Preview edit

NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., who built Daytona International Speedway in 1959, conceived of the 24 Hours of Daytona to attract European sports-car endurance racing to the United States and provide international exposure to the speedway.^[2] It is informally considered part of the Triple Crown of Endurance Racing, with the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.^[3]

International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was a part of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2023.^[4] It was the eleventh consecutive year it will be a part of the IMSA SCC, and the 62nd 24 Hours of Daytona.^[4] The 24 Hours of Daytona was the first of eleven scheduled sports car endurance races by IMSA, and the first of five races on the Michelin Endurance Cup (MEC).^[4] The race take place at the 12-turn 3.56-mile (5.73 km) Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida from January 27 to 28.^[3]

Filming edit

The Rolex 24 is used as a filming set and background film for an untitled Formula One drama film. Brad Pitt's run around Daytona in a Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) car powered by Wright Motorsports would be inserted into racing scenes filmed from the race. He will be sharing the car with ‘C. Kelso’ and former Porsche factory driver Patrick Long.^[5][6][7]

The Roar Before the 24 Tests occurred from January 19 to 21, 2024, with all cars participating in the test.^[11] The first session on Friday morning saw Nick Tandy top the lap times in the No. 6 Penske 963 with a time of 1:35.617, 0.035 seconds faster than Augusto Farfus' No. 24 BMW.^[12] Paul di Resta's No. 22 United Autosports car topped LMP2 with a 1-minute, 39.916 seconds lap.^[13] Matteo Cressoni was fastest in GTD Pro while Katherine Legge set the fastest time amongst all GTD cars.^[12] The second session on Friday afternoon saw Cadillac move atop when Pipo Derani, driving the No. 31 car for Action Express Racing, turned in a 1:35.217 lap in the closing minutes. De Phillippi's No. 25 BMW was second and Laurens Vanthoor was third for Porsche Penske Motorsport.^[14] Christian Rasmussen bettered LMP2's fastest lap with a time of 1:39.674, leading Era Motorsport's No. 18 entry ahead of Nolan Siegel's No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier and Nicklas Nielsen's No. 88 AF Corse car.^[15] Ford led GTD Pro with Christopher Mies' lap of 1 minute 46.494 seconds, followed by James Calado's No. 62 Ferrari and Alexander Sims' No. 3 Corvette. Jan Heylen's No. 120 Porsche led GTD from Manny Franco's Conquest Racing Ferrari.^[16]

Hanson set the fastest overall lap (1:35.216) on the second day; Neel Jani's Proton Competition car was second and Connor De Phillippi's No. 25 BMW was third.^[17] Scott Huffaker led in LMP2, at 1:38.270 driving HCR's car.^[18] Milner's No. 4 Corvette led in GTD Pro with a 1:45.844 lap during the morning session while Eddie Cheever III's No. 47 Ferrari set the fastest time amongst all GTD cars.^[19][18]

The third and final day of testing featured one session where only the GTP cars participated.^[20] Bourdais' No. 01 CGR Cadillac set the overall fastest time with a 1-minute, 33.236 seconds lap. The second-fastest car was the No. 7 Penske Porsche of Nasr and Derani putting the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac in third position. Connor De Phillippi set the fourth-fastest lap in BMW's No. 25 car, and Louis Delétraz's No. 40 Acura was fifth.^[21]

There were four practice sessions scheduled preceding the start of the race on Saturday, three on Thursday and one on Friday. The first 90 minute session was on Thursday morning while the second session on Thursday afternoon will ran for 105 minutes. The third scheduled for later that evening ran for 90 minutes; the fourth on Friday morning lasted an hour.^[22]

Dixon's No. 01 Cadillac set the fastest lap of the first practice session at 1 minute, 36.012 seconds, 0.127 seconds faster than De Phillippi's No. 25 BMW. Kévin Estre put the No. 6 Penske Porsche in third overall. Dries Vanthoor was fourth in BMW's No. 24 car and Cameron's No. 7 Porsche was fifth.^[23] Toby Sowery led LMP2 with a 1:39.407 lap in CrowdStrike's No. 04 car, and Hanley's No. 2 United Autosports Oreca was second.^[24] In GTD Pro, the No. 14 VasserSullivan Lexus of Hawskworth led with a lap of 1 minute, 46.783 seconds. Marvin Kirchhöfer put the No. 9 Pfaff McLaren second. Calado in the No. 62 Risi Ferrari was third. Katherine Legge's No. 66 Gradient car set the fastest time amongst all GTD cars. Robby Foley set the second-fastest lap in class in Turner Motorsport's No. 96 entry.^[24]

In the second session, Palou's No. 01 CGR Cadillac lapped quickest at 1:35.589, ahead of the No. 7 PPM Porsche of Felipe Nasr and Bruni's No. 5 Proton car. WCR were fourth after a lap by Aitken, and Mathieu Jaminet's No. 6 PPM Porsche was fifth.^[25] Novalak led in LMP2 with a 1:39.416 lap in PR1's car, 0.081 seconds ahead of James Allen's DragonSpeed car.^[26] Rossi's 1:47.144 lap led the GTD Pro class in Pfaff's car, 0.164 seconds faster than Daniel Serra's Risi Ferrari; Laurin Heinrich's No. 77 AO Porsche was third. Klaus Bachler's No. 86 MDK Porsche recorded the fastest lap amongst all GTD cars: 1:47.045, 0.040 seconds faster than Olsen's No. 55 Proton Ford.^[27][26]

The third practice session ran at night and saw Derani's No. 31 Cadillac set the fastest overall lap of 1 minute, 35.708 seconds. Nasr was more than three-tenths behind in second, with the No. 01 CGR Cadillac of Bourdais in third. Connor De Phillippi in the No. 25 BMW was fourth.^[28] Burdon caused a stoppage early when he stopped the No. 74 Riley car on the track with a puncture.^[29] Jakobsen's CrowdStrike Oreca led LMP2 with a 1:39.166 lap, faster than O'Ward's No. 2 United Autosports vehicle.^[30][28] Chevrolet occupied first and second in GTD Pro with Bamber faster than his teammate Sims by less than one-tenth of a second. Porsche paced GTD with MDK's 911 of Larry ten Voorde lapping at 1:47.075, ahead of Danny Formal's No. 45 WTR Lamborghini.^[30]

Jack Aitken led the last practice session in the No. 31 WCR car with a lap of 1 minute, 35.983 seconds. De Phillippi's No. 25 BMW was second-fastest. The No. 01 Cadillac of Bourdais set the third-quickest lap. Westbrook's No. 85 Porsche, along with Jani's No. 5 Proton Competition car were fourth and fifth.^[31] Lance Willsey damaged the No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier in an accident at turn 2 and stopped the session for 6 minutes.^[31] Jensen led in LMP2 for TDS Racing with a 1-minute, 39.078 lap, from AF Corse's Matthieu Vaxivière and Era Motorsport's Ryan Dalziel.^[32] Cairoli's No. 60 Lamborghini paced GTD Pro with a 1:47.239 lap, 0.147 seconds faster than Serra's Risi Ferrari. Preining set the fastest time amongst all GTD cars, followed by Jens Klingmann's No. 96 Turner Motorsport car.^[31]

Sunday’s afternoon qualifying was broken into three sessions, with one session for the GTP, LMP2, and the GTD classes, which lasted 15 minutes each.^[33] The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am LMP2 class requiring a Bronze rated driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put GTPs ahead of the LMP2, GTD Pro, and GTD cars.^[34]

Pipo Derani in the No. 31 Cadillac broke the Daytona International Speedway Road Course lap record to clinch pole position with a time of 1-minute, 32.656 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by Bourdais whose best lap in the No. 01 CGR Cadillac was 0.071 seconds slower.^[35] Nasr qualified the No. 7 Porsche third, and Connor De Phillippi in the No. 25 BMW took fourth. The WTR duo of Delétraz and Filipe Albuquerque qualified fifth and sixth.^[35] The Proton Competition Porsche did not participate in qualifying after Neel Jani crashed the car during the final Roar session.^[21][36]

Keating took the LMP2 pole for United Autosports with a 1:38.501 time. Nick Boulle's No. 52 PR1 car was second and George Kurtz took third for CrowdStrike.^[37]

In the GT session, Sebastian Priaulx set a new qualifying track record for GTD Pro to take pole position for AO Racing, with a lap of 1:44.382. Prialux was 0.080 seconds faster than Hawksworth's second placed No. 14 Lexus. García qualified the No. 3 Corvette third. The fastest Lamborghini was Perera's No. 19 Huracán GT3 Evo 2 in fourth, and the highest-placed Ferrari was Serra's fifth-placed No. 62 296 GT3.^[37] Lexus led GTD, with Parker Thompson setting a new class record with a 1-minute 44.494 lap. Klaus Bachler's No. 86 MDK Porsche qualified second, and Katherine Legge's No. 66 Acura took third. Rounding out the top five in the class were the No. 45 WTR Lamborghini of Kyle Marcelli, and Loris Spinelli's No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini.^[37] The No. 92 Kellymoss Porsche failed to record a time after David Brule crashed at turn three on his outlap.^[37][35]

Qualifying results edit

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and with ‡.

• ¹ The No. 5 Proton Competition Mustang Sampling entry did not participate in qualifying after Neel Jani crashed the car during the sixth Roar session.^[21] By IMSA rules, the car started from the rear of the GTP class on the starting grid.
• ² The No. 92 Kellymoss with Riley entry did not set a time after a crash by David Brule in the beginning of the GTD qualifying session.^[40]

Start and early hours edit

Racing began just past 1:40 p.m. EST, with movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer acting as the honorary starter.^[41] Pipo Derani in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing Cadillac took the early lead ahead of Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche. After only a few laps, the No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac driven by Sébastien Bourdais moved into second. After roughly 30 minutes of running, the first full-course caution of the race came, after the No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini suffered an accident at the Le Mans Chicane. The No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura moved into the lead during pit stops during this. The restart from the caution period was chaotic; three cars from the LMP2 class spun at the Le Mans Chicane. Only a few moments later, the No. 20 MDK by High Class Racing Oreca spun at turn 2 directly in to the pat of the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus, causing a heavy collision between the two cars and bringing out another full course caution.^[41]

When racing resumed, the two Cadillacs took the lead of the race, with the No. 01 ahead of the No. 31. In the LMP2 class, United Autosports led with their No. 2 car, while the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren and the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus led the GTD Pro and GTD classes respectively. Racing was again interrupted just before the two-hour mark, when the No. 11 TDS Racing Oreca crashed heavily at the exit of the Le Mans Chicane, putting the car out of the race immediately.^[42] More incidents dotted the early running. Just after the 4th hour began, the No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsports Ligier caused another full-course caution when it spun in turn 6 and stalled. The No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren in the GTD Pro class was forced into the garage area by a failure in a wheel hub on the car. The No. 88 Richard Mille AF Corse Oreca also went into the garage with mechanical issues and retired from the race shortly thereafter.^[43]

Night edit

As night fell, another caution came as the No. 33 Ligier stopped on track, this time with electrical problems. The ensuing pit stops under the caution allowed the No. 31 Cadillac to retake the lead, while the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing Oreca took the LMP2 lead. The No. 77 AO Racing Porsche led GTD Pro at the end of five hours, while the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin led in GTD.^[44] As temperatures dropped, the No. 7 Porsche began to come to the front, moving past the No. 31 Cadillac to take the first lead for the car of the race. The 7th hour saw yet another caution caused by the No. 33 Ligier, after it came to stop on track with more electrical issues. A period of clean running came after, with just over two hours of green-flag racing. During this time, the No. 31 Cadillac moved back in to the lead with a pass by Pipo Derani in turn one.^[45] The battles in the GT classes had also become closer; in GTD Pro, the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari and the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW battled for the lead, while in GTD the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus and the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes fought for their class lead.^[46]

The first major drama in the leading GTP class came in the eighth hour, as the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura - which was running in third place at the time - came to a halt on track with a major electrical failure, with driver Filipe Albuquerque reporting a burning smell in the car. The No. 01 Cadillac saw problems during the ninth hour after suffering a puncture and falling a lap behind the leader while limping back to the pit lane.^[47] The No. 31 led for the majority of the remainder of the first half of the race. The No. 52 Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca led LMP2, while the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari led GTD Pro and the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren led GTD. More cars met with technical issues just before halfway. The No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin suffered electrical issues that cause it to stop on track briefly before ultimately restarting and heading to the garage area. The No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura also stopped on track with electrical issues and caused a full-course caution, but ultimately restarted and returned to racing, albeit after falling off the lead lap.^[48]

In the early hours of Sunday, the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW entered lead battle, briefly leading during the 14th hour of the race over the No. 31 Cadillac and both the No. 6 and No. 7 Porsches. Behind, trouble struck more competitor. The No. 24 BMW M Team RLL BMW suffered an electrical failure and stopped on circuit, triggering another full course caution. The No. 01 Cadillac also stopped on circuit during the 14th hour. The No. 01's problems were so severe that car retired from the race.^[49] In the 15th hour, the two Penske Porsches had managed to move to the lead, closely followed by the No. 31 Cadillac. The No. 25 BMW that had briefly led the race fell several laps behind the leaders as it was forced into the garage for mechanical issues. In LMP2, the No. 18 Era Motorsport Oreca had moved to the lead in class after much shuffling. GTD Pro remained fierce contested, with the battle between the No. 62 Ferrari and the No. 1 BMW now joined both the No. 3 and No. 4 Corvette Racing Chevrolets. The No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes had moved to the lead of GTD.^[50]

Morning edit

A full-course caution started off the morning hours, with the No. 99 AO Racing LMP2 going off course and into the tire barriers at turn 3. The No. 6 Penske Porsche led led with 6 hours to go, put was served a penalty for exceeding IMSA's mandated powertrain parameters for GTP cars, dropping it back.^[51] After another full course yellow, this time caused from debris left by the No. 33 Ligier, the No. 7 Porsche would soon take the lead as it passed the No. 31 Cadillac for the lead. In GTD Pro, drama hit Corvette Racing, as both of their cars went to the garage - the No. 3 for an oil leak and the No. 4 power steering failure. This left the No. 1 BMW leading ahead of the No. 62 Ferrari. In GTD, the No. 57 Mercedes continued to lead, now over the No. 023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari.^[52] The No. 6 Porsche would effectively fall out of contention for the win in the 21st hour after sliding off course after a pit stop. Though it remained on the lead lap, it fell to the last GTP car on the lead lap will behind the remaining cars. LMP2 had become a five-way battle between the remaining cars on the lead lap, with the #18 Era Motorsports entry leading with 3 hours to go.^[53]

Finish edit

The battle to the finish remained between the No. 7 Penske Porsche and the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac. In the penultimate hour, the No. 31 retook the lead with a pass at turn 1, with the Cadillac seeming to handle the higher temperatures of daytime running better than the Porsche. In GTD Pro, the No. 1 BMW, which had been in the lead fight most of the race, suffered brake issues, resulting in a loose wheel and an off-track incident that put it two laps behind the no. 62 Ferrari. With the BMW losing time, the 62 Ferrari held a one lap lead over its closest competitor in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche.^[54][55]

With just under one hour remaining, the race's final full-course caution came when the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus caught fire at the end of pit lane. During the caution, teams made their final scheduled pit stops, during which the No. 7 Porsche exited ahead of the No. 31 Cadillac, having saved enough fuel during the previous run to have a shorter pit stop. Racing resumed with roughly 30 minutes remaining, with the No. 31 attempting to catch the No. 7. The No. 7 would hold on for victory, giving Porsche their first major endurance race victory with the Porsche 963. It was also the first overall victory for Team Penske in the race since 1969. The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac held on for second, while the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura finished third despite its earlier electrical issues.^[56] In LMP2, the No. 18 Era Motorsport Oreca took victory after pulling out a sizeable lead over its competition in the final green flag run.^[57] In GTD Pro, the No. 62 Risi Competizione went unchallenged after the issues for the No. 1 BMW, coming to victory with a comfortable one lap advantage. In GTD, the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes took victory, the team's second in the race in four years.^[58]

The race ended with confusion among competitors, as the checkered flag to end the race was displayed with roughly 1 minute and 30 seconds remaining on the timing clock. By IMSA rules, the race was officially ended at the checkered flag, and so the official time of race was just shy of the full 24 hours.

The day following the race, IMSA organizers put out a notice admitting fault for the premature ending of the race. Organizers admitted to an officiating error in race control by announcing and displaying the white final lap flag too early, thereby forcing an early end to the race. The series also confirmed that by IMSA's rulebook, results would be taken from the time of the checkered flag ending the race being displayed.^[59]

On February 23, 2024, IMSA finalized the official results and standings for the race, with penalties applied for BMW and Ferrari entries in the GTD classes. Both manufacturers were found to not be in compliance with their permitted performance levels for the race, resulting in both manufacturers being stripped of all their manufacturer championship and MEC points. Furthermore, both BMW and Ferrari were fined $25,000 as part of the penalty.^[60]

Since it was the season's first race, Cameron, Campbell, Nasr, and Newgarden led the GTP Drivers' Championship with 380 points, ahead of Aitken, Blomqvist, and Derani by 25 points.^[61] Ryan Dalziel, Merriman, Rasmussen, and Zilisch led the LMP2 points standings, ahead of Braun, Jakobsen, Kurtz, and Sowery.^[61] Calado, Pier Guidi, Rigon, and Serra held the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship lead over Michael Christensen, Heinrich, and Prialux.^[61] In GTD, Dontje, Ellis, Morad, and Ward led the class points standings over Cozzolino, Heriau, Mann, and Molina.^[61] Porsche Penske, Era, Risi Competizione and Winward Racing became the leaders of their respective Teams' Championships. Porsche led the GTP and GTD Pro Manufacturers' Championships, with Mercedes-AMG leading the GTD Manufacturers' Championship, with 10 rounds remaining in the season.^[61]

Class winners denoted in bold and with ‡

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

• Official website