Rolex 24 after 6 Hours racing

Cadillac generally set the pace in the first quarter of the 62nd running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona but Matt Campbell in the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 was leading the race at the 6-hour mark.

All 10 GTP were still within 52.003 seconds with a ranking changing depending on pit stops and several safety cars.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona 2024. All GTP and LMP2 cars ready to go in turn 4.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona 2024. Start of the 2024 ROLEX 24 at Daytona at 1:40 pm local time under scattered clouds and in summery temperatures of 26 degrees Celsius.

Brazilian Felipe Nasr advanced to second place at the start in the #7 car and defended his position over many laps before dropping down the order as the team concentrated on saving new sets of tires for later in the race.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona 2024. #7 Penske Porsche 963.

“In the heat of the day, Cadillac seems to have an advantage, especially under braking and traction,” Nasr related. “They seem to handle better in those two areas. They have the upper hand now, but ask me in a few hours and we might have a different answer.” Source: IMSA

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona 2024. #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R

The #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series,R, which bolted to the pole with a track-record lap at the hands of reigning GTP champion Pipo Derani, led early on and recorded the fastest lap of the race (1 minute, 35.863 seconds) on Lap 2. Jack Aitken and Tom Blomqvist also led laps in the first quarter of the race. Campbell (#7 Porsche) took over two-time defending Rolex 24 winner Tom Blomqvist (#31 Cadillac) a couple of laps after the fourth caution of the event, some five hours and 20 minutes into the race.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona 2024. #01 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R

Sebastien Bourdais, who drove the #01 Cadillac V-Series.R to second in the 15-minute qualifying session on Jan. 21, led during his two-plus-hour stint. Scott Dixon and Alex Palou also took turns at the front of the 10-car GTP field. Renger van der Zande will be in the car in the early evening.

“We knew we were going to have a fight, and we do,” Bourdais said. “I think the car shows that it’s got plenty of pace; I’ve never been in doubt of that. We knew we had the strong package as far as optimizing the performance level we have at our disposal, but it won’t be easy if it comes down to a drag race in the last 30 minutes.” Source: IMSA

LMP2

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona 2024. #04 Corwdstrike Racing by APR.

G. Kurtz, C. Braun, T. Sowery and M. Jakobsen in #04 Corwdstrike Racing by APR were leading the LMP2 class, one lap ahead of 7 LMP2s remaining since 4 crashed causing two cautions.

GTD / GTD PRO

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona 2024. #1 Paul Miller BMW M4 GT3.

B. Sellers, M. Snow, N. Verhagen and S. van der Linde with Paul Miller #1 BMW M4 GT3 were leading the pack of GTD/GTD PRO cars one lap ahead of 19 GT3 in the same lap!

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