10 things we learned at the 24 Hours of Daytona

With new cars, new manufacturers, new drivers and a shock announcement from Formula One champion Jenson Button served up on the side, the 61st running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona was one hell of a race. Here's what we learned after 24 hours of racing on Florida's legendary motorsport Speedway. 

Four manufacturers made up the new Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class that made its debut at Daytona. With Porsche, Cadillac, BMW and Acura lining up for battle in Florida it was Acura which dominated the race for the second year running, taking a one-two victory on Sunday afternoon. With Cadillac occupying third down to fifth in class, it was BMW and Porsche who were left scratching their heads over the pace and performance of their new endurance racers.

Image courtesy of IMSA

Making its debut at Daytona was Porsche's shiny new 963 endurance racer, which Stuttgart hope will go on to challenge for the overall win at Le Mans (10-11 June). But, if its performance on the Speedway is anything to go by, there's a long road ahead. Falling behind due to technical issues, both cars limped across the line 14th and 42nd overall. "We're disappointed, no question about it," said Thomas Laudenbach, VP of Porsche Motorsport. "The good thing is, we know where we now stand and what we need to work on. We'll now prepare systematically for the next race at Sebring in March."

Last lap passes are exciting enough in regular length races but in a 24-hour battle royale, they're legendary. Shortly after the overall win was taken at 24 Hours of Daytona, the LMP2 class went down to the wire on the final stretch of banking. Going wheel to wheel, the Crowdstrike Racing car number four, whose drivers included former Formula One driver Esteban Gutiérrez and Brit Ben Hanley, was pipped to the post by Proton's car 55 by just 0.016 seconds. Heartbreak for the Crowdstrike team, while Proton's four drivers skipped their way to the podium to receive their hard-earned Rolex Daytona timepieces.

Image via Team Proton Competition

Joining the 2009 Formula One champion will be NASCAR and Indycar legend Jimmie Johnson and seasoned endurance driver Mike Rockenfeller as they take on the 24-hour endurance racing challenge in, er, a NASCAR car as part of the series' Garage 56 project. A host of modifications have been made to the Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 race car they'll be piloting but the car still looks and sounds every bit like an all-American muscle racer. With no doors, open windows and a classic NASCAR style spoiler, the car will stand out from the pack of slick sportscars and - shock horror - will feature fully working lights.

Bizarrely, this isn't the first time a NASCAR motor has taken on Le Mans. Back in 1976, a Ford Torino and a Dodge Charger took on the challenge but neither managed to make it to the end of the race. Button, Johnson and Rockenfeller will be hoping to better that when they take on the monster challenge in June 2023.

After making his unusual NASCAR debut at Le Mans in June 2023, Button isn't ruling out doing more road races in the American series. Joining the likes of Kimi Raikkonen and Daniil Kvyat in trying their hand at NASCAR, Button declared he'd be keen to take on some of the road courses - just not the ovals. "I would definitely be interested in racing on street circuits, road courses, but I just don't want to jump in for one race – that's not exciting to me," he said in the pre-race press conference at Daytona on Saturday.

Proudly sporting its all-new V-LMDh racer, Cadillac Racing has gone full-blown American on its new endurance sportscar with a 5.5-litre naturally aspirated V8 - the largest displacement of any of the GTP cars. Standing out from the pack, the Caddy could genuinely be heard thundering around the circuit from well over a mile away. Well, what did you expect from the home race favourites?

Image courtesy of IMSA

Further down the pack from the all-new GTP class sat Ferrari's new 296 GT3, Porsche's 911 GT3.R and Lamborghini's Huracan GT3 Evo2. All based on the production cars that share the same name, it was the Lambo that topped the blocks of all three, with Romain Grosjean and his Iron Lynx teammates securing a respectable fourth place finish in the GDT Pro class.

Image courtesy of IMSA

Well, kind of. The 61st running of the legendary 24-hour race saw hybrids take on the Speedway at Daytona for the first time in US history. Alongside the new electrified powertrains, smaller tyre allocations for the race saw the teams 'double stint' their Michelin tyres and the top GTP class ran on a new VP Racing fuel that's 80 per cent renewable, with the hope of bringing in 100 per cent renewable fuel by 2025. IMSA President John Doonan is keen to see the series serve as a laboratory for manufacturers to test and refine concepts for real world motoring.

Image courtesy of IMSA

America's greatest team owners - the likes of Chip Ganassi, Roger Penske, Michael Andretti and Bobby Rahal - were all present and correct as their respective teams did battle in Daytona. Despite the big names, it was team bosses Jim Mayer and Mike Shank of Meyer Shank Racing who mastered the new GTP hybrid formula, taking home the big shiny trophy for the second consecutive year with their Acura ARX-06. The win showed up both Bobby Rahul's BMWs and Penske's Porsches in the top-flight GTP class, with both bosses only managing a sixth and seventh class finish at best.

Courtesy of IMSA

Finishing 18th in the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class was the Iron Dames team. It's the vision of Women in Motorsport Commission (WIM) president Deborah Mayer to get more women into racing, whether it be driving or engineering. Taking the all-new Huracan GT3 Evo2 out for its debut drive in Daytona, the team ran alongside the sister Iron Lynx GT3 Evo2, which had former F1 pro Romain Grosjean behind the wheel in the GT Daytona Pro class.

Image courtesy of IMSA