Porsche Leads Early Times at Rolex 24 Roar Before the 24 Test

Porsche Penske Motorsport kicked off their campaign for a third consecutive Rolex 24 At Daytona with a strong performance in the opening test session of the Roar Before the 24 on Friday. The updated-for-2026 Porsche 963s dominated the GTP leaderboard, claiming the top positions as Felipe Nasr clocked a best lap of 1:36.327 in the #7 car. His co-driver, Laurens Vanthoor, secured third with a time of 1:36.435 in the #6 vehicle.

In an intriguing development, the two factory Porsches were narrowly split by privateer JDC-Miller MotorSports, whose newcomer Nico Pino recorded a time of 1:36.331, just four-thousandths behind Nasr.

Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing’s #40, driven by Louis Delètraz, and #10, piloted by Filipe Albuquerque, rounded out the top five. The BMW M Team WRT Hybrid V8s followed in sixth and seventh places, with Marco Wittmann and René Rast behind the wheel.

The top ten was completed by the #31 Whelen Cadillac, the #93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06, and the #23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie. Notably, both Acura entries used the latter part of the session to clock their laps, with the #60 car failing to set a competitive time.

In the LMP2 class, TDS Racing’s #11 ORECA 07-Gibson led the field with Charles Milesi achieving a time of 1:38.935, two-tenths faster than Pietro Fittipaldi in the #73 Pratt Miller Motorsports ORECA.

The GT classes showcased surprising leaders. In GTD PRO, the #59 RLL Team McLaren GT3 EVO led with a time of 1:44.766 from Dean MacDonald, edging out Andrea Caldarelli in the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2, who was just 0.024 seconds slower. The session saw a brief red flag due to a spin by Will Power in the #75 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, but he resumed quickly.

Meanwhile, Spencer Pumpelly delivered a standout performance in the GTD category, placing the #44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO at the top with a 1:47.304. James Roe and Trent Hindman followed in their respective Mercedes-AMG and Lamborghini entries.

Key Highlights:

• GTP Class:

  1. 7 Porsche 963 – Felipe Nasr: 1:36.327

  2. JDC-Miller #63 – Nico Pino: 1:36.331

  3. 6 Porsche 963 – Laurens Vanthoor: 1:36.435

  4. 40 Cadillac V-Series.R – Louis Delètraz

  5. 10 Cadillac V-Series.R – Filipe Albuquerque

• LMP2 Class:

  1. TDS Racing #11 – Charles Milesi: 1:38.935

  2. 73 Pratt Miller ORECA – Pietro Fittipaldi

• GTD PRO Class:

  1. 59 McLaren GT3 EVO – Dean MacDonald: 1:44.766

  2. 9 Lamborghini GT3 EVO2 – Andrea Caldarelli

  3. 75 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO – Will Power

• GTD Class:

  1. 44 Aston Martin GT3 EVO – Spencer Pumpelly: 1:47.304

  2. 80 Mercedes-AMG – James Roe

The second test session is scheduled to begin at 4:00 PM ET.