Rolex 24 Daytona Race 2021

The Rolex 24 Daytona Race 2021 took place on schedule in spite of the Corona virus and political unrest. The 24 hours of Daytona has been named after the title sponsor Rolex since 1992. People coming to the event wore their Rolex Daytona watches with pride.

Rolex 24 Daytona Race

Rolex has been a huge sponsor of everything Daytona since Sir Malcolm Campbell, who took his Blue Bird to 276 mph in 1935 on the hard packed Daytona sand and nearby highway A1A.

Racers who competed for the title didn’t fight for a ring. They weren’t competing for a trophy. They were competing for a timepiece that commemorates the occasion. Not only does it show that you are a winner and at the top of your game, but as a tool watch, it helps you keep track of your lap speed, and is like a trophy that you can actually wear, display for others, and be proud of no matter where you go.

The Daytona speedway was created in the 1950’s, and recently completed its most recent renovation in 2016.

Rolex has been tied to racing ever since developing watches focused on extreme accuracy in spite of vibrations. Although Rolex released chronographs in the 1940’s, during the WW2 years, it wasn’t a popular timepiece. Even though recent interest in Daytona are at a fevered pitch, especially for the rare reference 4113, which is a unique Rattrapante produced by Rolex before the release of the Daytona, these early chronographs didn’t see much popularity for over 30 years.

The Cosmograph Reference 6239 was released in 1963. It was nicknamed the “Daytona” due to its connection to the famous Florida race. Rolex launched its Reference 6234 in 1955. However, neither timepiece had the name “Daytona” on the timepiece.

Although Sir Malcolm Campbell was a supporter of the Rolex timepiece, it wasn’t until the famous actor and driver Paul Newman became the face of the timepiece, that the Daytona started rising in popularity.

The grueling Daytona 24 is one of the most popular races in the world. Like the 24 hours of Le Mans, the Daytona requires drivers and pit crews to be at the top of their game for the entire 24 hours.

This year, Filipe Albuquerque won the 59th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway. It marks the first race in the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

Albuquerque drove the Number 10, Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 DPi. this is Albuquerque’s 2nd victory in 4 years, and marks the 3rd consecutive victory for his team – Wayne Taylor Racing. Wayne Taylor Racing also won in 2005, 2017, and dominated between 2019-21. Although in years past, the WTR team raced Cadillac, this year they moved to Acura.

Due to the grueling nature of the race, teams competing for this endurance challenge combine with 4 drivers to take the 1 car to victory lane. Besides Albuquerque, the number 10 was also driven by Helio Castroneves, Ricky Taylor and Alexander Rossi.

Rolex has done much in recent years to take the Rolex Daytona to new heights. No longer are these stark steel timepieces which must be wound to keep accurate time. These new timepieces are built with precious metals, various bands, sapphire crystal, a variety of dial colors, and sport both an automatic caliber with a 72 hour power reserve.

The new Rolex Chocolate and Black Daytona is a stunning timepiece. The chocolate dial combines beautifully with the 3 black dials and black bezel. The pink gold case, hour markers also combines exceptionally with the black rubberized bracelet.

Rubber B offers multiple band options for the Rolex Daytona. These band options support the Rolex Deployant clasp and fit snugly to the watch case using the Rubber B patented Blocked Engineering technology. For all our band options and colors please visit our Rolex Daytona section of the website here.