DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A full, talented and ambitious 61-car field – featuring IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar champions, NASCAR stars, IndyCar winners, Formula 1 veterans and a wide assortment of accomplished drivers from 31 countries – took the green flag Saturday afternoon at Daytona Int’l Speedway for the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Blue skies, cool temperatures, a large crowd that even included Miss America – showed up to watch a global A-list of racers competing to earn coveted Rolex Daytona timepieces for their work on the 3.56-mile infield road course that also incorporates portions of the famous speedway’s high banks.
A restart five minutes before the six-hour mark – following the race’s third full course caution period – saw a typically frantic move forward among the lead Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) cars which went three-wide into the first turn.
Ultimately, American Colin Braun prevailed taking the front position in the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 ahead of the defending Rolex 24 race-winning No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 at the race’s quarter-mark.
Mathias Beche held the 12-car Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class lead in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07 – exchanging the front spot with Felipe Fraga, co-driver of the No. 74 Riley ORECA, in a spirited battle out front of that class.
GTD PRO
The new two-car Paul Miller Racing team paced the 15-car Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class. At the six-hour mark, Jesse Krohn was out front in his No. 48 BMW M4 GT3 EVO with Connor De Phillippi third in the sister No. 1 car. They sandwiched Nico Varrone, in the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R at the race’s first quarter point.
The No. 91 Trackhouse by TF Sport Corvette – co-driven by NASCAR stars Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch, along with IndyCar standout Scott McLaughlin and sports car champion Ben Keating was 12th place in GTD at the six-hour mark.
The entire GT field had a “moment” on the opening lap when Nick Boulle’s No. 2 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07 car spun directly in front of them. The evasive action cost the pole-sitting No. 64 Ford Mustang GT3 to relinquish the early lead, but the two Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustangs quickly recovered and ranked among the leaders for much of the following hours.
“It was really bad actually, we were really lucky there,” said Mike Rockenfeller, who was driving the pole-sitting No. 64 Mustang and had took early evasion action.
“We lost a position, both of us (Mustangs) but it doesn’t matter. It’s a long race and the track will change and hopefully it will be a clean race for us and we’ll see where we are at the end.
“I was definitely not ready for that, even though you should be,” Rockenfeller smiled. “Somehow I wasn’t expecting that.’’
GTD
David Fumanelli led the field’s most populous class, the 22-car Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class, in the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3.
For most of the early going, it was the pole-winning GTP BMW M Team RLL team and Porsche Penske pacing the overall field. However, as expected and as usual, the racing was dramatic from the drop of the green flag in all four classes.
The prototype class, in particular, featured numerous lead changes among all the different makes and a wide assortment of drivers.
“I’m not surprised, there’s just so much talent on this grid in terms of manufacturers, drivers, teams, everybody is so close and we’ve seen it in the Roar (test sessions), we’ve seen it in qualifying and the practice sessions, everyone is so close together,” said BMW driver Austrian Philipp Eng, whose No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 started on pole position in the hands of co-driver Dries Vanthoor.
“I was just watching 10 minutes ago and there were three former F1 guys driving cars. So I must say it is incredible and I feel very privileged to be racing against them and with them,’’ he added. “So this (competitive field) is not a surprise to me. I just hope at the end of the race there is a BMW leading the race.’’
Among those former F-1 drivers putting on a show out front was Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing’s Kamui Kobayashi, who spent most of his time in his No. 40 Cadillac V-Series.R at the race’s quarter-mark putting on a passing display.
His teammate Jordan Taylor spoke to the media as the Japanese super-talent pulled into the lead earlier in the night, glanced up and could only smile.
“It’s fun to watch him,” said Taylor, who shared that while other drivers spent their off-days travelling or doing something ‘fun,’ his teammate Kobayashi instead spent one night doing laundry at a local 24-hour laundromat, watched a bit of Netflix and even went to a local Dick’s Sporting Goods and bought a portable sauna he’s used ever since.
“We knew he was going to be like that (pushing to lead the race),” Taylor continued. “You see it all weekend through practices watching his onboards and as he’s learning the new car, you see him making the adjustments to the steering wheel and just having fun. That’s his style and why people love him.
“That’s exactly what I would expect from him watching a restart where everyone is kind of unsure about the conditions and he just goes forward.”
Of note, there were three full-course cautions and the weather dropped from starting temperatures nearing 60 degrees ambient and 90 track to a much cooler mid-50s track and ambient into the night stint. Soft compound tires are now available for GTP teams to run until 10 a.m.
IMSA also hands out the first IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup points of the 2025 season at the sixth hour. The top three teams in each class at designated time periods are awarded five, four and three points, respectively with all others taking home two. At the Rolex 24, Michelin Endurance Cup points are awarded at the sixth, 12th, 18th and 24th hours. Naturally, the cars leading at the six-hour mark take home the five points.
