Rolex 24, Hour 24: Nasr and Porsche Penske pull off a three-peat

Porsche Penske Motorsport has won the Rolex 24 At Daytona for the third straight time, but on his way to a landmark Daytona three-peat, Felipe Nasr had to fight for his life to hold off Cadillac Whelen’s Jack Aitken in the final hour to seal the victory.

The No. 7 Porsche 963 of Nasr, Julien Andlauer, and Laurin Heinrich completed 705 laps in a Rolex 24 that was significantly interrupted by a six-and-a-half-hour caution due to heavy fog. But in a riveting finish staged under sunny skies, Nasr held off Aitken by 1.569s at the finish, taking his, Porsche’s, and Penske’s third-straight GTP and overall victories at Daytona.

Porsche becomes the first manufacturer to win the Rolex 24 three years in a row since Acura did it from 2021 to 2023, Penske becomes the first team to win three in a row since Wayne Taylor Racing (2019–2021), and Nasr becomes only the third driver in the history of the 24-hour continental classic to win three straight Rolex 24s, joining Peter Gregg and Hélio Castroneves.

Andlauer wins in only his second IMSA appearance for Porsche Penske Motorsport, while former GTD Pro champion Heinrich wins in his very first IMSA race for the factory GTP team.Aitken, Earl Bamber, Frederik Vesti, and Connor Zilisch finished second in the Action Express-run No. 31 Cadillac, while the No. 24 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 of Dries Vanthoor, Sheldon van der Linde, Robin Frijns, and René Rast took third place in BMW M Team WRT’s first IMSA GTP race.

After two runner-up finishes in the last three years, CrowdStrike Racing by APR has finally broken through for an LMP2 class win at Daytona, as the No. 04 ORECA 07-Gibson driven by George Kurtz, Alex Quinn, Toby Sowery, and Malthe Jakobsen took control late in the race and executed its strategy perfectly down the stretch.

In GTD Pro, the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Connor De Phillippi, Neil Verhagen, Max Hesse, and Daniel Harper took the class win after taking fuel only in its final stop, giving Harper the lead in the final hour and driving the team to its first Rolex 24 class win since 2020 (with Lamborghini).

And in a finish that even surpassed the excitement of the fight for the overall win, Winward Racing’s No. 57 Mercedes-AMG won GTD, as Philip Ellis outduelled Magnus Racing’s Nicki Thiim by 1.367s in a wild final stint. Ellis, Russell Ward, Indy Dontje, and Lucas Auer gave Winward its third class win in the last six years.

Full story to follow.

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