Porsche Penske Motorsport Goes Back-To-Back In Rolex 24 With Dominate Performance At Daytona International Speedway

Porsche Penske Motorsport Goes Back-To-Back In Rolex 24 With Dominate Performance At Daytona International Speedway

by January 26, 2025 1 comment

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Porsche Penske Motorsport’s No. 7 Porsche 963 team held on to win the 63rd running of the Rolex 24 and go back-to-back at Daytona International Speedway.

Sunday’s winning team consisted of Felipe Nasr who drove the car to victory in the closing hours, as well as Nick Tandy and Lauens Vanthoor. Not only did Porsche Penske Motorsport win consecutive Rolex 24 events, but both cars finished on the podium with the No. 6 team finishing third. With about 20 minutes remaining in the race, the two Porsche teams battled each other hard in lapped traffic, but they navigated through the chaos and raced one-two for much of the final hour.

“We had talked to them about not racing each other, but obviously these guys are racers, and fortunately, we didn’t get into trouble; I’ve seen that before,” team owner Roger Penske said. “Terrific job by the whole team. When you think about all the drivers we had, they ran strong all day, and the cars, you know, this Porsche car we have has just been amazing and to think we did it two years in a row is a credit to all the people that are here.”

Finishing runner-up overall was Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian’s No. 60 Acura ARX-06 team. Tom Blomqvist piloted the car in the final hour as he aggressively chased after the two Porsche Penske Motorsports cars. With around 3:30 minutes to go, Blomqvist passed by the No. 6 Porsche and set his sights on the lead; however, the clock ran out, and he had to settle for a second-place finish.

Finishing fourth in GTP was BMW M Team RLL’s No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 team. Following a restart in the final hour, the team was battling up front, when the car sustained heavy left front cosmetic damage. The team was forced to pit, ending their chance at a victory.

Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing’s No. 10 Cadillac V-Series.R finished fifth.

In LMP2, Tower Motorsport’s No. 8 team cruised to victory with a 12-lap lead after starting the race last in class. Veteran driver, Sebastien Bourdais drove the car to victory as he won his third-career class victory in the Rolex 24. His teammates this weekend consisted of John Farano, Sebastian Alvarez and Job Van Uitert.

“It wasn’t the most traditional way to win it, but what a day,” Bourdais said. “We were in this thing all night long, and it looked like it was slipping away from us during the day a bit and then we got in the lead and then we lost the lead and then the tangle at the front seemed to really want to give it to us, so we’ll take it.”

United Autosports USA’s No. 22 team what was strong during the nighttime hours finished runner-up followed by Riley’s No. 74 team, PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports’s No. 52 team and Era Motorsport’s No. 18 team.

The battle in GTD PRO only intensified as the clock ticked away. Dennis Olson held on to win the class and earn Ford it’s first IMSA victory for its new Mustang GT3. All race long, the Ford Multimatic Motorsports team had to physically fend off the Chevrolets and BMWs. The victory is Olsen’s second-career class win in the Rolex 24.

 “We had a tough year last year and coming here to Daytona with Multimatic and then Chris (Mies) and Fred (Vervisch) in the car – we had no damage until the end, and when that last restart went, I was just going to go all-in. I didn’t care. It was win or nothing,” said Olson.

Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’s No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R finished second, followed by Ford Multimatic Motorsports’ No. 64 Ford Mustang GT3, which was spun late after contact with a Chevrolet Corvette. Rounding out the top-five was Paul Miller Racing’s No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO and GetSpeed’s No. 69 Mercedes-AMG GT3.

AWA’s No. 13 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R won in GTD with drivers Matt Bell, Orey Fidani, Lars Kern and Marvin Kirchhoefer. The finish became extremely physical on the track, and after the team took the checkered flag, emotions overflowed with shock from winning the prestigious sportscar race.

“It means absolutely everything to me and my whole team,” said Matthew Bell. “Everybody on this team works so hard. To think of where we were last year and how far we’ve come to now. There’s so much hard work going into all of this. From the minute the checkered flag fell in Petit Le Mans, no one took a rest, no one took a break. It has been 24/7 since then to get a car that is capable of winning the Daytona 24 hours.”

Wright Motorsports’ No. 120 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) finished second. Third, was Heart of Racing Team’s No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, which battled hard up front for the lead late in the race. Completing the top-five was Winward Racing’s No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 and Turner Motorsport’s No. 96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

Up next on the schedule for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the Mobile 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway, March 12 – 15.

Photo Credit: Mitchell White/TheFourthTurn.com

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