Motorsport Week has selected five of the key storylines from the 63rd edition of the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s 24 Hours of Daytona.
The 2025 sportscar racing season kicked off with one of the most prominent 24-hour endurance races on the calendar situated in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Sixty-one cars across the IMSA SportsCar’s four categories took on the challenge hosted at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, a venue steeped in history as the ‘World Center of Racing’ and the home of NASCAR’s iconic Daytona 500 event.
Daytona’s 24-hour race took place on 25-26 January, preceded by three free practice sessions including qualifying recommencing on a Thursday for the first time in four years, and the Roar Before the 24 test on the prior weekend.
The main event incorporated a phenomenal mixture of action, drama, and controversy for over 200 drivers across 31 nationalities who participated.
Motorsport Week has picked through five storylines which stood out from the action-packed race, having covered the event trackside.
SEE MORE – Gallery: The 63rd running of the 24 Hours of Daytona in pictures
Lamborghini’s GTP disappointment
Much excitement rested on Lamborghini finally debuting its SC63 LMDh machine at the 24 Hours of Daytona.
Last year, the marque was unable to participate because it was in the process of homologating its car which uses a chassis developed by Ligier.
Its 24-hour race debut came at the 24 Hours of Le Mans which respectably resulted in 10th and 13th-placed finishes without any major reliability issues.
Since then, the LMDh project changed technical support partners from Iron Lynx to Riley in addition to downsizing the programme to just one entrant in the five-round IMSA Endurance Cup calendar.
With total focus on the IMSA-governed championship and not the FIA-ACO World Endurance Championship – which includes the Le Mans 24 Hours – pressure stood on Lamborghini’s only 24-hour race event with itsLMDh car.
Reigning DTM champion Mirko Bortolotti pitted the #63 Lamborghini SC63 after just 33 laps, or 1 hour and 30 minutes, ‘behind the wall’ and towards its garage with no visual indication of mechanical issue.
A powertrain problem subsequently ended Lamborghini’s Daytona event debut and halted another opportunity to further understand the competitive potential of the SC63.
Corvette hindered by a lapped BMW
Detroit-based manufacturers Chevrolet and Ford rivalled one another throughout the race with two of the newest GT3 cars.
It was, however, the presence of BMW and Paul Miller Racing which cost Corvette a chance with two Z06 GT3.Rs on the podium, something Ford Multimatic achieved at the chequered flag after qualifying 1-2.
As anticipated beforehand in our ‘Five new stories to follow in the 2025 IMSA season‘ piece, BMW/Paul Miller Racing elevated its presence towards the front of the field with a second BMW – of the updated M4 GT3 EVO – thus enabling more BMW factory drivers to participate in IMSA.
The #1 BMW qualified an impressive third place owing to IMSA debutant Dan Harper yet it was the #48 BMW which also had a key role to play during the penultimate hour, albeit not positively.
To set the scene, the 2016 GTLM-class Daytona winner Tommy Milner ensued in a tense fight for the GTD Pro class lead against Connor de Phillippi behind him.
The Road Course’s blend of technical infield corners and sweeping speedway bends encouraged great racing in the GTD categories and so the pair kept together with the side-draft and slipstream.
The pair came across a lapped GT3 car, the #48, which was 57 laps down and had BMW long-timer Augusto Farfus at the wheel.
Race control penalised Farfus for constantly blocking Milner and providing an unfair advantage to the team-mate #1 BMW, which could have been originally prompted by the team rather than Farfus himself.
Milner’s #4 Corvette then had rear-left bodywork hanging after contact with de Phillippi at Turn 3, amidst their perpetuating fight.
This dashed Corvette’s double podium chances and the #3 finished in second place and the #4 in seventh.
Hectic final two hours in LMP2 and post-race drama
As demonstrated at Daytona, and even back at last year’s Canadian Tire Motorsport Park sprint race, IMSA’s LMP2 category houses great competition with emphasis on the skills of the drivers in the Oreca 07 machinery.
Pole-sitter Nick Boulle spun at the first corner on the race start and reversed out of the way – not a moment too soon – for the approaching 37 GT3 cars.
PR1 Mathiasen’s Ben Keating took over the lead and established a lengthy seven-second gap, though unsurprising for one of the most regarded FIA Bronze-graded drivers.
Then Keating was caught out at the Western Horseshoe by a tailwind, causing him to go slightly off-track twice consecutively and handed the lead to AO Racing’s PJ Hyett of the #99 Oreca.
As the Corvette-BMW GT battle concluded, only two of the 11 LMP2s had officially retired with five on the same lap for the lead.
Heartbreak struck for Matthieu Vaxiviere in the #88 AF Corse which stopped suddenly at Turn 3. Vaxiviere’s body language unsurprisingly suggested a feeling of anguish.
Jonny Edgar inherited the lead in the #99 AO Racing ‘Spike the Dragon’ Oreca. Christian Rasmussen, #99 driver, pitted from the lead as the AO Racing mechanics removed the rear bodywork. The #99 would not restart due to a possible alternator issue.
Tower Motorsports’ Sebastien Bourdais took the win in the #8 Oreca but after the post-race inspections on the class-winning cars were carried out, the #8 team was stripped of its win.
United Autosports inherited victory just seven months after winning at Le Mans though two pointers could be raised; the penalty was possibly too harsh on the #8 given the likely unintended infringement or that Tower Motorsports evidently broke the rules to earn the punishment.
A first-ever in motorsport history by Nick Tandy
One particular name at this year’s 24 Hours of Daytona made history at the chequered flag amongst over 200 drivers from various racing backgrounds and disciplines.
Nick Tandy already had at least one class victory in each of the four major 24-hour races: Daytona 24 Hours, Nurburgring 24 Hours, Le Mans 24 Hours and Spa 24 Hours.
No racing driver, until now, has ever accomplished overall victories across each event with Le Mans and Spa having hit their 100-year anniversary recently, a milestone for those two historic events.
READ MORE: Nick Tandy on ‘unbelievable’ Grand Slam after Daytona 24H win
The 40-year-old British driver has an established affiliation with Porsche as a factory driver since the 2013 Daytona 24 Hours, after becoming the best private Porsche racing driver in the Supercup series.
Over the course of nine years, Tandy claimed various prestigious class victories in Porsche GT3 and GTLM machinery across these premier 24-hour races.
His previous overall win was at the Spa 24 Hours in 2020 and so four years later, he would finally secure what was an important win at the 24 Hours of Daytona with one of the drivers who joined him at Spa, Laurens Vanthoor.
Tandy’s victory marked a significant moment in the history of motorsport, let alone sportscar racing, which highlighted his distinguished achievements on top of his existing race victories.
BMW RLL allows win to slip away
Porsche Penske led 66% of the total lap count (781) at this year’s 24 Hours of Daytona and was consistently at the sharp end of the order.
BMW demonstrated promising long-run pace during free practice and #24 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 driver Dries Vanthoor earned the first pole position in the Bavarian manufacturer’s LMDh programme.
Throughout the entirety of the race, the #24 BMW was just as consistent as the #6 and #7 Porsche Penske GTPs though it was the latter team which ran a controlled and reserved form after dark.
A battle for lead within the final two hours saw Porsche Penske unleash its untapped potential that hadn’t been showcased in the first 22 hours of racing.
BMW was unable to match Porsche’s pace and so its grasp at a Daytona 24 Hours victory well and truly slipped way during these final hours.
On the more positive side, the #24 driver crew – particularly IMSA returnee Kevin Magnussen – fought with great enthusiasm for the overall win against the likes of Mathieu Jaminet and Vanthoor.
‘K-Mag’ spoke to media including Motorsport Week before the race entailing his anticipation to compete in “real racing” in comparison to Formula 1.
Needless to say, even if BMW let the win slip away, Magnussen gave an encouraging performance to suit IMSA’s frequent wheel-to-wheel racing spectacles.
Until the 73rd edition of the 12 Hours of Sebring on 15 March, BMW and Rahal Letterman Lanigan will avidly prepare its bounce back at Porsche Penske.
READ MORE: Porsche’s Tandy, Nasr and L. Vanthoor win 24 Hours of Daytona
