Rolex 24, Hour 5: Porsche back in front; AO holds big LMP2 lead

It’s now nighttime at the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona. The No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 briefly conceded the lead, but is now back in front of GTP and overall after five hours.

The No. 7 Porsche got two more laps of energy out of Julien Andlauer’s last stint behind the wheel, and it was enough for the No. 7 car to pit from second place, hand the car over to GTP newcomer Laurin Heinrich, and leave ahead of the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R, now being driven by Connor Zilisch for the first time in a race.

“He knows how to drive a racing car really fast,” co-driver Earl Bamber said of Zilisch. “Mainly just learning the dash and the systems and stuff like that – that’s probably the most difficult thing for him. I said, ‘Go out, have fun, and enjoy yourself!’

“He’s an amazing kid. To be driving a GTP at 19 years old is pretty amazing.”

Kakunoshin Ohta in the No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06 also led laps in the last hour while off-sequence from the rest of the GTP field due to an unscheduled pit stop. He’s now cycled up to second place, with Zilisch in third and veteran René Rast running fourth in the No. 24 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8.

But there’s been heartache for fans of the V12-powered No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie, which lost drive twice during Alex Riberas’ first stint. The car that finished its first races at Sebring and Le Mans is now in the garage during its first race at Daytona.

The No. 99 AO Racing ORECA 07-Gibson leads LMP2 by a massive margin. Dane Cameron built his lead out to over 30s and handed the car off to Jonny Edgar, who maintains a 40s lead. Toby Sowery runs second in the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR car, followed by Ben Keating in the No. 52 Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen machine.

A strong 33-lap stint from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ veteran leader Antonio García has set up co-driver Marvin Kirchhöfer well, but seconds ago, Andrea Caldarelli took the lead in GTD Pro aboard No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2. Kirchhöfer continues to pursue Caldarelli in the No. 3 Corvette, while another veteran, Mike Rockenfeller, runs third in the No. 64 Ford Racing Mustang GT3.

Meanwhile, in GTD, Thierry Vermeulen in the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo is holding a narrow advantage over the approaching Eduardo Barrichello in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo. They have a buffer to the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini – Danny Formal has breached the top three for the first time.

The No. 59 RLL Team McLaren GT3 Evo has returned to the race after its electrical problems, still more than 20 laps down. Very briefly, the No. 83 AF Corse ORECA LMP2 returned to the track after a nearly two-hour and 30-minute repair – but when Nicklas Nielsen said the car was unfit to continue, he told IMSA Radio that the car will retire.

HOUR 5 STANDINGS