Aitken puts Whelen Cadillac on pole for Rolex 24 At Daytona

EDITOR's note: Since this story was published, the No.31 was stripped of pole position after failing a technical inspection. We have elected to keep this story on the site to inform readers about the polesitters in other classes. For more information about the No.31's penalty, click here.

Jack Aitken and Cadillac Whelen have won the pole for the 64th annual Rolex 24 At Daytona in a closely-fought afternoon of qualifying to set the grid for the race.

On a sunny afternoon at Daytona International Speedway, Aitken was the only driver in the field to surpass the one-minute, 34-second threshold in the GTP class. With less than five minutes left in qualifying, Aitken set his best lap at 1m33.939s.

It’s the second pole in three years for Action Express Racing’s red No. 31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R: Pipo Derani won the pole in 2024 with a new all-time course record. It’ll put Aitken, Earl Bamber, Frederik Vesti, and Connor Zilisch on the front row, next to the No. 39 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06.

Renger van der Zande led for most of GTP qualifying, eventually establishing a solid time with a 1m34.041s in the red and black No. 93 Acura.

Louis Deletraz put two Cadillacs on the front two rows, qualifying third in the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R with a 1m34.069s. Two-time and defending Rolex 24 winner Felipe Nasr, meanwhile, set a 1m34.183s to put the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 fourth on the grid in his quest for a Daytona three-peat.

In fifth was Tom Blomqvist in the No. 60 MSR Acura, then Kévin Estre in the No. 6 Penske Porsche, Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 WTR Cadillac – and Nico Pino, a surprising eighth, in the No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports 963.

Dries Vanthoor, last year’s pole winner, was only ninth in the No. 24 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8, followed by teammate Marco Wittmann in the No. 25 BMW – who recovered from an early spin at the first corner.

The entire GTP field, down to Ross Gunn in the No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie, was covered by 1.443s at the end of time trials.

Jeremy Clarke stole the show in the all-Bronze LMP2 qualifying session, taking the pole for the Inter Europol Competition’s No. 43 ORECA 07-Gibson shared with Tom Dillmann, Antenio Felix da Costa, and Bijoy Garg.

With five minutes left, it looked as if PJ Hyett in the gold-plated No. 99 AO Racing ORECA would take the pole when he set a 1m39.960s. But seconds later, Clarke was able to edge ahead by only eight milliseconds, setting a 1m39.952s, putting him and Inter Europol on the pole position at Daytona for the first time, in Clarke’s first Rolex 24.

Behind Hyett in second, 2025 LMP2 winner and polesitter Daniel Goldburg qualified third in the No. 22 United Autosports USA car with a 1m40.096s. Ben Keating, despite an early spin, was fourth-fastest in the Wynn’s-liveried No. 52 Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen car.

Tobias Lütke in the No. 11 TDS Racing car rounded out the top five in class, ahead of Georgios “George” Kolovos in the second Inter Europol car, the No. 343.

Alexander Sims took the GTD PRO honors in the No.3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports entry. Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

Reigning GTD PRO champion Alexander Sims put Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R on the class pole position at Daytona for the first time since 2022.

Sims, sharing the No. 3 Corvette with Antonio García and Marvin Kirchhöfer, went to the top of the board with less than five minutes left, setting the quickest time in GTD Pro with a 1m45.106s. Sims and Nick Tandy previously won the pole in 2022 when grid positions were determined during a qualifying race at the Roar Before The 24. He was two-tenths clear of Neil Verhagen, who qualified second in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO – pitting the two big rivals of last year’s GTD Pro battle against one another, side-by-side on the front row. Verhagen set a 1m45.276s.

The No. 59 RLL Team McLaren 720S GT3 EVO was a great surprise, qualifying third in the hands of Dean MacDonald. The McLaren factory driver set a 1m45.425s, beating several more established contenders in the class.

Maro Engel qualified fourth in the 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, followed by Alessio Rovera in the No. 033 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo in fifth, and defending class winner Frédéric Vervisch, who was sixth-fastest in the No. 65 Ford Racing Mustang GT3.

Of note, the two GTD PRO Porsche 911 GT3 Rs qualified 14th and 15th, occupying the bottom two spots on the class grid – Manthey’s No. 911 “Grello” car ahead of AO Racing’s “Rexy.”

And in a closely contested GTD session, Zacharie Robichon won the pole for the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, the team which won this race in 2023, with co-drivers Eduardo Barrichello, Tom Gamble, and Mattia Drudi.

Robichon set the early benchmark with a 1m45.113s to take provisional pole, and the Canadian driver, who won GTD in 2022, stayed on top until the checkered flag. It’s Aston Martin’s first GTD pole at Daytona since 2015.

Philip Ellis and Robby Foley posted their flying laps late: Ellis in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG qualified second with a 1m45.187s, and Foley, after a suspected puncture during his initial warm-up laps, recovered to post a 1m45.265s and put the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW third on the GTD grid.

Charlie Eastwood qualified fourth in the No. 36 DXDT Racing Chevrolet, less than two-tenths behind Robichon’s pole time. Valentin Hasse-Clot (No. 19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin) qualified in fifth, ahead of AF Corse USA’s Antonio Fuoco in the No. 21 Ferrari.

Defending GTD winner Orey Fidani, will start 16th in class in the 13 Autosport Corvette. Fidani was one of six Bronze drivers that elected to run in qualifying and start the race on Saturday.

Official night-time practice starts tonight at 6:15 PM EST (local time).

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