022 and 2023, but was out of IMSA last season when ACura paused the Schank program.
The team returned this year as an effort of two cars supported by the factory and loaded its stars from Chip Ganassi Racing, which formed the Indycar Technical Union with Shank at the end of last year and took the Dixon sports car and the three -time Alex Palou champion For the competition.
Ganassi is in the position of Shank this year and outside IMSA because Cadillac has changed his program from Ganassi to Wayne Taylor Racing. While Ganasi is looking for a new partner and a return to a series of sports cars, he allowed his drivers to compete for the chank.
But Palu had a short first stay when the second Acura stopped on the track because the connection of the suspension of the gearbox broke away. Meyer Shank Racing was crashing into the garage to restore the entire back of the car to return the Palo to the track.
Palu was the 59th in the group with 61 cars when it renewed the race.