| |||
The 2026 24 Hours of Daytona was the 64th Daytona 24 hours endurance sports car race sanctioned by International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), taking place from 24 to January 25, 2026, at the Daytona International Speedway combined road course in Daytona Beach, Florida. The race was the opening round of the 2026 IMSA SportsCar Championship season. [1] The overall winner and winner of the GTP class was the #7 Penske Porsche, by 1.5 seconds over the #31 Whelen Cadillac. This was both Penske Porsche’s and driver Felipe Nasr’s third consecutive overall win in the Rolex 24. The LMP2 class was won by the #04 CrowdStrike ORECA. The GTD Pro class was won by the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW. The GTD class was won by the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes.
NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., who built Daytona International Speedway in 1959, conceived the 24 Hours of Daytona to attract European sports-car endurance racing to the United States and provide international exposure to the speedway. [2] It is informally considered part of the Triple Crown of Endurance Racing, with the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. [3]
International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was a part of the 2026 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in March 2025. [4] It will be the thirteenth consecutive year it was a part of the IMSA SCC, and the 64th 24 Hours of Daytona. The 24 Hours of Daytona is the first of eleven scheduled sports car endurance races by IMSA, and the first of five races of the Michelin Endurance Cup (MEC). [4] The race will take place at the 12-turn 3.560-mile (5.729 km) Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida from January 24 to 25. [4]
The Roar Before the 24 Tests occurred from January 16 to 18, 2026, with all cars participating in the test. [64] The first session on Friday morning saw Felipe Nasr top the times in the No. 7 PPM Porsche 963 with a time of 1:36.327, 0.004 seconds faster than Nico Pino's No. 85 JDC Porsche. [65] Charles Milesi's No. 11 TDS Racing car topped LMP2 with a 1-minute, 38.935 second lap. [66] Dean MacDonald was fastest in GTD Pro while Spencer Pumpelly set the fastest time amongst all GTD cars. [65] The second session on Friday afternoon saw BMW move to the top when Sheldon van der Linde, driving the No. 24 car for BMW M Team WRT, turned a 1:36.742 lap. van der Helm's JDC Porsche was second and Laurin Heinrich was third for Porsche Penske Motorsport. [67] Ben Hanley led LMP2 with a time of 1:39.136, ahead of Enzo Fittipaldi's No. 73 Pratt Miller car and Tom Dillmann's No. 43 Inter Europol entry. [68] Mercedes-AMG led GTD Pro with Chaz Mostert's lap of 1 minute, 47.625 seconds, followed by Christopher Mies' No. 65 Ford and Alexander Sims' No. 3 Corvette. Corey Lewis' No. 66 Ford led GTD from Danny Formal's WTR Lamborghini. [68]
Laurens Vanthoor set the fastest lap (1:36.549) on the second day; Filipe Albuquerque's No. 10 WTR Cadillac was second and Heinrich's No. 7 Porsche was third. [69] [70] Mikkel Jensen led in LMP2, at 1:39.770 driving United Autosport's No. 2 car. [71] Power's No. 75 Mercedes-AMG led in GTD Pro with a 1:47.612 lap during the morning session while Romain Grosjean's No. 16 Ford set the fastest time amongst all GTD cars. [72] [70]
Pino's No. 85 JDC Porsche set the fastest time on the final day of testing with a 1-minute, 37.099 seconds lap. Estre was second fastest in the No. 6 Penske ahead of teammate Nasr in the sister No.7 Porsche. Hanley topped LMP2 for United Autosports with a 1-minute 40.1010 seconds lap. Habul's No. 75 Mercedes-AMG topped GTD Pro while Joey Hand's No. 66 Ford led GTD. [73]
There were three practice sessions scheduled preceding the start of the race on Saturday, two on Thursday and one on Friday. The first 90-minute session was on Thursday morning while the second session on Thursday night ran for 90 minutes. The third on Friday morning lasted 75 minutes. [74]
Thursday's afternoon qualifying was broken into four sessions, with one session for the GTP, LMP2, GTD Pro, and GTD classes each. [74] The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am LMP2 class requiring a Bronze rated driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put GTPs ahead of the LMP2, GTD Pro, and GTD cars. [75]
The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac was the fastest car in the qualifying session. However, the car failed post-qualifying technical inspection and was moved to the rear of the GTP grid. As a result, the No. 93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura was promoted to pole position and would start first for the race. [76]
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and with ‡.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Entry | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GTP | 93 | | | 1:34.041 | — | 1‡ |
| 2 | GTP | 40 | | | 1:34.069 | +0.028 | 2 |
| 3 | GTP | 7 | | | 1:34.183 | +0.142 | 3 |
| 4 | GTP | 60 | | | 1:34.235 | +0.194 | 4 |
| 5 | GTP | 6 | | | 1:34.395 | +0.354 | 5 |
| 6 | GTP | 10 | | | 1:34.513 | +0.472 | 6 |
| 7 | GTP | 85 | | | 1:34.617 | +0.576 | 7 |
| 8 | GTP | 24 | | | 1:34.892 | +0.851 | 8 |
| 9 | GTP | 25 | | | 1:35.347 | +1.306 | 9 |
| 10 | GTP | 23 | | | 1:35.382 | +1.341 | 10 |
| 11 | LMP2 | 43 | | | 1:39.952 | +5.911 | 12‡ |
| 12 | LMP2 | 99 | | | 1:39.960 | +5.919 | 13 |
| 13 | LMP2 | 22 | | | 1:40.096 | +6.055 | 14 |
| 14 | LMP2 | 52 | | | 1:40.542 | +6.501 | 15 |
| 15 | LMP2 | 11 | | | 1:40.628 | +6.587 | 16 |
| 16 | LMP2 | 04 | | | 1:40.834 | +6.793 | 17 |
| 17 | LMP2 | 343 | | | 1:40.987 | +6.946 | 18 |
| 18 | LMP2 | 18 | | | 1:41.021 | +6.980 | 19 |
| 19 | LMP2 | 73 | | | 1:41.185 | +7.144 | 20 |
| 20 | LMP2 | 2 | | | 1:41.279 | +7.688 | 21 |
| 21 | LMP2 | 8 | | | 1:41.563 | +7.522 | 22 |
| 22 | LMP2 | 83 | | | 1:41.576 | +7.535 | 23 |
| 23 | LMP2 | 37 | | | 1:42.131 | +8.090 | 24 |
| 24 | GTD Pro | 3 | | | 1:45.106 | +11.065 | 25‡ |
| 25 | GTD | 27 | | | 1:45.113 | +11.072 | 40‡ |
| 26 | GTD | 57 | | | 1:45.187 | +11.146 | 41 |
| 27 | GTD | 96 | | | 1:45.265 | +11.224 | 42 |
| 28 | GTD | 36 | | | 1:45.274 | +11.233 | 43 |
| 29 | GTD | 19 | | | 1:45.381 | +11.340 | 44 |
| 30 | GTD Pro | 59 | | | 1:45.425 | +11.384 | 26 |
| 31 | GTD Pro | 75 | | | 1:45.448 | +11.407 | 27 |
| 32 | GTD Pro | 033 | | | 1:45.506 | +11.465 | 28 |
| 33 | GTD | 21 | | | 1:45.527 | +11.483 | 45 |
| 34 | GTD | 81 | | | 1:45.539 | +11.498 | 46 |
| 35 | GTD Pro | 65 | | | 1:45.595 | +11.554 | 29 |
| 36 | GTD | 80 | | | 1:45.620 | +11.579 | 47 |
| 37 | GTD Pro | 69 | | | 1:45.633 | +11.592 | 30 |
| 38 | GTD Pro | 4 | | | 1:45.656 | +11.615 | 31 |
| 39 | GTD Pro | 62 | | | 1:45.662 | +11.621 | 32 |
| 40 | GTD Pro | 48 | | | 1:45.693 | +11.652 | 33 |
| 41 | GTD | 70 | | | 1:45.837 | +11.796 | 48 |
| 42 | GTD Pro | 9 | | | 1:45.959 | +11.918 | 34 |
| 43 | GTD | 120 | | | 1:45.997 | +11.956 | 49 |
| 44 | GTD Pro | 14 | | | 1:46.029 | +11.988 | 35 |
| 45 | GTD Pro | 64 | | | 1:46.029 | +11.988 | 36 |
| 46 | GTD Pro | 911 | | | 1:46.034 | +11.993 | 37 |
| 47 | GTD Pro | 77 | | | 1:46.242 | +12.201 | 38 |
| 48 | GTD | 023 | | | 1:46.290 | +12.249 | 50 |
| 49 | GTD | 45 | | | 1:46.292 | +12.251 | 51 |
| 50 | GTD | 34 | | | 1:46.556 | +12.515 | 52 |
| 51 | GTD | 12 | | | 1:46.636 | +12.595 | 53 |
| 52 | GTD | 44 | | | 1:46.851 | +12.810 | 54 |
| 53 | GTD | 13 | | | 1:47.051 | +13.010 | 55 |
| 54 | GTD | 66 | | | 1:47.121 | +13.080 | 56 |
| 55 | GTD | 912 | | | 1:47.414 | +13.373 | 57 |
| 56 | GTD | 123 | | | 1:47.682 | +13.641 | 58 |
| 57 | GTD | 28 | | | 1:47.686 | +13.645 | 59 |
| 58 | GTD | 16 | | | 1:48.220 | +14.179 | 60 |
| 59 | GTP | 31 | | | Time disallowed 1 | 11 | |
| 60 | GTD Pro | 1 | | | Time disallowed 2 | 39 | |
| Source: [77] [78] | |||||||
Entering turn 1 immediately after the start, there was a four car crash in the LMP2 class. Two of those cars collided again in the runoff while trying to return to the track.
At 12:46 am local time the yellow flag was waved due to low visibility caused by fog. The yellow flag would continue for six hours, thirty three minutes and twenty five seconds. The green flag was waved at 7:19 am local time, restarting the race.
Class winners denoted in bold and with ‡
Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.