Porsche Penske Motorsport triumphed in the 64th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona after a total masterclass performance.

The high banks fell silent after twenty-four consecutive hours at the World Center of Racing. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is off and running for 2026. The largest crowd in Rolex 24 history was not disappointed, as the on-track product delivered from start to finish. Each of the four classes had compelling battles, and each class winner has an amazing story.

GTP: Penske Porsche Three-Peat an Absolute Masterclass

From the first session of the Roar ten days ago, the consensus among many was that Porsche was the favourite to win their third straight Rolex 24. Their evo Porsche 963 looked as if it had been built specifically for Daytona. Porsche Penske dominated this race with an iron fist from the green flag. I will go as far as to say it felt like a hunter toying with its prey.

The car may have fallen back at times during the race. Their adversaries got time to lead, but every time the car dropped back, it weaved through the field and returned to the front. The only handicap for the two factory cars was the #6 suffering damage at the start of the second hour. The team took multiple stops to repair damage to the right sidepod. Laurens Vanthoor took to social media to reveal the extent of the damage.

Despite the damage, the car recovered and remained competitive. The car eventually worked back to the lead. It was only in the final hours the damage affected its performance with the #6 falling back to an eventual forth.

The red, white and black Porsche 963s were just on another level from green to checkered. The race often felt like it was theirs to lose and the team executed to the “Penske Perfect” standard that was expected of them.

Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich in the #7 Porsche 963 emerged victorious after 705 laps. The winning team covered 2,510 miles – not bad considering the race was slowed for 6 hours and 33 minutes overnight due to low-hanging fog. But as dominant as Porsche Penske was over the course of the race, you would not have known if you only watched the final hour or looked at the 1.5 second margin of victory.

Action Express, Cadillac Nearly Steal The Show

Give Cadillac and Whelen Action Express Racing credit, because this team had to fight to get where they were at the end of the race. Their knocking on the door of victory was the climax of a roller-coaster weekend. They won the pole on Thursday, only to be disqualified after failing post-qualifying technical inspection.

The car started from the back and was pegged early due to a restart penalty. It fought back to the lead with Earl Bamber and ran inside the top five through the night and into the morning. But a sixty-second stop-and-go penalty halted their progress again. When the race entered its final stages, Jack Aitken was right back in contention. After the final stop, Aitken caught Nasr and dueled for the lead as they navigated GT traffic inside the final 40 minutes.

The deciding moment of the race came with 15 minutes remaining when Aitken got to the inside of Nasr, going as low as he could. Amazingly, without making contact, Nasr was able to close the door going into Turn 1, keeping the Cadillac at bay. As the duo cleared traffic, Aitken was unable to keep pace as Nasr pulled away.

Still, a runner-up finish for Aitken, Bamber, Frederik Vesti and NASCAR’s Connor Zilisch is a well-earned result. Furthermore, it sets the team up to pursue the GTP championship.

Podium on Debut for WRT

Rounding out the podium was the #24 BMW for IMSA newcomers Team WRT. A podium on debut bodes well for the Belgian outfit that is taking over BMW’s GTP programme. Dries Vanthoor, Kelvin van der Linde, Robin Frijns and René Rast scored the well-deserved result.

The team knew their best chance for a strong finish was to maximise strategy and reliability. Their run was not trouble-free, as they had to quickly fix an electrical problem at the front of the car overnight.

Despite this minor hiccup, the car led the race in the closing stages. But like everyone else who led, they were caught and passed by the Penske Porsches. After the final pit stop, Dries Vanthoor managed to catch and pass Kevin Estre in the #6 Porsche, which was dealing with a damaged floor. Vanthoor pulled away and maintained third place to the end.

For BMW, this felt like a victory after also debuting an evo version of their M Hybrid V8. Let’s see how WRT builds on this result, as they will be a team to watch this season.

LMP2: Spin(s)-And-Win for Crowdstrike by APR

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz has been trying since 2021 to earn a Rolex watch. He finished third once and second twice in his previous attempts. And if we are being honest, it did not look at the start of the race like the sixth time would be the charm either. Kurtz was caught up in the wild LMP2 opening-lap mess that put him behind the eight ball.

Kurtz would go on to spin the car twice more during his driving stints. Despite this, he held his own while leading the race at the controls. After completing his minimum six hours of driving, he handed the car over to his younger teammates.

It was Alex Quinn who made the difference in the race’s final hours. With the car needing to stop for fuel in the final minutes, many thought the lead would be surrendered. However, Quinn put in a series of rapid laps before coming to pit lane. After the splash-and-go, the Brit returned from the pits, to the surprise of many, well ahead of Tom Dillmann in the pursuing #43 Inter Europol Oreca. Quinn kept it on the road and went on to win by five seconds.

While Kurtz gets his long-awaited Rolex 24 victory, it is a first for the entire quartet in the #04. Alongside Kurtz and Quinn were Malthe Jakobsen and Toby Sowery. The two Inter Europol entries, #43 and #343 in that order, rounded out the LMP2 podium.

GTD PRO: Paul Miller, BMW power to victory

BMW was not on many people’s shortlist going into the weekend. They had a quiet Roar and did not turn heads. But Paul Miller Racing knows how to put endurance races together. The team is the reigning Michelin Endurance Cup champion in GTD PRO.

Like Action Express in GTP, Paul Miller also had their qualifying time – second-fastest in GTD PRO – disallowed, meaning they had to start from the back. The car ran quietly during the first half of the race, but after the restart for fog, it came to life. They did have a little help along the way.

Corvette was the class of GTD PRO, leading the majority of the race. Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports saw their race go south in Hour 19 when the #3 Corvette suffered a suspension failure. A garage visit eliminated them from contention. Then, on a late restart, Nico Varrone in the #4 Corvette was pushed out by a lap-down GTD PRO Ferrari. The car fell out of the top five and never recovered.

Multimatic Motorsports and Ford were also challenging for victory in the closing stages. In the final hours, the #65 Mustang fell back and finished seventh in class. At least it saw the finish, unlike the sister car. Mike Rockenfeller was at the wheel when the engine on the #64 expired with two and a half hours to go.

Paul Miller Racing found the top 3 in the early morning hours Sunday. Once the #3 Corvette fell by the wasteside, the BMW found the lead. Dan Harper was the anchor leg and the British BMW factory driver held off a late charge from Maro Engel to score victory for the IMSA GT stalwarts. Harper shared the M4 with Max Hesse and full season drivers Connor de Philippi and Neil Verhagen.

The GTD PRO podium was completed by Mercedes. The 75 Express team, with Kenny Habul and his all-star teammates, came home second, while Winward Racing finished third. It was a pretty good day for Winward.

GTD: Winward Outduels Magnus in Last-Hour Shootout

GTD was the most unpredictable class throughout the 24 hours. Leaders came and went. AF Corse, Turner Motorsport, Heart of Racing and Inception all spent time out front. The Fords that impressed everyone at the Roar were nowhere to be found, as both retired.

Throughout the second half of the race, Corvette looked set to go back-to-back as DXDT led the class. But as Scott McLaughlin was leading, the car began leaking transmission fluid. The Kiwi brought the car to the garage and it would not return.

This set the stage for Philip Ellis in the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes, who had led early on, to seize victory. Standing in Winward’s way was Magnus Racing, a team searching for its first IMSA win since 2016. Nicki Thiim charged hard in the final hour in the #44 Aston Martin, trying to snatch the class win away.

Thiim and Ellis battled wheel-to-wheel on the high banks and in the tri-oval. The decisive moment came with 10 minutes remaining when the two made contact on the tri-oval. Both cars maintained control, and Ellis, despite sliding sideways, held his line and speed, regaining the lead in Turn 1. The Swiss driver then drove away and kept the lead for good.

Ellis, Russell Ward, Indy Dontje and Lucas Auer earned Winward’s third GTD win in the last five years. The two-time defending GTD class champions are off to a perfect start, mirroring 2024 when they launched their title run with a Daytona triumph. Behind Thiim and the Magnus Aston Martin, the class pole-sitting #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin finished third.

Finishing the 36 Hours of Florida

Daytona and the Rolex 24 is finally in the rear-view mirror. The teams of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship now get a two-month break before returning to action. Awaiting them is one of the most prestigious and demanding endurance races in the world.

The 74th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring takes place from March 18–21.