Porsche Leads at 64th Rolex 24 at Daytona with Intense Final Hour Ahead
As the final hour of the 64th Rolex 24 at Daytona approaches, Porsche Penske Motorsport’s factory entries are dominating. The #7 Porsche 963, driven by Felipe Nasr, leads the field, closely followed by Laurens Vanthoor in the #6 Porsche, with a gap of approximately 1.5 seconds. Nasr seeks his third consecutive Rolex 24 victory while Vanthoor aims for back-to-back wins.
However, the surge from Jack Aitken in the #31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R adds pressure, with Aitken closing in on Vanthoor amidst challenging GT class traffic. If either Porsche encounters trouble, both the #60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06 (driven by Tom Blomqvist) and the #24 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 (Dries Vanthoor) remain poised in fourth and fifth place.
In the LMP2 class, the #04 ORECA 07-Gibson from CrowdStrike Racing by APR continues to lead, piloted by Alex Quinn. They maintain a solid advantage over the second and third place cars from Inter Europol Competition, with Tom Dillmann in the #43 ORECA trailing by over six seconds.
The GTD Pro category has seen a lead change as Maro Engel in the #75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO has overtaken Andrea Caldarelli in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2. Engel now commands a lead of just under three seconds, with Thomas Preining in the #911 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R trailing in third.
In GTD, Aston Martins are holding strong, with Nicki Thiim in the #44 Magnus Racing Vantage GT3 recently overtaking Mattia Drudi in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Vantage. Despite a warning issued to Thiim for contact with Drudi, both cars remain first and second in class. Robby Foley in Turner Motorsport’s #96 BMW is in third, but stiff competition from Matthew Bell, Philip Ellis, and Kenton Koch suggests the battle for the podium is still wide open.
Notably, the race has seen official retirements, including the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac and No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette due to mechanical issues, while a recent steering problem has sidelined the #23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie.
With just minutes remaining, the intensity of the Rolex 24 continues to build, setting the stage for an electrifying finish.
