A good race to start the season with lots of new cars.
Lap Chart
The lap-by-lap position chart shows a highly dynamic race early on, with frequent position changes driven by traffic, pit sequencing, and incidents, before compressing significantly during the extended fog period. The fog effectively reset the field, freezing gaps and bunching the leaders, after which the running order became more structured and position changes were largely strategy-based rather than pace-driven.
The eventual winner, the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport, is notable for its positional stability: it spent the vast majority of laps inside the top three and repeatedly cycled through the lead without ever falling into the midfield. After the fog interruption, the #7 consistently re-emerged at the front following each pit cycle, allowing it to control track position in the closing hours and convert long-run consistency into a defensive win.
How close were the classes?
Across all three views, GTD Pro is consistently the tightest class, with the smallest lap-time spread regardless of whether you look at the top 10, top 220, or full top-395 laps, while GTD shows the widest variability, especially when longer stints are included. GTP and LMP2 sit in the middle, with GTP showing slightly more consistency over longer averages and LMP2 tightening up as the sample grows, indicating stable race pace once runs are established.
We still have close racing, particularly in GTD Pro and GTP where lap-time spreads stay well under half a second even as the sample size grows. GTD is the outlier with larger variance driven by traffic, drivers, and stint effects, but the fact that the top runners still cluster tightly suggests the field is competitive rather than strung out.
GTD
The 2026 Rolex 24 at Daytona GTD race was a classic endurance battle with multiple lead changes and strategic swings over the full 24 hours, and ultimately it was Winward Racing’s No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 that took the GTD class victory, just over a second ahead of the nearest rival after a late door-to-door fight in the closing laps. Philip Ellis, Russell Ward, Indy Dontje and Lucas Auer combined pace, patience, and clean stints to prevail in a race that featured 14 different GTD leaders and long neutralisations overnight. Aston Martin runners filled out the podium and several contenders — including Chevrolet and BMW entries — ran strong but could not quite match Winward’s execution in the final phase.
From the onboard pace data, BMW nonetheless showed the strongest sustained GTD rhythm, leading the fastest laps and all three average windows (Top-10, Top-220, Top-395), underlining a package that combined outright speed with race-long consistency. Aston Martin, Ferrari, Chevrolet, and Mercedes-AMG were tightly bunched across those averages — typically within a few tenths — illustrating how small performance differences were in long green-flag runs.
Fastest Laps and Averages
BMW set the outright GTD pace benchmark, leading the Top-10, Top-220, and Top-395 lap averages, showing the best blend of peak speed and long-run consistency. Aston Martin, Ferrari, Chevrolet, and Mercedes-AMG formed a tightly packed second group, generally within ~0.3–0.5s of BMW across all average windows, indicating strong BoP convergence. Porsche and Ford showed the widest spread in longer averages, with competitive top laps but more degradation and variability as stint length increased.
Drivers
Robby Foley (BMW #96) and Tom Gamble (Aston Martin #27) produced the fastest individual laps, both dipping into the mid-1:46s. Over Top-10, Top-30, and Top-60 lap averages, Foley, Gamble, and the lead Mercedes-AMG drivers (Ellis, Dontje) consistently ranked at the front, highlighting repeatable pace rather than one-lap peaks. Drivers with higher lap counts tended to show tighter average clustering, while lower-lap drivers showed more variance despite similar fastest laps.
Sectors
Ferrari dominated Sector 1 outright, repeatedly posting the fastest infield entry times, while BMW and Mercedes-AMG were strongest through Sector 2, the longest and most speed-sensitive segment. Aston Martin consistently led Sector 3, suggesting superior exit efficiency onto the banking and helping explain their strong stint-average performance despite not topping outright fastest laps.
GTD PRO
The GTD PRO race at the 2026 Rolex 24 at Daytona was decided in the final hours, not by outright pace but by precision under pressure. Paul Miller Racing’s BMW M4 GT3 EVO (#1) emerged victorious after 662 laps, holding off a late charge from the #75 Mercedes-AMG by just over two seconds at the flag, the closest GTD PRO finish in recent Daytona memory. Corvette, Porsche, and Ferrari all spent time in the lead fight, but each lost ground through small execution errors, penalties, or timing missteps rather than any fundamental lack of speed, allowing BMW to convert a clean final stint into the win.
The performance data aligns closely with that outcome. BMW sat at or near the top of every key pace metric, setting the fastest race lap and leading the Top-10, Top-220, and Top-395 lap averages, indicating both peak capability and long-run stability. Mercedes-AMG matched BMW closely on sustained averages and actually edged several sectors, but the gap never opened enough to compensate for lost track position late in the race.
Corvette’s race tells a different story in the numbers. The Z06 GT3.R was not the fastest car on paper, but its Top-395 average was effectively best-in-class, underlining how strong the program was over true race distance. That consistency kept Corvette in the hunt until the end, but without sector dominance or a late swing in track position, it was BMW’s combination of speed, balance, and execution that ultimately won the race.
Fastest Laps and Averages
BMW and Chevrolet set the outright pace on single-lap speed, with the BMW (#1) recording the fastest race lap and both marques leading the Top-10 lap averages. Over longer stints, BMW, Chevrolet, and Mercedes-AMG converged tightly in the Top-220 averages, separated by only a few hundredths, indicating near-identical sustainable race pace. By the Top-395 averages, Chevrolet edged marginally ahead while BMW and Mercedes-AMG remained within tenths, with Ford and Porsche slightly offset but still firmly in the lead group.
Drivers
Dean MacDonald (McLaren) set the fastest individual lap of the race, while Maro Engel and Jules Gounon (Mercedes-AMG) were consistently among the quickest across short averages. Engel led the longer Top-30 and Top-60 driver averages, highlighting Mercedes-AMG’s strength in sustained pace rather than peak laps. Chevrolet drivers showed depth with multiple entries clustered tightly in the averages, reinforcing their car-level consistency across driver lineups.
Sectors
Porsche dominated Sector 1 (infield entry/exit) with the quickest Top-220 averages, while Mercedes-AMG controlled Sector 2, reflecting strong straight-line and braking efficiency. BMW led Sector 3 averages, suggesting superior performance through the final infield and onto the banking, completing a picture of balanced but differently optimized cars across the lap.
LMP2
A double podium for #43 and #343 Inter Europol!
After years of consistently brilliant LMP2 performances, Inter Europol Competition have earned a clear shot at GTP or Hypercar competition in IMSA or the WEC.
LMP2 at the 2026 Rolex 24 settled into a classic Daytona endurance fight: clean execution at the front, relentless pressure behind, and tiny margins deciding the win rather than outright pace swings. CrowdStrike Racing by APR controlled the race from a position of strength, combining the outright fastest lap with consistent stint-by-stint execution to take the class win after 686 laps. Inter Europol Competition mounted the only sustained challenge, with the #43 finishing just 5.6 seconds back on the same lap, while the sister #343 lost a lap late but remained firmly in the lead group for most of the race.
The performance data explains how tight this battle really was. CrowdStrike led every average window (Top-10, Top-220, Top-395), but the advantage was measured in hundredths, not tenths, with Inter Europol’s #43 and #343 posting near-identical long-run averages throughout the race. AO Racing and United Autosports remained within striking distance on pace, but CrowdStrike’s ability to combine the fastest laps with the strongest long-run averages ultimately converted pace into victory.
At driver level, CrowdStrike’s edge came from consistently quick reference laps rather than a single standout stint, while Inter Europol’s depth across both cars kept pressure on until the final hours. Sector data reinforces that this was not a one-corner or one-sector story: Inter Europol repeatedly topped the middle sector, CrowdStrike traded best times in S3, and gaps across all sectors stayed minimal. In the end, the race was won on cumulative execution—clean laps, low pace degradation, and no late mistakes—rather than any decisive performance spike.
Fastest Laps and Averages
CrowdStrike Racing by APR (#04) set the outright fastest lap (1:39.387) and led all average windows (Top-10, Top-220, and Top-395). Inter Europol Competition’s #43 and #343 cars ran nearly identical profiles, with both entries within a few hundredths on fastest lap and separated by only ~0.02–0.03s across all average bands, firmly placing them in the core lead group. AO Racing (#99) was closest to CrowdStrike on long-run pace—matching the best Top-395 average—while United Autosports and Inter Europol (#43/#343) formed a tightly packed chase group ahead of TDS, Era, and Tower, which showed greater pace fade over longer averages.
Drivers
Alex Quinn delivered the fastest driver lap and best Top-10 average, underpinning CrowdStrike’s outright pace advantage. Inter Europol’s driver line-ups in both #43 and #343 were evenly matched, with Nick Cassidy and Antonio Félix da Costa (#43) and Charles Milesi and Nolan Siegel (#343) all posting near-identical Top-30 and Top-60 averages, indicating depth rather than reliance on a single standout lap. Across the front of the field, the spread among CrowdStrike, Inter Europol (#43/#343), AO, and United drivers remained within a few tenths on long-run averages.
Sectors
Sector analysis shows Inter Europol as the reference in S2, with both #43 and #343 featuring at the top of the timing in that middle sector, while AO edged S1 and CrowdStrike and Inter Europol traded the best S3 times. The sector gaps were consistently minimal—generally under two-tenths—highlighting that Inter Europol’s competitiveness came from balanced sector execution rather than a single dominant segment.
GTP
The #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 set the tone early and largely controlled the race, with Felipe Nasr taking the lead on the opening lap and anchoring the car all the way to the chequered flag. After a record-length fog delay that neutralised the race for over six hours overnight, the running order was compressed, leading to pulses racing again once sunlight returned and full green-flag conditions resumed. As the gap chart shows, the Porsche kept a lead over the #31 Cadillac and the #24 BMW for large portions of the 24 hours, but that margin ebbed and flowed with each pit cycle and full-course neutralisation, making the lead battle anything but static. This car has a good performance window and it took advantage of it.
The tension between the top three cars began to peak in the final two hours, when the #31 Cadillac Whelen—driven in the closing stages by Jack Aitken—mounted a serious challenge, slicing the gap to within a few seconds as traffic and strategy played into the Cadillac’s favour. The lap gap timeline clearly reflects this closing window in the final 45 minutes, with the Cadillac repeatedly surging towards the Porsche in short bursts before Nasr re-established separation. Despite numerous overlaps with GTD and LMP2 traffic, and several attempts by Aitken to nudge ahead in Turn 1 and deeper into the run, Nasr defended stoutly, fending off every bid to snatch the lead. In the end, the Porsche hung on by just 1.569 seconds for victory in one of the closest Daytona finishes in recent memory.
Meanwhile the #24 BMW M Team WRT capitalised on race attrition and consistent pace to secure a podium in its first IMSA GTP outing, staying within striking distance of the two leaders for much of the final third of the race. The battle for the top three was further nuanced by the strong showing of the #6 sister Porsche and the #93 Acura early on, and by the #31’s deep recovery from a post-qualifying penalty and a lap deficit earlier in the race. Overall, the 2026 Rolex 24 was defined by endurance, strategy shifts brought on by prolonged caution periods, and a thrilling final run where three manufacturers were separated by seconds after 24 hours of racing.
Fastest Laps and Averages
Porsche Penske Motorsport set the outright pace, owning the fastest lap and leading every long-run metric, including the Top-10, Top-220, and Top-395 lap averages. Cadillac and BMW were closely matched just behind Porsche on average pace, with both showing competitive Top-10 speed but slightly higher degradation over longer runs. Acura remained within striking distance on outright pace, while Aston Martin trailed the field consistently across all average-lap windows.
Drivers
Matt Campbell recorded the fastest lap overall, while Frederik Vesti and Alex Palou were among the strongest on short-run averages. Over longer averages (Top-30 and Top-60), Porsche drivers—including Campbell, Estre, and Nasr—clustered tightly at the front, indicating consistent multi-driver execution. Cadillac drivers logged the highest individual lap counts, reinforcing their strength in sustained stints even when ultimate pace was marginally lower.
Sectors
Porsche dominated Sector 1 and Sector 3 rankings, highlighting strong acceleration and infield efficiency. BMW and Cadillac were most competitive in Sector 2, suggesting parity on the banking and transitional sections but a slight deficit in combined lap execution.
