Acura Meyer Shank Racing Secures Pole for Rolex 24 at Daytona
In a dramatic turn during qualifying at the 64th annual Rolex 24 At Daytona, Acura Meyer Shank Racing’s #93 Acura ARX-06 was awarded pole position after the #31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R failed post-qualifying technical inspection. The disqualification was due to exceeding allowable wear on the rear skid block, demoting Jack Aitken to the rear of the grid.
Qualifying Highlights:
- Pole Position: Renger van der Zande set a lap time of 1:34.041, originally placing him second, but officially elevating him to pole following penalties. This marks his first pole at Daytona since 2018.
- Front Row: The #40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R qualified second with Louis Delètraz clocking in at 1:34.069.
- Defending Champion: Felipe Nasr qualified third for Porsche Penske Motorsport in the #7 with a time of 1:34.183.
The remainder of the top ten featured notable performances, including:
- Fourth: Tom Blomqvist (#60 Acura)
- Fifth: Kévin Estre (#6 Porsche)
- Sixth: Filipe Albuquerque (#10 Cadillac)
- Seventh: Nico Pino (#85 JDC-Miller Porsche)
- Eighth: Dries Vanthoor (#24 BMW)
- Ninth: Marco Wittmann (#25 BMW)
- Tenth: Ross Gunn (#23 Aston Martin)
In the LMP2 category, Jeremy Clarke clinched pole for Inter Europol Competition’s #43 ORECA 07-Gibson, narrowly defeating PJ Hyett by just eight milliseconds, with Clarke’s best time at 1:39.952.
Noteworthy LMP2 Class Results:
- Second: PJ Hyett (#99 AO Racing)
- Third: Daniel Goldburg (#22 United Autosports USA)
- Fourth: Ben Keating (#52 Bryan Herta Autosport)
- Fifth: Tobias Lütke (#11 TDS Racing)
In the GTD PRO class, reigning champion Alexander Sims secured pole for Corvette Racing, posting a 1:45.106, two-tenths ahead of the competition. However, the second-placed #1 BMW will start from the back due to a camber rule infringement.
GTD PRO Highlights:
- Second: #59 McLaren driven by Dean MacDonald (1:45.425)
- Third: Maro Engel (#75 Mercedes-AMG)
Zacharie Robichon achieved pole in GTD for the #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo with a time of 1:45.113, marking Aston Martin’s first GTD pole since 2015.
GTD Class Results:
- Second: Philip Ellis (#57 Mercedes-AMG – 1:45.187)
- Third: Robby Foley (#96 BMW – 1:45.265)
Official night-time practice is set to commence at 6:15 PM EST, further refining the teams’ strategies ahead of the iconic endurance race on Saturday.
