We are a quarter of the way home in the 64th Rolex 24 at Daytona. Porsche Penske Motorsport leads the race, but it was not as straightforward as the first three hours.

Pit strategy sent the #7 Porsche back as low as sixth during the yellows in the race’s fourth hour. Cadillac found the lead for the first time as Earl Bamber led for an extended period. In the fifth hour, Julien Andlauer eventually chased down the Kiwi and retook the lead. The #7 was sent back again due to pit strategy during the fifth yellow. The underdogs of JDC-Miller Motorsports in their 2025-spec Porsche 963 went on an alternate strategy and Tijmen van der Helm held off the factory Porsche of Heinrich on track, on pace for over 40 minutes. Right before the six-hour mark, Laurin Heinrich in the #7 powered past, with help from GT traffic, to regain the lead.

Lucky Catch for Palou

Midway during the fourth hour, Alex Palou was caught slow exiting the Le Mans Chicane. The #93 Meyer Shank Acura had to short-change their stint to pit. Palou later confirmed he had a puncture. A solid catch by the reigning Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar champion. The short pit allowed Kaku Ohta to lead the race for a while.

Electrical Gremlins for the Valkyrie

During the fifth hour of the race, Alex Riberas stopped on the track multiple times. The #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie was experiencing electrical problems. The car went back to the garage to further dissect the problems. It did eventually return to the track, but lost 15 laps.

Lamborghini Coming to Life

As the sun was setting and track beginning to cool, Andrea Caldarelli and the Pfaff Motorsports #9 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 came to life. Caldarelli powered his way through the field and fought the Corvettes to take the lead in GTD PRO at one point. The team lost out on the lead during the succeeding pit stop sequence. For Lamborghini fans, seeing the car show this pace has to give them hope they may be in the mix as the race progresses.

Cairoli in the Tires

The fifth Full Course Yellow was deployed at the start of Hour 6 when Matteo Cairoli and the #81 DragonSpeed Corvette in GTD found himself against the tire barriers at the International Horseshoe. Cairoli, to the best of his efforts, did attempt to get the car back going and moving under its own power. His efforts went for naught and the officials decided to draw the yellow. The car was taken back to the garage but the team made fairly quick repairs of the left rear suspension. The car returned to the race 17 laps down on the GTD class leaders.

Retirements

As of the 6 Hour mark, we are now up to five retirements. Before we give a list, can we give a perseverance award to the #83 AF Corse crew? Despite the heavy damage, the team worked to repair the car and get their Oreca back out on track. Unfortunately, Nicklas Nielsen deemed the car was just not safe to keep going and remain competitive leading the team to officially retire the car.

#28 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3R (GTD)

#62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 (GTD PRO)

#120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R (GTD)

#83 AF Corse Oreca 07 Gibson (LMP2)

#16 Myers-Riley Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 (GTD)

Top 3 in Class

For the first time in 2026, points are awarded to the Michelin Endurance Cup.

Top 3: 5-4-3; all other entries from 4th place onwards will earn 2 points.

GTP

  1. #7 Porsche (Laurin Heinrich)
  2. #93 Acura (Nick Yelloly)
  3. #24 BMW (Rene Rast)

LMP2

  1. #99 AO Racing (Jonny Edgar)
  2. #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR (Alex Quinn)
  3. #43 InterEuropol Competition (Tom Dillmann)

GTD PRO

  1. #1 BMW (Neil Verhagen)
  2. #3 Corvette (Marvin Kirchhöfer)
  3. #4 Corvette (Nico Varrone)

GTD

  1. #70 Ferrari (Frederik Schandorff)
  2. #34 Ferrari (Thierry Vermeulen)
  3. #19 Aston Martin (Eduardo Barichello)

Author’s Note: Next update will be at the nine-hour mark.