Daytona 24 Hours: Early Race Insights
As the Daytona 24 Hours reaches the quarter mark, the #7 Porsche from Team Penske, driven by Laurin Heinrich, sits atop the leaderboard. However, the dynamic sixth hour showcased intense competition, particularly from the JDC-Miller Motorsport #963, piloted by Tijmen van der Helm, which initially claimed the lead.
The JDC team strategically opted to stay out during a caution period triggered by DragonSpeed’s Corvette, resulting in a significant track position advantage. Van der Helm maintained their lead until Heinrich executed a decisive overtake into Turn 2 with just two minutes remaining in the hour. Following Heinrich, Nick Yelloly in the #93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura also passed van der Helm, relegating JDC to third as the seventh hour commenced.
In the LMP2 category, AO Racing, driven by Jonny Edgar, remains in front, although their lead diminished due to the caution for the Corvette. Crowdstrike By APR, with Quinn behind the wheel, holds second, while Inter Europol’s #43 ORECA occupies third.
In GTD Pro, Paul Miller Racing’s BMW M4 leads, pursued closely by the Pratt Miller Corvettes. Meanwhile, GTD features a Ferrari 1-2, with Conquest Racing’s 296 GT3 Evo ahead after Thierry Vermeulen overtook Dudu Barrichello in the Heart of Racing Aston Martin. Frederik Schandorff follows in second in the Inception Racing 296.
Significantly, the #912 Manthey Porsche, once leading with Ryan Hardwick, faced a harsh penalty for an improper caution wave-by, dropping them off the lead lap to 16th in class. The situation worsened for DragonSpeed, as their Corvette re-entered the race 15 laps down, now positioned 18th.
As teams push toward the halfway mark, the race remains tightly contested across all classes.
