IMSA Rolex 24 Hour 16: Penske Porsches 1-2 at 2/3rd mark

Porsche Penske Motorsport continued to control the Rolex 24 at Daytona with 8 hours of the race remaining, as Kevin Estre held the lead in the No. 6 Porsche by 5-seconds over Felipe Nasr in the #7 Porsche.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

The Penske Porsche team were sandbagging massively during the Roar Before the Rolex 24 last weekend, but now they are exerting their superiority.

#7: Porsche Penske Motorsports, Porsche 963, GTP: Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy, Laurens Vanthoor

“Eight hours before the finish, we’re holding first and second place – that’s a solid double lead,” summarized Urs Kuratle, Director Factory Motorsport LMDh. “We’re competing against Acura and BMW, both of which are very fast. Thanks to smart tactics, we’re in a strong position regarding tire strategy. If we can stay out of trouble, things are looking good.”

Urs Kuratle Director Porsche Factory Motorsport

“My double stint in the middle of the night went smoothly without any issues or contact with other cars,” said Matt Campbell. “Our Porsche 963 is running perfectly, and the cooler temperatures seem to be enhancing our performance – I was able to repeatedly take the lead. The race has seen a relatively high attrition rate, with many GTP cars encountering issues. We are focusing on staying cautious.”

Felix Rosenqvist has taken over the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 in third, but he’s now 31 seconds back after sliding off near turn six on cold tires and hitting the barriers lightly.

Dries Vanthoor is fourth in the #24 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8, 38-seconds behind the lead Porsche.

Felipe Albuquerque rounded out the top-5 in the Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac, 52-seconds behind.

In LMP2, Toby Sowery has built a lead of about eight seconds in the #04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA 07 over Sébastien Bourdais in the #8 Tower Motorsports Oreca.

In GTD PRO – Laurin Heinrich in the #77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R’s leads from Kelvin van der Linde in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW.

#77: AO Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), GTD PRO: Laurin Heinrich, Klaus Bachler, Alessio Picariello lead the Rolex 24 in GTD Pro

The #65 Multimatic Ford of Frederic Vervisch and the #3 Corvette of Alexander Sims are 3rd and 4th.

#3: Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports, Corvette Z06 GT3.R, GTD PRO: Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims, Daniel Juncadella runs 4th in the Rolex 24

After being 7 laps down at one point, the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Philip Ellis and Lucas Auer built a lead of over 20 seconds in GTD, over Elliott Skeer in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche.

The #80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes of Scott Andrews runs third.

#57: Winward Racing, Mercedes AMG GT3, GTD: Russell Ward, Philip Ellis, Indy Dontje, Lucas Auer lead GTD in the Rolex 24

2025 Rolex 24 Standings after 16 Hours

Hour 16