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Angelelli goes out a winner at Rolex 24

Sunday, 29 January 2017
J.J. O'Malley / Images by Marshall Pruett

With just over four hours remaining, Max Angelelli pitted while leading the 55th Rolex 24 at Daytona. When he stepped out of the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R and Jordan Taylor took over, it marked the end of the 50-year-old Italian's driving career.
"I'm happy for what I achieved with the boys and finish my career with a big win," Angelelli said.

But Angelelli is far from finished in motorsports. He is Cadillac's program manager in developing the new DPi, and even though the event finished with a trip to Gatorade Victory Lane along with the Taylor brothers and NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon, Angelelli was enjoying a win-win situation with the Wayne Taylor Racing and Action Express Racing Cadillacs battling for the victory.
Following his opening stint on Saturday evening, Angelelli talked of how Cadillac's Rolex 24 preparation was paying off.
"We have started this weekend with a major advantage," Angelelli said. "We started designing and developing the car very early. We had the first Cadillac on the track in the beginning of September. After the Roar test and this weekend we have over 8,000 miles of testing. As you can see, that is paying off the Cadillac prototypes are running 1-2-3. It would mean everything to win with this new car in my last race. I would leave with a smile on my face."
While one of the three lead Cadillacs fell behind with various problems, it proved to be a 1-2 finish.


Angelelli turned in the fastest lap of the winning car, with his time of 1m36.394s just shy of Filipe Albuquerque's lap of 1m269s.

His final lap proved to be a memorable one. Leading Joao Barbosa by 12.389s, he slid midway through the damp chicane and drove through the track to get back on the banking – directly ahead of the second-place Cadillac. But "Max the Ax" was able to retain the lead.
"This was one of my most difficult races," said Angelelli, who joined Wayne Taylor in winning the 2005 Rolex 24. "I was hoping to have an easier dry race, but that did not happen. It was very difficult to keep the car on the track with the rain tires, especially late in the stint. I made a slight mistake. I was able to recover and stay in P1. My career has been a roller coaster, from a complete disaster to a lot of success. How can I describe it? It has been long and difficult."
And Angelelli's prediction proved correct. He left Daytona with a big smile on his face.