A Great Start to 2025 – Rolex 24 at Daytona
By Jack Webster & Eddie LePine. Photos by Jack Webster
As is so often the case, the last week in January seems to bring cold weather to Daytona Beach, just in time for the running of the first IMSA race of the season, the Rolex 24 at Daytona. This year was no different, for not only did race week start out quite cold, but northern Florida was
even hit with a snowstorm.
While there was no snow at Daytona, the cloudy skies and cold temperatures that greeted the racers to start the race week turned out to be the opposite of the competition – which was as hot as can be all week and all race as well.
The skies finally cleared on Friday, and although still a bit chilly, the sun made everything seem
better and warmer. Race day itself dawned clear and bright, with blue skies which would then
dominate much of the race. Temperatures moderated as well, with Saturday night’s lows
tolerable and Sunday’s high quite pleasant.
But enough about the weather – regardless of the conditions, a massive crowd showed up to
see the 62 nd running of the Rolex 24. We may sound like a broken record, but honestly, we have
never seen so many people on hand for a sports car race at Daytona. At the start of the race,
even the grandstands along the main straight were full of fans. The grid walk was packed, so
much so it was hard to move around. Race fans were treated to something unique to IMSA
racing – total access. Perhaps that is one of the reasons for the fantastic growth of IMSA racing the past few years (in addition to the outstanding racing, cars and drivers). Think about it,
access at IMSA races is unprecedented in all of sport. The access the fans get at an IMSA race
would be like the NFL letting its fans not only onto the field for the Super Bowl, but into the
locker rooms as well. However, with this access does come some responsibility. We were
disheartened to learn of some equipment going missing from the garages during the race. That
behavior needs to be nipped in the bud. It is going to be up to the real fans of sports car racing
to keep an eye on things and report suspicious activity. All the real fans want to keep the access
to the teams and drivers – they certainly don’t want things restricted as in other forms of
racing.
We were very happy to run into old friend and endurance racing legend Tom Kristensen at
Daytona, and see that he is looking very well and enjoying his current assignment as
ambassador for Rolex.
One can only imagine what the outcome could have been had the GrandAm and American Le
Mans series come together while Tom was still racing for Audi. Perhaps Tom could have added
another Rolex or two to his current collection? Would we likely see Audi in the GTP ranks in
IMSA? Who knows?
Rolex announced at Daytona that they will have expanded involvement in IMSA racing in 2025
and beyond, as they are now the official timepiece of IMSA. Word has it that they are going to
be more heavily involved with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring as well. More details as they
become available.
In the Rolex 24 at Daytona, at the end of twice around the clock intense racing, it was Porsche
Penske Motorsports once again at the top of the standings, with the #7 Porsche 963 of Felipe
Nasr, Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor taking the victory, just as it did last year.
As has become the norm in IMSA WeatherTech racing, the margin of victory was small – only
1.335 seconds separated the winning Porsche from the second-place finishing Acura ARX-06
from MSR, piloted by Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist. The second
Porsche Penske 963, driven by Mathieu Jaminet, Matt Campbell and Kevin Estre rounded out
the podium, finishing just 4.43 seconds behind the winning car.
…it was announced that Porsche Penske will be taking a third car to Le Mans to try and finally capture that one thing that is missing from Roger Penske’s résumé: an overall Le Mans victory.
Felipe Nasr: “This victory feels even better than 2024 – winning here twice in a row is a very
special point in my career. Thanks to everyone in the team. The work they did was simply
fantastic. I don’t know how to put my emotions into words. There’s a feeling of happiness
inside me that I can’t describe right now. Simply unbelievable!”
Nick Tandy: “I am so proud to have won this race with Porsche. Eleven years ago was the last
time I was on the top step of the Daytona podium – back then in the GT class with a red and
white Porsche and this time again with a red and white Porsche. Three years of hard work have
brought us here. We all did it together. At some point years ago, someone told me that nobody
had ever managed to achieve overall victory in the four biggest 24-hour races. Since that day,
this goal has been in the back of my mind. Now it has been realized. It feels great to be the first
person to achieve something like this.”
The Captain, Roger Penske: “What an incredible day for the entire Porsche Penske Motorsport
organization. Both of our Porsche 963s and the drivers showed great speed and reliability. The
crews performed flawlessly which is a result of meticulous preparation by everyone on the
team. 2024 was an unmatched season of success starting with a win at the 24 Hours of Daytona
and it’s great to repeat that success to start 2025 with the third overall win for Team Penske
and the 20th victory for Porsche.”
In LMP2, at the podium we all thought that the Tower Motorsports ORECA had won the class
with drivers John Farano, Sebastián Alvarez, Sébastien Bourdais and Job Van Uiltert had, but on
January 29 it was announced by IMSA that the Tower Motorsports entry had been disqualified
due to excessive wear on the skid block. The team appealed the decision, since they claimed
that the wear was caused by a shock failure during the race, but to no avail. It must have been
gutting to have to return the trophies and the Rolex watches. Tower Motorsports driver
Sébastien Bourdais took to social media to express his frustrations and Tower Motorsports
released a statement to clarify what had happened. It is unfortunate that such a seemingly
small, unintentional infraction can cost a victory, but unless changes are made to the IMSA rule
book which would provide some leeway, the finding seems harsh, but within the rules.
We have to note that the Porsche Penske overall victory at the 6 Hours of the Glen was taken
away in June of 2023 under similar circumstances – excessive skid block wear.
The LMP2 victory at Daytona then went to the United Autosports ORECA piloted by Daniel
Goldburg, Paul Di Resta, James Allen and Rasmus Lindh. Daniel Goldburg: “The team, the
drivers and I all had a similar feeling on Sunday. We knew we should be pleased with pole and
second…but we weren’t. We had executed the race so well, made no mistakes…and then a
strange penalty took us out of the fight for the lead right at the end. It took about 36 hours for
me to come to terms with it, and I did ultimately feel pleased. Then I got the call to say we’ve
won it! Wow. Just wow. What a start to the season.”
In GTD-PRO, it was an historic first win for Ford Multimatic Motorsports and the Ford Mustang
GT3, piloted by Christopher Mies, Frédéric Vervisch and Dennis Olsen, holding off the Pratt
Miller Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims and Daniel Juncadella by just
under two seconds at the finish. Rounding out the podium was the #64 Ford Mustang with
Mike Rockenfeller, Austin Cindric and Sebastian Priaulx sharing driving duties. Christopher Mies:
“It’s unbelievable. One year ago, we came here with a brand-new car, finished the race with no
real issues but obviously we were lacking pace. So some small things on the bodywork which
sent us back and now coming back exactly one year later and winning the race…What a
difference a year makes.”
Finally, in GTD the AWA Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Orey Fidani, Matthew Bell, Lars Kern and Marvin
Kirchhofer took the top spot, finishing 1.454 seconds ahead of the Wright Motorsports Porsche
911 GT3 R of Adam Adleson, Elliott Skeer, Tom Sargent and Ayhancan Guven. Rounding out the
podium was the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, with drivers Tom Gamble,
Zacharie Robichon, Mattia Drudi and Casper Stevenson. Matthew Bell: “We knew we had a
good car from the start of the Roar. AWA put in so much work since before the checkered flag
at Petit Le Mans, and when we hit the track on Friday two weeks ago we felt we had something
underneath us that we could go and take on the competition with. So that gives you some
confidence. I said this to everybody multiple times, that we were just waiting for the dream to
stop, it can’t be this good kind of thing.”
Porsche leaves Daytona with the lead in the GTP championship, and it was announced that
Porsche Penske will be taking a third car to Le Mans to try and finally capture that one thing
that is missing from Roger Penske’s résumé: an overall Le Mans victory.
The GTP ranks keep getting stronger. Twelve cars (4 Porsches, 3 Cadillacs, 2 Acuras, 2 BMWs
and 1 Lamborghini) took the green flag at the Rolex 24 and Aston Martin will join the field at
Sebring with their new Valkyrie GTP. There continues to be talk of other manufacturers waiting
in the wings, so look for more announcements in the coming days, weeks or months (Ford,
McLaren, Hyundai, or others?). Nothing breeds success like success, and the GTP/LMDH
formula has attracted the interest (and money) of manufacturers. (After the race, Ford committed to fielding a Hypercar team for the 2027 WEC season. Stay tuned – Ed.)
As unashamed fans of the four rings (Audi) and their outstanding history in sports car racing in
the past and at the start of the 21 st century, one can hope that perhaps at some point Audi
takes a strong look at the GTP/LMDH format for perhaps a future entry. Seems strange to not
see them on the grid. Formula One success for Audi? Only time will tell. GTP and LMDH
success? – with their experience, a much more achievable goal, it seems to us.
All in all, the 2025 race was an outstanding and historic Rolex 24. It featured close racing, lots of
action and even some controversy after the checkered flag. 61 cars started and 40 cars finished
– and each has their own story to tell. The best teams, drivers and cars in the world took part
and put on a fantastic show for the fans – both the ones there in person and the millions who
watched on TV or the internet.
It is now on to Sebring for round two of the new golden era of sports car racing – the IMSA
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
See you at the races.