News
Daytona For The Win
News
Daytona For The Win
The gruelling and exhausting 24-hour long endurance race has been a fixture at the Daytona Speedway since 1962 with Rolex always being the official timing partner of the race. In 1963 Rolex launched their Oyster-cased sports chronograph, a watch that is arguably more famous than the speedway from which it takes its name, and then in 1991 became the title sponsor of the race. Since 1992, winners have been awarded a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, starting with steel Zenith-powered reference 16520 until 2000, when the in-house movement watch was launched, the reference 116520. In 2017 the switch to steel and gold or two-tone, Rolesor in Rolex-parlance, took place. Drivers have often been quoted as saying that their primary motivation is to “win that watch”, a feat that takes both skill and stamina to win one of the most coveted titles in motorsport.
The watch on Loupe This is a white dial 16520 that was awarded to one of the seven drivers on the team, John Schneider. Schneider began his racing career in Porsche 924s in 1983 and was part of the strong team in 1997 at Daytona where he and his co-drivers were the favourites to win that year. The watch remains in stunning condition and comes complete with some photographs of Schneider driving the car and the original papers that state the watch was supplied directly by Rolex New York in September 1996.