Porsche kicked off the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship with a record 19th win at the 24 Hours of Daytona, also commercially known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
The winning car was the No. 7 Porsche 963 of Porsche Penske Motorsports, driven by Felipe Nasr, Dane Cameron, Matt Campbell, and 2023 Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden.
This was Porsche’s first overall Daytona win since 2003 and the first for the 963, which was Porsche’s entry in the revived GTP (Grand Touring Prototype) class that debuted for 2023. After 15 caution periods, the 24-hour race was decided in the final 32 minutes with a duel between the No. 7 Porsche and the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R team consisting of Pipo Derani, Jack Aitken, and Tom Blomqvist, which finished second.
2024 24 Hours of Daytona
The final step on the podium was taken by Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz, Colton Herta, and 2009 Formula 1 champion Jenson Button in the No. 40 Acura ARX-06 of Wayne Taylor Racing.
Moving down the classes, the No. 18 Oreca LMP2 07 of Era Motorsports finished ninth overall, taking the LMP2 crown with drivers Dwight Merriman, Ryan Dalziel, Connor Zilisch, and Christian Rasmussen.
The big story in the GT production-based classes was the debut of the Ford Mustang GT3, but it had difficulties of the factory-backed cars entered in the race. The No. 65 failed to finish while the No. 64 finished seven laps down, sixth in the GTD Pro class.
2024 24 Hours of Daytona
The GTD Pro win went to the No. 62 Ferrari 296 GT3 of privateer team Risi Competizione, driven by Daniel Serra, Davide Rigon, Alessandro Pier Guidi, and James Calado. It was the first Daytona class win for the stalwart team, which has been competing in sports car racing since 1998.
In the GTD class, Daniel Morad, Philip Ellis, Russell Ward, and Indy Dontje took the class win in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.
The 2024 IMSA season continues Mar. 13 with the 12 Hours of Sebring.
