Some dominant performances in all classes. Well done to those teams that just nailed it.
Lap Chart
GTP – #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport
The eventual overall and GTP winner, the No. 7 Porsche 963, looks like a it controlled the race: it spent almost the whole day in the top handful of the lap chart, only cycling backward on pit stops, then tightening its grip in the final phase rather than coming from deep in the order.
LMP2 – #2 United Autosports USA
#2 was not at the front all day; it was in the mix early, then became much more established near the sharp end as the race settled and the class order thinned out. By the finish, United had turned that into a 1-2, with the #2 taking the win.
The #43 Inter Europol car never really got to execute its race properly. In contention early, but then drops out of the normal lead-cycle pattern and loses big chunks of ground, which fits reports that it spent significant time behind the wall with an alternator problem.
So the #43’s story was promise early, then a mechanical setback that effectively took it out of the class fight rather than a gradual fade on pace. It came in as one of the favorites after last year’s Sebring win, but this time reliability, not speed, was the issue.
GTD PRO – #911 Manthey Porsche
The #911 “Grello” Porsche appears as a contender all race rather than a car buried in traffic that suddenly appeared late: it stays in the upper part of the GTD PRO class pack and then moves into the decisive position in the closing stages. Thomas Preining made the key pass with under 90 minutes to go, beating the #77 AO Porsche in a race where those two Porsches were the class benchmark.
GTD – No. 21 AF Corse USA Ferrari
GTD was the most dramatic class, #21 near the front for long stretches, drops back through interruptions and pit/penalty effects, then charges back late. The Ferrari overcame three drive-through penalties, was still seventh with 26 minutes to go, and then Antonio Fuoco snatched the win with a last-lap pass on the #27 Aston Martin.
Notes:
- #10 found to have too much camber. Dropped from 3rd to last in GTP finishers (21st, 11th in class)
- #912 Bronze drive Pera did not complete enough drive time after stopping on track. Dropped from 44th (11th in class) to last (54th, 19th in class)
How close were the classes?
Overall, GTP was the closest class, with GTD PRO a very close second. LMP2 was competitive but a little more spread out, while GTD was clearly the most dispersed class, especially once you extend the sample from the best 10 laps to 113 and 203 laps.
Closest overall: GTP
Even with 11 cars, GTP is the most tightly compressed class. Its spread is smallest on all three box plots, and in the tables the whole proper race-distance group stays very close: from the best Top 203 average of 1:50.888 (#7) to 1:51.882 (#25) is only about 0.994s across the full field, and the main competitive pack is tighter than that. In other words, GTP was not just close at the front — it was close almost everywhere.
Second closest: GTD PRO
GTD PRO had 13 cars, but to judge it fairly you really have to ignore the obvious outliers such as the heavily compromised/retired entries. Once you do that, the class is very tight: the main running group in Top 203 sits from about 2:01.875 (#911) to 2:02.924 (#65), roughly 1.05s, and the top half is packed even more tightly than that. So GTD PRO was very close, but GTP still looks slightly more uniformly compressed through the whole class.
Third: LMP2
LMP2 also had 11 cars, so it is a like-for-like comparison with GTP. The class was still competitive, but the main field is a touch more spread: Top 203 runs from 1:53.442 (#99) / 1:53.528 (#2) out to 1:55.101 (#37), about 1.66s, with the top four or five fairly tight and then a clearer tail behind them. So LMP2 was close at the front, but not as densely stacked across the class as GTP or GTD PRO.
Most spread out: GTD
GTD had by far the biggest field at 19 cars, so some extra spread is expected anyway. But even allowing for that, and even after ignoring the obvious problem cars/retirements, the class is still the most dispersed: the serious runners over Top 203 range from 2:02.462 (#21) to about 2:03.995 (#16), roughly 1.53s, and if you include all classified long-run cars it opens out much more. The front three were very close, but the class as a whole was not as compact as the other three.
GTD
GTD was a very tight race at the front, with Ferrari #21, Mercedes-AMG #80 and Aston Martin #27 covered by only tiny margins on both outright pace and longer-run averages, but Ferrari #21 had the strongest overall package when it mattered. It set the fastest lap of the race, led the Top 10 and Top 203 averages, and backed that up with strong work from Antonio Fuoco and the rest of the crew across a full 318-lap distance, while #80 stayed right there on sustained pace and #27 was consistently in the mix. Behind them, Ferrari #34 was close enough to keep pressure on the podium fight, while several cars fell away through reduced lap counts or retirements, which turned GTD into a race decided by both speed and clean, sustained execution.
Fastest Laps and Averages
Ferrari #21 set the outright benchmark on single-lap pace and on most of the race-pace metrics, with the fastest lap at 2:00.880, the best Top 10 average at 2:01.150, and the best Top 203 average at 2:02.462. The one exception was the Top 113 average, where Mercedes-AMG #80 edged it by just 0.002s, 2:02.036 to 2:02.038, which sums up how tight the front of GTD was: #80, #21 and Aston Martin #27 were effectively inseparable, with Ferrari #34 not far behind and the leading Porsche, BMW and Chevrolet runners still well within touch on broader pace averages.
Drivers
On the driver side, Antonio Fuoco was a legend, topping the fastest lap, Top 10, Top 30 and Top 60 averages, while Scott Andrews was another major reference point for Lone Star’s #80 and Albert Costa kept Conquest’s #34 firmly in the fight. Robby Foley completed the most laps with 146 for Turner’s BMW #96, just ahead of Morris Schuring on 145 in the Manthey Porsche #912 and Fuoco on 142, and the overall picture shows GTD was won by depth as much as headline speed, with the best cars backed up by multiple drivers running strong, repeatable pace.
Sectors
The Top 113 sector comparison shows each of the leading cars had a different strength: Porsche #28 was quickest in S1 on 11.484, Mercedes-AMG #80 led S2 on 76.134, and Ferrari #21 was best in S3 on 34.229. Aston Martin #27 stands out for being right at the front in all three sectors rather than dominating one, which helps explain why it stayed so close to the Ferrari and Mercedes across the longer-run averages.
GTD PRO
The GTD PRO race was ultimately defined by Porsche’s control at the front, with Manthey’s #911 emerging as the benchmark over the full distance and AO Racing’s #77 close enough to keep the marque firmly in command. Behind them, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, McLaren and Lexus were all in the fight on outright pace, while Mercedes-AMG faded badly on long-run averages and the Risi Ferrari #62 dropped out before it could feature in the deeper race metrics.
Fastest Laps and Averages
On outright speed, the fastest single lap of the race came from AO Racing’s Porsche #77 with a 2:00.664, just edging the Manthey Porsche #911’s 2:00.704, while the Ferrari #033 was also right there on a 2:00.830. But once the averages are considered, the #911 was the class reference: it led the Top 10 average at 2:00.881, the Top 113 average at 2:01.574 and the Top 203 average at 2:01.875, showing the best sustained race pace. The #77 stayed very close, especially over the longer runs, while BMW #1, Corvette #4 and Ferrari #033 formed the next group in a tightly packed chase. At the other end, Mercedes-AMG #48’s Top 203 average of 2:07.652 shows how dramatically its race unraveled relative to its early pace.
Drivers
The driver data reinforces Porsche’s edge, with Harry King setting the fastest lap of the race at 2:00.664 in the #77, while Thomas Preining in the #911 was the standout for sustained pace, leading the Top 10, Top 30 and Top 60 averages at 2:00.881, 2:01.218 and 2:01.599. Porsche also had depth behind those headline numbers, with Ricardo Feller, Nick Tandy and Klaus Bachler all firmly toward the sharp end, while strong individual performances also came from Dean MacDonald in the McLaren, Nicky Catsburg and Nico Varrone in the #4 Corvette, Neil Verhagen and Max Hesse in the BMW, and James Calado leading Ferrari’s charge. Andrea Caldarelli completed the most laps of any GTD PRO driver with 142 in the Lamborghini #9, ahead of Alexander Sims on 139 in Corvette #3, Harry King on 134 in the #77 Porsche and Dean MacDonald on 133 in the McLaren, showing that Lamborghini’s race may not have had the outright benchmark pace but did lean heavily on Caldarelli’s mileage.
Sectors
In the Top 113 sector comparison, Porsche was the only marque to top more than one sector, with the #911 fastest in all three headline sectors and the #77 second-best in S1 and S2 while also third in S3, underlining how complete the Porsche package was. BMW’s #1 was especially strong in S3, Corvette and Ferrari were consistently near the front across the sectors without quite matching Porsche’s all-round benchmark, and Mercedes-AMG plus the Risi Ferrari #62 were the clear outliers.
LMP2
Inter Europol couldn’t repeat their Daytona victory
The LMP2 race pace picture was led by United Autosports, with the #2 setting the outright benchmark on fastest lap, short-run average, and Top 113-lap average, while AO’s #99 came on strongest over the deepest Top 203-lap sample. Behind that, the class looked tightly packed through the front group, with Tower’s #8, United’s #22, CrowdStrike’s #04, TDS’s #11 were close enough on raw pace to stay in the fight,.
The #43 had enough pace to run with the main group, but various problems put paid to this.
Fastest Laps and Averages
On outright speed, United’s #2 was the reference with a 1:50.660 fastest lap and best Top 10 average at 1:50.994, and it also led the Top 113 average at 1:52.604. AO’s #99 did not match that single-lap peak but was strongest over the Top 203 average at 1:53.442, showing excellent long-run pace, while #22, #8, #04, #11 and #43 formed a very compact second group; the #43’s 1:51.281 fastest lap was competitive, but its longer-run averages of 1:53.179 over the Top 113 and 1:54.196 over the Top 203 put it more in the upper midfield than with the very best over race distance. – these averages were disrupted by its problems.
Drivers
The driver table shows Mikkel Jensen as the standout on pace, setting the fastest driver lap at 1:50.660 and also the best Top 10, Top 30 and Top 60 averages, while Charles Milesi did the most laps with 157 for TDS. Jacob Abel was next on volume with 152 laps and Jonny Edgar logged 140, while Inter Europol’s #43 line-up was split between Tom Dillmann’s strong pace over 91 laps, Bijoy Garg’s 116-lap middle stint workload, and Jeremy Clarke’s 96 laps with a clear drop-off in average pace compared with Dillmann and Garg.
Sectors
In the Top 113 sector comparison, United’s #2 was the class reference through S1 and S2, with the best times of 10.182 and 70.775, while AO’s #99 led S3 on 31.429. The #43 was especially competitive in S1 with the third-best sector at 10.265, but it slipped to seventh in both S2 and S3, which helps explain why its overall lap averages were solid rather than class-leading.
GTP
The GTP race pace picture was led by Porsche Penske, with the #7 setting the outright benchmark and the sister #6 almost matching it over every run length. Acura’s #60 was the closest car on pure pace, while Cadillac had several cars tightly grouped just behind and looked competitive without quite reaching the Porsche level over the longer averages. BMW showed decent depth but more spread, and Aston Martin’s #23 had moments of speed but sat a step back once the race settled into sustained pace.
Fastest Laps and Averages
On outright speed, the #7 Porsche was fastest with a 1:49.020 and also led the Top 10, Top 113 and Top 203 lap averages at 1:49.519, 1:50.519 and 1:50.888.
Fastest laps come after cautions giving the leader an opportunity with a clear track for 3-4 laps until they catch others. Tire temperature is key here, how new are the tyres, and was it a long yellow. Once the traffic sets in then opportunity is all but lost for fastest lap.
The #6 Porsche backed that up at just 0.03% off on the Top 113 average, showing how little separated the two factory Porsches, while the #60 Acura was the nearest non-Porsche across the short and long-run numbers. Cadillac was strong through depth rather than one standout car, with the #31, #10 and #40 all clustered in the low-1:50.8 to 1:50.9 range on Top 113 pace, whereas BMW and Aston Martin were more variable and further off the ultimate benchmark.
Drivers
The driver data tells a similar story. Felipe Nasr was the standout on outright pace, setting the fastest lap and best Top 10 and Top 30 averages, while Kevin Estre led the Top 60 average, underlining how strong the Porsche Penske lineup was across both sprint and sustained runs. Tom Blomqvist gets the ironman award as he did the most laps of anyone with 185 in the #60 Acura and combined that workload with excellent pace, making him one of the most important performers in the race; behind him, Sheldon van der Linde also stood out for BMW with 182 laps, while Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, Nick Yelloly and Renger van der Zande all delivered strong, high-volume runs in the leading Cadillac and Acura efforts.
Sectors
Cadillac owned the short first sector, with the #31 best on S1 at 10.082 and three Cadillacs in the top 10 there, while Porsche clearly controlled S2 through the #7 and #6 at 69.542 and 69.573. Acura hit back in S3 with the #93 best at 30.651, so Porsche’s overall race-pace edge came not from monopolizing every sector, but from combining elite middle-sector speed with strong enough performance in S1 and S3 to produce the best full-lap averages.
