Sports Cars
BMW Powers to Maiden GTP Pole for 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona
By John Oreovicz
IMSA Wire Service
DAYTONA BEACH, FL (January 23, 2025) – A tough start turned into a strong finish for BMW M Team RLL in qualifying for the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the opening round of the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 driven by Sheldon van der Linde caused a red flag when it stalled on track less than five minutes into the 15-minute Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class qualifying session. But Dries Vanthoor saved the day as he drove the team’s No. 24 entry to the GTP and overall pole for Saturday’s 24-hour contest.
BMW was extremely competitive in the annual Roar Before the Rolex 24 test sessions, with Vanthoor setting the fastest overall time. The 26-year-old Belgian, who is embarking on his first full season of IMSA competition, repeated that form when it counted in qualifying.
It was Vanthoor’s first IMSA Motul Pole Award and also the first for BMW within GTP, as the manufacturer enters its third year in the new class. With the stoppage for the stalled No. 25 BMW, he and the other GTP contestants had time for only two flying laps. The younger Vanthoor brother (older brother Laurens is the endurance driver in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963) will share the polesitting No. 24 BMW with full-season co-driver Philipp Eng, Formula 1 veteran Kevin Magnussen and Raffaele Marciello.
“For sure it wasn’t easy with the red flag,” said Vanthoor, whose Motul Pole Award winning lap was timed at 1 minute, 33.895 seconds (136.493 mph). “It makes tire warming a bit more difficult for everyone. That was a big struggle for us last year, but we have been improving a lot. Then it was just about getting the lap together and trying to do the best that I could. That worked out, luckily, so I am very happy.
“We’ve been working hard,” he added. “It’s nice to see that it’s working for everyone here, and also everyone back at the factory. I think everybody can be happy and proud of that, but (the pole) is a little cherry on a big cake and there’s still a big thing still to happen. That’s the race, and that can go any way.”
Nick Yelloly qualified the No. 93 Acura ARX-06 on the outside of the front row in Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian’s return to IMSA competition after a year off at 1:34.186 (136.071 mph). Defending GTP class champion Felipe Nasr was third in the No. 7 Penske Porsche (1:34.280, 135.935 mph).
Qualifying was staged in difficult, cold conditions, with wind chills at Daytona in the low 40s ambient, and track temperatures not much warmer. Vanthoor wore a heavy parka and ski cap when he met the media after qualifying.
“It’s a bit cold in the car, but when you come out you’re sweating a lot,” he remarked. “You can get sick easily, and that would be the last thing we need going into a 24-hour race.”
LMP2: United Autosports Dominates as Goldburg Breaks Through
United Autosports USA dominated Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class qualifying for the Rolex 24 At Daytona, with Daniel Goldburg and Nick Boulle securing first and third on the grid for the team co-owned by McLaren Formula 1 team principal Zak Brown and Richard Dean.
It’s Goldburg’s second career Motul Pole Award in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition, and first since Road America in August 2021 in the former Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) class.
Additionally, Goldburg’s lap ended Ben Keating’s run of five straight pole positions achieved at the Rolex 24 through either traditional qualifying or the Motul Pole Award 100 qualifying race, which ran for two years.
Bronze-rated drivers qualify in LMP2 and while Goldburg came close to pole several times in 2024, he came up short with four second-place efforts and seven top-five efforts in as many races.
“This is our moment to stack up against each other in the Bronze category,” Goldburg said after a pole-winning lap timed at 1 minute, 38.676 seconds (129.879 mph). “I’m super excited. I’ve been chasing this pole for all of the last year, and been a couple tenths off a bunch of times. That pole was elusive for me. So, this feels really good. I’ve been putting in a ton of work.
“It’s a long race ahead, but this is a great first notch,” continued Goldburg, who shares the No. 22 ORECA LMP2 07 this week with Paul di Resta, Rasmus Lindh and 2023 LMP2 Rolex 24 winner James Allen. “I’ve got great teammates and have been able to compare a lot of great data. I’m just inching closer and closer to what they do. After every session, I watch the video and chase the data and just trying to keep inching closer.”
Two-time IMSA LMP2 class champion Keating split his former team, United Autosports, in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07 and will start on the outside of the front row.
Nick Boulle, who co-drove with Tom Dillmann to the IMSA LMP2 championship last year, will make his first start for United Autosports in the No. 2 ORECA from third place as he contests all Michelin Endurance Cup rounds of the WeatherTech Championship.
The field will take the green flag for the 63rd running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Saturday at 1:40 p.m. The first hour of the race will be broadcast on NBC, shifting to USA Network for four hours, before returning to NBC for the finish. Flag-to-flag coverage is available on Peacock.
By Holly Cain
IMSA Wire Service
DAYTONA BEACH, FL – Add yet another historic victory to Roger Penske’s iconic career of high achievement. Team Penske kicked off its 60th anniversary season Sunday with the overall victory in the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona – Penske’s third straight win in the world-renowned sports car race. It featured an all-time Rolex 24 record attendance at the Daytona International Speedway road course to kick off the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.
Brazilian Felipe Nasr drove the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 across the finish line 1.569 seconds ahead of Brit Jack Aitken in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R after a particularly spirited battle through the final hour between the two. The No. 24 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 was third, 21 seconds behind the winner, in the team’s first race running the IMSA BMW GTP program.
“The driving that he’s done for us and at the end there, probably one of the best drives I’ve seen,” Penske said of Nasr. “You know for our 60th it’s a big deal, and here at Daytona, to have three wins here is certainly special. Starts out the year the right way.”
The veteran Nasr’s work now equals and follows on the heels of fellow Brazilian Helio Castroneves’s three consecutive overall wins (2021-23) at Daytona’s famous 3.56-mile road course. Peter Gregg also achieved the feat when he won three straight in 1973, ’75 and ’76 (there was no race in ’74). Both Nasr’s co-drivers, German Laurin Heinrich and Frenchman Julien Andlauer, won their first Rolex 24s and Andlauer achieved his first WeatherTech Championship win of any kind.
Plaudits were earned for team and manufacturer as well. Team Penske tied Chip Ganassi Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing with its third consecutive win and 46th in any IMSA class. Porsche brought home its 21st overall Rolex 24 triumph, the most of any manufacturer.
“Three in a row, it’s just a very special day – I dreamed of that,’’ said Nasr. “We had a battle all the way to the end with the (No.) 31. … I was just trying all I could because I know in these final hours everyone is using everything they have inside the car, and the Cadillac was a strong car.
“The field has such good drivers,’’ Nasr said. “I have to acknowledge that the level of this race is getting higher and higher in this GTP (Grand Touring Prototype) class. It was pure racing. I used everything I had.”
Sunny skies and 70-degree temperatures – warmer-than-usual Rolex 24 weather – straddled a heavy overnight fog at the track that brought out a full-course caution flag for six hours, 33 minutes – the longest in Rolex 24 history.
When racing resumed after the fog just after 7 a.m. ET, the action picked up accordingly. The Penske Porsches battled closely with the BMWs and Cadillacs for the overall lead and, as is so typical of this legendary race, the final hours fed high drama.
Although the Nos. 7 and 6 Penske Porsches truly dominated the event statistically, combining to lead 521 of the 705 laps (74 percent of the race), they had to fend off a strong two-car BMW effort and a powerful Cadillac showing that also included a pair of Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing cars in addition to the runner-up No. 31 Cadillac Whelen entry – as well as a persistent push from the two-car Acura Michael Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 effort that claimed pole position. Nine of the 11 GTP cars led laps.
Twice in the final hour, Aitken was able to pull within less than a half-second of Nasr, pulling alongside in one particular attempt to pass heading into Turn 1. But Nasr was on his game, negotiating the 60-car field throughout the race and repelling Aitken’s attempts to overtake in the final 60 minutes.
“The guys all around from the team in the pit box to my teammates did a fantastic job to get us back into a position at the end of the race,’’ said Aitken, who was vying to put the No. 31 Cadillac in victory lane for a third straight WeatherTech Championship race dating to the final two of 2025. “The Porsches were very strong all race, very impressive. We tried to challenge them best we could and I got close to them a few times.
“Just really, really heartbreaking but we had great runs and I’m proud of that,” Aitken added.
“I had a couple moments where I stuck my nose in there, but it was always from just a bit further back just trying to make something happen. I never got a super great run on them. I was trying to find an opening here and there, and (there was) a fine line between making a gap open up and causing a bit of an accident.”
The Rolex 24 is the first of five IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races on the 2026 calendar. By leading at all four junctures when endurance points were awarded, the No. 7 Porsche has opened a significant lead over the competition.
By Tony DiZinno
IMSA Wire Service
SEBRING, FL (March 15, 2025) – A historic sports car race added another chapter to international sports car racing lore on Saturday night.
Nick Tandy adds an overall Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring victory to previous overall victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2015) and the Rolex 24 At Daytona (2025), all with Porsche, to become the 10th driver in sports car history to win the unofficial “Triple Crown of Endurance Racing.”
The other nine are A.J. Foyt, Hans Herrmann, Jackie Oliver, Al Holbert, Hurley Haywood, Mauro Baldi, Andy Wallace, Marco Werner and Timo Bernhard.
This also builds on Tandy’s personal “Tandy Slam” of major 24-hour endurance sports car races achieved at Daytona, Le Mans, the Nurburgring and Spa-Francorchamps. Tandy completed that set at Daytona in January.
He shared the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class and overall winning No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 with co-drivers Felipe Nasr and Laurens Vanthoor as he did in Daytona. All have past Sebring wins; this is Tandy’s fourth Sebring win (GTLM – 2018, 2019, 2020) and the second for both Nasr (DPi – 2019) and Vanthoor (GTD PRO – 2023).
The No. 7 Porsche is also the first car to win back-to-back IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races in Daytona and Sebring in the same season since Wayne Taylor Racing achieved the feat in 2017 with a Cadillac DPi-V.R, albeit with different driver lineups.
The Porsches came alive in the cooler night conditions after fighting most of the race with the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R. The No. 7 Porsche beat the sister No. 6 Porsche, driven by Mathieu Jaminet, Matt Campbell and Kevin Estre by 2.239 seconds, with the No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06 in third.
Inter Europol Competition scored the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class victory with a mix of good strategy, able to emerge in podium position after the final round of pit stops, plus a sprinkle of luck when the leading No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR car ran aground of a Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class car inside the final 20 minutes. Tom Dillmann, Bijoy Garg and Jeremy Clarke shared the winning No. 43 ORECA LMP2 07.
Porsche doubled up victories with the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class with the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 R GT3 (992), shared by Laurin Heinrich, Klaus Bachler and Alessio Picariello. They beat the pair of BMW M4 GT3 EVOs fielded by Paul Miller Racing, the No. 48 car finishing ahead of the No. 1 car.
Winward Racing repeated its 2025 GTD class win with the same trio of Russell Ward, Philip Ellis, Indy Dontje in the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3. A forceful pass by Ellis on last year’s GTD PRO winner, Jack Hawksworth, netted the Winward Mercedes-AMG the top spot.
By Tony DiZinno
IMSA Wire Service
DAYTONA BEACH, FL – History was made on several levels in the 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona to kick off the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.
Porsche Penske Motorsport won its second consecutive Rolex 24, the third overall for team owner Roger Penske and fourth for the team, with the No. 7 Porsche 963 driven by Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor claiming the overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class triumph.
Nasr is the only member of the trio who was part of last year’s winning entry, with a reshuffled lineup. Tandy moved from the team’s No. 6 car, and with the win is the first driver globally to have won all four major 24-hour endurance sports car races in Daytona, Le Mans, Spa-Francorchamps and the Nürburgring overall. Vanthoor was part of last year’s FIA World Endurance Championship-winning lineup with Penske.
The win is Nasr’s third (2024 in GTP/overall, 2022 in Grand Touring Daytona Pro), Tandy’s second (2014 GT Le Mans) and Vanthoor’s first at the Rolex 24.
The team nearly completed a 1-2 sweep, but a late pass by Tom Blomqvist delivered his second straight runner-up finish. Blomqvist co-drove the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06, and got around Matt Campbell’s No. 6 Porsche 963.
“It’s amazing to see the work we’ve done with this Porsche program the last couple years, winning the (IMSA) championship last year, and with the relationship we have with Porsche, our organization, I’m thrilled,” Roger Penske said in victory lane. “It was quite something there at the end!”
History was also made in the two Grand Touring classes, as two iconic brands – Mustang and Corvette – both won.
Ford’s newest Mustang scored its first IMSA victory, with Dennis Olsen holding off all comers in the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class in his No. 65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 he shared with Christopher Mies and Frederic Vervisch.
While Mustang beat Corvette in GTD PRO, Corvette emerged victorious in Grand Touring Daytona courtesy of the customer effort from AWA, which scored its second Rolex 24 win (2023 in Le Mans Prototype 3). Drivers Matt Bell, Orey Fidani, Lars Kern and Marvin Kirchhoefer shared the winning No. 13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
Tower Motorsports ascended to the top of Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), in the hands of Sebastien Bourdais, John Farano, Sebastian Alvarez and Job Van Uitert sharing the No. 8 ORECA LMP2 07. The Rolex win is Bourdais’ third in as many IMSA class (Prototype/Overall in 2014 and GT Le Mans in 2017).
All other winners – the three Ford drivers, all four AWA Corvette drivers and the remaining three Tower LMP2 drivers – secured their first Rolex 24 victories and the custom Rolex Daytona timepieces that come with the wins.
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