IMSA Rolex 24 Hour 24: #7 Penske Porsche wins Rolex 24
When the final green flew with less than 40 minutes to go, the #7 Penske Porsche put the hammer down and ran away to win 63rd running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
–by Mark Cipolloni–
Felipe Nasr (pictured above) in the #7 Porsche battled his Penske teammate Matt Campbell in the #6 Porsche for lap after lap, but in the end, Campbell fell away and Tom Blomqvist passed Campbell for 2nd, finishing 1.335s behind the #7 Penske Porsche.
Nasr shared victory with Laurens Vanthoor and Nick Tandy, who becomes the first driver to have claimed overall victories in all four prestigious 24-hour races at Le Mans, Daytona, Nürburgring and Spa. For Nasr, this victory marked his second consecutive Daytona triumph. Vanthoor and Tandy celebrated their first overall wins at this prestigious event.
Porsche has extended its impressive record at the 24 Hours of Daytona to 20 overall victories with the second consecutive win for the Porsche 963.
Dries Vanthoor came home 4th in the pole sitting #24 RLL BMW, passing Felipe Albuquerque with under 25 minutes to go.
The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series of Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, Will Stevens and Brendon Hartley completed the top-five.
“My emotions are difficult to put into words,” said Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. “Winning the 24 Hours of Daytona twice in a row – one of the longest and toughest races in the IMSA series – is a monumental achievement. The tension was huge. We did not always have the fastest car, but we were consistent and made the fewest mistakes. This is a fantastic result for our drivers, mechanics, engineers, and the entire team, including our colleagues back home in Weissach. I am absolutely delighted. This victory is a perfect start to the new season!”
Roger Penske, founder and CEO of Penske Corporation, echoed this sentiment: “What an incredible day for the entire Porsche Penske Motorsport organization. Both of our Porsche 963 and the drivers showed great speed and reliability. The crews performed flawlessly which is a result of meticulous preparation by everyone on the team. 2024 was an unmatched season of success starting with a win at the 24 Hours of Daytona and it’s great to repeat that success to start 2025 with the 3rd overall win for Team Penske and the 20th victory for Porsche.”
Urs Kuratle, Director of Factory Motorsport LMDh, added: “An ideal season opener. This year’s result, with first and third place, surpasses last year’s success. The factory cars performed impeccably over the long distance, with perfect strategy and pit stops – a phenomenal effort by the entire team. I could not be prouder!”
“It’s impossible to put this success into words. The crews of number 6 and number 7 did an outstanding job,” summarized Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director of Porsche Penske Motorsport. “This triumph is not down to the fact that our car was the strongest – it was down to the impeccable work of the drivers and the team. We led the race for very long stretches and were rewarded. Now I hope that things continue like that and that we finish this year just as successfully as last year.”
In LMP2, Tower Motorsports’ John Farano, Sebastien Bourdais, Sebastian Alvarez and Job van Uitert ran away with LMP2 in the final 25 minutes, taking the class win after multiple rivals suffered misfortunes.
In GTD Pro, Denis Olsen from Norway in the #65 Ford Mustang held off the #3 Corvette of Alexander Sims and ahead of the #64 Ford of Mike Rockenfeller, Sebastian Priaulx, and Austin Cindric.
Olsen shared the No. 65 car with Chris Mies and Fred Vervisch.
Van der Linde, De Phillippi, Madison Snow and Neil Verhagen came home in fourth, ahead of the No. 69 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.
In GTD, the Canadian team AWA with drivers Orey Fidani, Matthew Bell, Lars Kern, and Marvin Kirchhöfer, gave the Corvette Z06 GT3.R its first IMSA GTD victory – and AWA’s second Rolex 24 class win in three years.
The No. 13 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R finished 1.454 seconds ahead of the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Adam Adelson, Elliott Skeer, Tom Sargent and Ayhancan Guven.
Winning Driver Quotes
Felipe Nasr (Porsche 963 #7): “This victory feels even better than 2024 – winning here twice in a row is a very special point in my career. Thanks to everyone in the team.The work they did was simply fantastic. I don’t know how to put my emotions into words. There’s a feeling of happiness inside me that I can’t describe right now. Simply unbelievable!”
Nick Tandy (Porsche 963 #7): “I am so proud to have won this race with Porsche. Eleven years ago was the last time I was on the top step of the Daytona podium – back then in the GT class with a red and white Porsche and this time again with a red and white Porsche. Three years of hard work have brought us here. We all did it together. At some point years ago, someone told me that nobody had ever managed to achieve overall victory in the four biggest 24-hour races. Since that day, this goal has been in the back of my mind. Now it has been realized. It feels great to be the first person to achieve something like this.”
Laurens Vanthoor (Porsche 963 #7): “It was always my dream to contest races like the 24 Hours of Daytona in the highest category. There’s nothing better than realizing this with Porsche. I’ve always dreamed of being able to sit in this silver Penske trailer at the big events. It’s all like a dream. Three months ago I won the FIA World Endurance Championship, now the victory in Daytona. It doesn’t get much better than this!”
2025 Rolex 24 Final Results