The wait is over. IMSA returns to kick off their 2026 season with one of the toughest races in the world, the 64th Rolex 24 at Daytona.

60 cars will convene on Daytona International Speedway to claim one of the most coveted trophies in all motorsports, the Rolex Daytona Cosmograph. The watch will be awarded to each of the four class winners of IMSA’s grueling season-opening test. We now have pre-season testing behind us. All that’s left to do is race. Let’s take a look at each class to see where the winner may come from.

This article is for the prototype classes only. For the preview of the GTD classes, click here.

LMP2: IMSA’s Lottery

If you think classes with multiple manufacturers and close racing is hard to predict, try a class where everyone essentially has the same equipment. This is the scenario for IMSA’s LMP2 class. All thirteen teams will be utilizing the Oreca 07 chassis. If you like a class where driver talent and mechanical skill mean more, then LMP2 is for you. Additionally, LMP2 is a class truly set up for the competitive amateur. IMSA requires each car to have at least one Bronze-rated driver and said Bronze driver has to qualify the car. Beyond that, anything goes as far as drivers concerned (ok, not really).

When looking at the class, there is no shortage of stories to follow. Bryan Herta Autosport is teaming up with PR1 Mathiasen to step up to the big series. Logan Sargeant is back, this time making his Rolex debut. Intersport returns to IMSA after 14 years away. InterEuropol is doubling their chances with a second car. The Fittipaldi brothers, Pietro and Enzo, are racing together in a car for the first time. Oh, and Spike has gone golden to celebrate his championship success. All of them stand a chance at victory this weekend. But there are two teams I have not mentioned that are trying to distance themselves as favorites.

Can United defend?

United Autosports inherited the class win last year after Tower Motorsports failed tech inspection. This year, they came to the Roar with the intention of being first to the flag. In particular, their #2 was always hovering at the top of the leaderboard in every session. Canada’s Phil Fayer is set for a full season as the team’s Bronze driver alongside the trusted hands of Ben Hanley. A pair of new faces will join them at Daytona. Mikkel Jensen (recently announced as a McLaren Hypercar driver) and Hunter McElrea come over from TDS Racing to aid the team in their quest for victory. These two also look to keep their own momentum going as they won the last two races of last season. If the Roar is any indication, these two have settled in to their new surroundings very quickly.

Don’t count out the sister car either. The #22 was second on the road last January and in the right place when everything played out. Only one change on that crew for this year has Gregoire Saucy replacing James Allen. Saucy is an ideal replacement as he was part of the team’s LMGT3 programme in WEC the last two seasons. With many tipping Saucy to join the already announced Jensen with the Hypercar programme, a strong Daytona showing would increase the calls to confirm his services. This would, however, be Saucy’s only scheduled IMSA appearance with Paul di Resta, Daniel Goldberg and Rasmus Lindh all returning from 2025.

Continuity is key and that should not be underestimated. That is not the case for the other team that was quick at the Roar.

TDS Speed: A Red Herring?

On paper, TDS Racing at the top is not a surprise. The team finished the season with back-to-back wins at Indianapolis and Road Atlanta to finish the 2025 season. The #11 team was trading topping sessions with United Autosports throughout the Roar weekend. If you didn’t know any better, you would think nothing has changed. But that is far from the case.

Stephen Thomas, their bronze driver from last season, has retired. As previously mentioned, Mikkel Jensen and Hunter McElrea moved to United. So there is a whole new driver lineup for TDS this season. Tobi Lutke and David Heinemeier Hansson come over from Era while Mathias Beche is set to anchor the lineup. Charles Milesi, drafted in only for Daytona, is the only driver back with the team from last year’s Rolex.

Since entering IMSA in 2023, the French outfit has found success but has yet to win the two big races in Florida. Could a complete reshuffle and revamped driver lineup be the answer to TDS’s breakthrough? The speed has not gone away as the Roar showed. Hopefully, the lack of cohesiveness/newness of drivers won’t be the team’s downfall.

Let’s Choose a Winner

Miguel Bosch: My pick will be the #11 TDS Racing Oreca. The team looks strong once again. You cannot ignore their quick Roar pace combined with their solid momentum to end the 2025 season.

Dylan Spaulding: I am going with the #52 Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1 Mathiasen team. They have a formidable lineup with Misha Goikhberg, Ben Keating, Harry Tincknell and Parker Thompson. LMP2 is always unpredictable with its spec style of racing. With a strong Roar and an experienced driver lineup, Bryan Herta could be leaving Daytona with a Rolex watch as a team owner.

David Lawrence: Can dragons wear watches? I think AO Racing will complement Spike’s golden wings with a Rolex watch. You have a former overall winner in Dane Cameron. Mix in an accomplished Bronze-rated driver in team co-owner PJ Hyett. Toss in a young, talented Jonny Edgar. Finally, add IndyCar race winner Christian Rasmussen. AO Racing won P2 Pro-Am at Le Mans, the European Le Mans Series LMP2 Pro-Am title and the IMSA LMP2 title. I say the momentum keeps rolling and they will be on top after 24 Hours at Daytona.

GTP: Porsche’s Race to Lose?

Porsche Penske Motorsport is the benchmark of the IMSA GTP class. They have won the last two Rolex 24s. They have won the last two season-long drivers and manufacturers titles. With their Evo 963, they were the best package at the Roar. All signs point to Porsche Penske making it a three-peat Sunday afternoon.

If there is any reason for hesitation, it would be the revised driver lineup. With Porsche’s WEC programme no more, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor now move into full season roles with the #6. Matt Campbell returns, but only on long-distance duty. Next door at the sister #7, Felipe Nasr retains his seat while Julien Andlauer joins him for the full season. Completing the lineup for the long distance races is former GTD PRO champion Laurin Heinrich.

If there is one team and manufacturer that overcomes driver changes, it would be Penske and Porsche. The expectation is set and nothing less than the best is accepted. These drivers know that they must perform and perform they will.

A surprise package from the Roar would be the customer JDC-Miller Motorsports team. John Church has put together a young and talented trio. Kaylen Frederick makes his sports car debut after seven seasons of feeder formula racing in Europe and Japan. Flanking him are young sports car veterans Nico Pino and Tijmen van der Helm. The team’s performance is all the more remarkable considering the equipment they have. JDC was hovering at the top of the time charts without a 963 carrying the Evo updates. If you are looking for a dark horse to root for, I might have found your car.

Cadillac at their Heels

The biggest challenge to Porsche’s throne looks to be Cadillac. Wayne Taylor Racing took 2025 back with Cadillac as a rebuilding year. Toward the end of 2025, they found performance and rebounded. In November and January, testing with the Evo updates has Wayne Taylor Racing looking like the team we are used to. The V-Series.R was right on pace with Porsche at the Roar.

Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque and Will Stevens will share the #10 Cadillac. Colton Herta, before getting into his F2 adventure, will do Daytona and Sebring in the sister #40 alongside Jordan Taylor and Louis Deletraz. Everything is in place for Wayne Taylor Racing to earn their first Rolex win since 2021 when, coincidentally, they completed a three-peat.

Action Express Cadillac comes into Daytona with a head of steam. They won the last two races at Indianapolis and Petit Le Mans. We have spoken a lot about momentum in our preview and the same can be applied here. Their core is back with Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti. Joining them for Daytona is one of NASCAR’s most dominant performers from 2025. Connor Zilisch is no stranger to IMSA, but the Cup Series rookie is getting his opportunity in GTP machinery. As you can imagine, the hype machine is real. But can you blame us? He won LMP2 at Daytona and Sebring 2 years ago and how he has since turned NASCAR into his own playground is ridiculous. This is all to say the red Whelen #31 Caddy will be a contender. Don’t fool yourself thinking otherwise.

Acura & BMW: Still feeling things out?

Acura and BMW both have Evos to their GTP machinery and the Roar was mostly quiet affairs for both manufacturers.

Meyer Shank Racing hopes to take one step better after coming so close to that manufacturer championship last season. Mike Shank even said they improved as the 2025 season progressed. Now with 2026 upon us, their first objective is to take their first Rolex win since 2023. A win would mean even more especially with the controversy that surrounded said 2023 win afterwards. The drivers are definitely up to the task. Everybody from 2025 returns with one exception. NASCAR’s AJ Allmendinger is back looking for his second overall Rolex win. He joins the #60 crew of Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun and (the newly knighted) Sir Scott Dixon.

BMW actually topped a session on Friday with one of their M Hybrid V8s. For the German marque, the (relative) question is not the drivers but the team. The well-accomplished Belgian WRT squad joins the IMSA paddock running BMW’s prototype program both stateside and in WEC. Vincent Vosse’s team is digging their heels and making big investments in their American journey. They have a US base in Kannapolis, just outside of Charlotte, to house the IMSA team. They even plan to have a crew fully focused on the IMSA program. But for this Rolex, a hybrid IMSA-WEC crew will run the 2 cars. They have vast experience in 24-hour races, but Daytona is a very different animal than what they are used to.

Both manufacturers look to be on the pace and in the hunt once the race weekend begins on Thursday.

The Valkyrie Meets Daytona

IMSA fans have been waiting on this for a year. 2026 will see the Aston Martin Valkyrie debut in the Rolex 24. The roar of the Valkyrie’s V12 bouncing off Daytona’s high banks is motorsports symphony. As awesome as the car is to sound and look, there is a big question mark over how competitive it will be. Things were not helped when the team lost track time over the Roar test weekend. Heart of Racing had to change the engine on Saturday, missing two sessions (including the all-important night practice). Despite this, there were encouraging signs that the car does have pace posting respectable times.

One of the plaudits of the Valkyrie from 2025 was its reliability. The car finished every race in IMSA, capped by its remarkable runner-up at Petit Le Mans. Both Valkyries finished the 24 Hours of Le Mans with one of them scoring points in a stacked Hypercar field. Furthermore, there was only one race in WEC where a Valkyrie was not running at the end last season. With all that being said, Daytona is a completely different beast.

Elsewhere with Aston Martin, there is little doubt. Heart of Racing knows what it takes to win at Daytona, experiencing class victories in the past. The drivers are also well versed in tackling Daytona. Ross Gunn, Roman de Angelis, Marco Sorenson and Alex Riberas have been tasked to pilot the Valkyrie on its maiden Rolex voyage. If this car does not see the end, I would consider it a disappointment considering the level Aston Martin has already set for itself. With the car being the biggest variable, expectations are modest. How will the second chapter of Aston Martin’s hypercar project begin?

Let’s Choose A Winner

Miguel Bosch: To me, Porsche is the clear favorite. In particular, I like the #6 team. They set the pace during the Roar and with the Penske standard, the expectation is to get the team’s third straight win. Also after two wins from the #7, amongst the mechanics, you feel the #6 team is due a win. I like the Valkyrie as a wildcard if it manages to carry over its momentum from 2025.

Dylan Spaulding: While Porsche has been strong since the start of the Roar, Cadillac has been right on the tail of the 963s. Three straight can be challenging for a team. With Cadillac determined to return to victory lane and the #31 coming to 2026 with momentum from last year, it has the feeling this could be the year for Whelen Action Express Cadillac Racing.

David Lawrence: I don’t disagree with Dylan. I will double down and also select the #31 Action Express Whelen Cadillac. It is hard to fathom Cadillac has not won the 24 since 2020 and Action Express has not won since 2018. The driver lineup will perform. This team is a been there, done that proven package. They are poised for a championship run in 2026 and it will start with a Rolex win on Sunday.

Weekend Guide (all times EST US)

On-Track Schedule

On-track begins Thursday at 10:05am with a 90-minute practice before Qualifying starts at 2:10pm with GTD. Thursday will conclude with its 90-minute night practice session starting at 6:15pm. This is the last opportunity for teams to dial their cars in before “the longest night in racing.”

Friday will consist of one practice at 11:05am. This 75-minute practice session will be the last chance for teams to tune their cars before race day.

The 64th Rolex 24 at Daytona goes green Saturday afternoon at 1:40pm.

How to Watch & Listen

Qualifying coverage streams Thursday at 2:05pm on Peacock (USA) and IMSA YouTube (Global). Peacock will stream ALL 24 hours of the race in the United States starting at 1:30pm Saturday. Main NBC will air the start and opening hour on Saturday at 1:30pm. NBC will pick the race back up at high noon on Sunday carrying the final 90+ minutes of the race to the finish. Outside the United States, the IMSA YouTube channel will stream the race flag-to-flag with IMSA Radio commentary beginning Saturday at 1:30pm.

All on-track sessions can be heard on IMSA Radio, either through the IMSA website or the Radio Show Limited website (select channel RS2). IMSA Radio will have pre-race coverage going live at 1pm Saturday. SiriusXM will simulcast the IMSA Radio feed globally on Channel 206 (Channel 996 in the SiriusXM app) with coverage going live at 1:30pm.

Miguel Bosch and Dylan Spaulding contributed to this article.

Featured Photo: The #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963.