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BMW Leads as Teams Prepare for the Daytona 24 Hours
BMW emerged as the fastest contender during the official Roar test leading up to the Daytona 24 Hours, the season opener for the IMSA SportsCar Championship. Over the course of the three-day test held at Daytona International Speedway, the #24 Rahal BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh, piloted by Dries Vanthoor, clocked a remarkable time of 1m35.424s on the opening day, setting a benchmark for the competitors.
Vanthoor’s impressive performance in the second session narrowly surpassed Nick Yelloly’s best effort of 1m35.619s in the #93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 LMDh, contributing to an intense rivalry among the top teams. Acura secured a strong presence, with Tom Blomqvist’s opening session time of 1m35.827s placing the #60 Shank Acura third overall in the combined times.
BMW demonstrated consistent speed on Saturday, leading both daylight sessions. Marco Wittmann showcased the capabilities of the #25 Rahal entry in the morning, while Sheldon van der Linde topped the afternoon session. In contrast, Porsche shone during the night, with Laurens Vanthoor in the #7 963 LMDh, operated by the factory Porsche Penske Motorsport team, recording the fastest time.
The only wet session of the test was dominated by the customer Proton Competition Porsche driven by Neel Jani, who set the fastest lap. Unfortunately, this session faced significant delays of over two hours due to adverse weather conditions, including heavy rain and lightning.
Lamborghini also made its mark, securing fourth place with Romain Grosjean’s time of 1m36.041s in the factory SC63 LMDh. Meanwhile, Van der Linde also performed admirably in the #25 BMW, achieving a time of 1m36.093s, positioning the team fifth in the overall standings.
Competitive Atmosphere at Daytona
Other notables included Gianmaria Bruni, who finished sixth with a 1m36.182s in the #85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche during the opening session. Laurens Vanthoor seized seventh with a night session time of 1m36.271s, just ahead of Earl Bamber in the #31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh.
The top ten was rounded out by Mathieu Jaminet in the #6 PPM Porsche and Filipe Albuquerque in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac. In the LMP2 class, the #04 Algarve Pro Racing ORECA-Gibson 07, driven by Malthe Jakobsen, led with a test-best time of 1m38.673s from the opening session, while Ben Hanley was closely behind in the #2 United Autosports ORECA with a time of 1m38.806s.
In GT Daytona Pro, Andrea Caldarelli topped the leaderboard with a time of 1m47.626s in the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, followed closely by reigning class champion Laurin Heinrich in the AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3-R with a time of 1m47.775s. Lamborghini continued to impress, also taking the lead in GTD with Franck Perera clocking a time of 1m48.036s in the Forte Racing Huracan.
Another significant change this year is the rescheduling of the Daytona 24 Hours qualifying sessions, which have been moved back into race week after being held during the Roar weekend for the past four years. These qualifying sessions are now set to occur Thursday afternoon, marking the first day of track activity during the race week.
Photos from The Roar Before The 24 Sunday
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