IMSA 2023: ROLEX 24 GTP Epilogue
The 61st Rolex 24 At Daytona has been a fantastic race full of twists and turns with lots of leader changes in each class and some dramatic moments. During this whole week we’ll cover in detail each class race but let us first enjoy some pictures of the first race for the new GTP cars that were more reliable than many were fearing, at least for the ones used to the IMSA Championship: Acura and Cadillac Racing.
Acura on top
📷 © Luc Warnotte. #60 Meyer Shank Acura ARX-06 at ROLEX 24 2023.
Tom Blomqvist, Hélio Castroneves, Colin Braun and Simon Pagenaud won the 61st Rolex 24 At Daytona with #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06. The Acura boys were the fastest on track and could also benefit from a better energy utilisation as they could run 31 laps stints versus 30 for the Cadillacs.
📷 © Luc Warnotte. #10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 at ROLEX 24 2023.
Ricky Taylor, Felipe Albuquerque, Louis Deletraz and Brendon Hartley ended with #10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 after a strong comeback in the last hour which saw the Wayne Taylor Racing squad moving from fourth to second by passing the two Cadillac Racing.
Cadillac Racing
The three Cadillac Racing are trusting the next 3 spots of the Rolex 24 At Daytona with the two Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillacs V-LMDh ending 3rd and 4th.
📷 © Luc Warnotte. Cadillac Racing #01 team is on the podium with Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon.
📷 © Luc Warnotte. Richard Westbrook, Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber end 4th. With #02 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-LMDh at ROLEX 24 2023.
📷 © Luc Warnotte. Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken end fifth with Whelen Engineering Racing #31.
BMW M Motorsport survived
📷 © Luc Warnotte. #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 at ROLEX 24 2023.
P. Eng, A. Farfus, M. Wittmann and C. Herta with BMW M Hybrid V8 #24 end 6th, 15 laps behind the winners, and are closing the march of GTP cars classified before the LMP2 cars of the 2023 Rolex 24 At Daytona. Sister #25 is ending 131 laps behind the winners and classified last of the cars crossing checkered flag.
Porsche still learning
📷 © Luc Warnotte. #7 Porsche 963 at ROLEX 24 2023.
Both Porsche Penske Motorsport suffered various damages losing too much time in the pits and the garage. Porsche 963 #7 ends 14th overall, 34 laps behind the leaders and sister #6 is ranked 42nd overall having covered 700 laps (783 for the winners) but not running at checkered flag.
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