The Porsche Penske Motorsport was the winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona, which this weekend kicked off the IMSA SportsCar Championship. It had been over 20 years since the German manufacturer had won overall, marking the 19th time they have done so.
It was in the last hour, during a full course yellow and following the final round of pit stops, that Felipe Nasr took the lead for good in the Porsche #7, which he shared with Daniel Cameron, Josef Newgarden, and Matt Campbell.
Until the end, Nasr still had to defend against the attacks of Tom Blomqvist in the final 32 minutes, crossing the finish line 2.112s ahead of the rival Cadillac #31 from Whelen Cadillac Racing. Jack Aitken and Pipo Derani were also in that car.
The overall podium was completed by the Acura #40 from Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, driven by Colton Herta, Jenson Button, Jordan Taylor, and Louis Delétraz, finishing 14.989s behind the leader. The top five also included two Porsches: the #6 from Porsche Penske Motorsport and the #5 from Proton Competition Mustang Sampling. The BMW Team RLL secured the seventh and eighth positions. As for Filipe Albuquerque, the Portuguese driver was in the Acura #10 from Wayne Taylor Racing and fought for the podium, even leading at one point in the race. However, after eight hours, an electrical problem left the car stranded on the track.
It was still possible to return to the pits for repairs, but the 40 lost laps prevented Albuquerque, Brendon Hartley, Marcus Ericsson, and Ricky Taylor from achieving a significant result. They finished ninth in the GTP class and 43rd overall.
In the other classes, Era Motorsport came out on top in the LMP2 with the Oreca #18 driven by Christian Rasmussen, Connor Zilisch, Dwight Merriman, and Ryan Dalziel. They surpassed the Oreca #04 from Crowdstrike Racing by APR by 6.800s, followed by the Oreca #74 from Riley with former Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa. Sean Creech Motorsport fielded the Ligier #33, in which João Barbosa was one of the drivers in a quartet that finished ninth in class and 45th overall.
In the GTD Pro class, Risi Competizione triumphed with the Ferrari #62 driven by Alessandro Pier-Guidi, Daniel Serra, Davide Rigon, and James Calado, beating the Porsche #77 from AO Racing by one lap. Paul Miller Racing placed the BMW #1 in the lowest spot on the podium, three laps behind. Winward Racing prevailed in the GTD class with the Mercedes #57 driven by Daniel Morad, Indy Dontje, Philip Ellis, and Russell Ward, finishing just 2.731s ahead of the Ferrari #21 from AF Corse. Another Ferrari closed out the podium, the #34 from Conquist Racing, one lap behind the top two finishers.
