After 24 Hours, the Rolex 24 Battle Comes Down to Photo Finish

If we take a look across all sorts of different racing, perhaps none are as physically demanding as endurance racing. Sure, there are a lot of members on a team to help the race operate smoothly. However, being able to put things together and keep them going for 24 hours in a row is definitely something that’s easier said than done, even with top-notch help.

However, during this year’s Rolex 24, on the tail end of an entire day of racing, teams pushed toward the finish line with any energy that they had left. It’s at this point in time that everything comes together, allowing those who have done well to start to get a little bit excited about the position that they might take on the podium. The finish is near and it’s all about that final push to close out the effort.

While one might think that after 24 hours of racing, there would probably be a rather wide gap between first and second place, that’s not always the case. Instead, this year, we would watch as the 24-hour race came down to the last possible second in an intense finish that would provide equal amounts of excitement and heart break depending on who one was rooting for.

At the most recent Rolex 24, we watched an incredible battle between two LMP2 class competitors in James Allen and Ben Hanley. Hanley held the lead as he came around the final corner and toward the finish line. However, with some clever maneuvering and the use of another car from another class, Allen would be able to overtake the leader in a photo finish.

Below, we check in with the final moment of the race that shows that even though the finish of a race is sculpted through 24 hours, the most important part can take place in less than a second.