Alonso's Rolex 24 deal agreed 'very quickly'

Fernando Alonso's deal to race for Wayne Taylor Racing in this year's Rolex 24 at Daytona was agreed "very quickly" once the two-time Formula 1 world champion knew he was available for the endurance race.

Alonso will enter the Rolex 24 for the second time this weekend, linking up with front-running team Wayne Taylor Racing for his first race since quitting F1 at the end of last year. He will race alongside Kamui Kobayashi, Renger van der Zande and Jordan Taylor in the #10 Konica Minolta Cadillac.

The Spaniard made his debut in the Rolex 24 last year with United Autosports, the team co-owned by McLaren F1 boss Zak Brown, and quickly piqued the interest of Wayne Taylor for his eponymous team.

"Last year at the 24-hour, Zak Brown introduced me to Fernando and, a couple of weeks later, I inquired if he was available for this year," said Taylor.

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"Over the next several months, it looked like a possibility, and then it went away. In the meantime, we continued our search for a third driver and we went looking through the entire WEC and all forms of sports car racing for a driver who was not only fastest over one lap but over long periods of time, and clearly the person who came to the top of that list was Kamui Kobayashi.

"I called him one night and it turned out to be 3 in the morning where he was, and he quickly called me back and said he wanted to drive for us. So we finished that deal pretty quickly.

"Then, sometime later, through McLaren and Zak, all of a sudden I got a text asking if there’s still a seat for Fernando. I said, ‘I’ll make one available.’ Very quickly, again, we made a deal and here we are.

"Of course, we have my son Jordan, who’s now won two championships with us, and his teammate Renger from last year, with whom we won the Petit Le Mans to finish last year, and we’re ready to get back to our winning ways at Daytona."

Wayne Taylor Racing last won the Rolex 24 in 2017, and is set to fight up against Action Express Racing and Penske for top honours at Daytona once again this weekend.