Defending Rolex 24 winners retire with tire problems

The defending race-winning No.10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R was officially retired early in the 18th hour, shortly after pole winner Renger van der Zande pulled off course at the West Horseshoe with a cut right-rear tire.

Van der Zande used a public road to get back to the garage. The team replaced all four tires so he could continue. Moments later, though, the car was retired.

"We have to figure out what's happening, but it's not safe to continue," van der Zande said. "We had a lot of tire failures, and we don't know why, so it was not safe to do it anymore and keep going. The pace was good, but the only thing that was holding us back was the tires. We'll figure out why."

Team owner Wayne Taylor said that his son Jordan Taylor had a tire problem early in the event, but he thought it was an isolated incident.

"We have been running within the tire pressures that we've run forever and ever," Taylor said. "But then Renger had six or seven failures, and we went through three sets of bodywork. Now, I can't afford to put a driver at risk."

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