With 30-Plus Countries and 230-Plus Drivers, Breadth and Depth is Strong
By Holly Cain
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – From the world’s smallest municipalities to this week’s Rolex 24 At Daytona host country of the United States of America, from Eastern Europe to South America and Asia, from the Scandinavian region to Antipodeans in Australia and New Zealand, the entry list for this week’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opening race is literally a global grid.
The mix of international talent is the gold standard of high-speed sports car star power – a grid of diversity and high achievement poised to take the green flag Saturday at 1:40 p.m. ET (NBC) to officially mark the start of the 2025 racing season.
A Daytona 500 winner, a pair of Supercar legends, Formula 1 veterans and IndyCar champions join a long list of sports car greats.
In all, competitors entered from 31 countries fill the entry list, a number that grew by one from 30 when the provisional entry list was released with a handful of outstanding drivers to be named.
The 235-driver field is so diverse in fact, only a single entry on the entire 61-car grid will feature four drivers all from the same country. A quartet of Italians (Roberto Lacorte, Nicola Lacorte, Lorenzo Patrese and Antonio Fuoco) will steer the No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 in the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class.
“It’s crazy, but I think it’s just cool from a world perspective just how much depth there is in the motorsports world,” said Team Penske IndyCar Series driver Scott McLaughlin.
He’ll share the No. 91 Trackhouse by TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R with fellow New Zealander and former Supercars rival, NASCAR Cup Series driver Shane van Gisbergen, along with two past Rolex 24-class winning Americans in Connor Zilisch, a 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series driver, and Ben Keating, an automotive dealer widely regarded as one of the best Bronze-rated drivers in sports car racing.
“You think you’ve got amazing people in your backyard then you wonder,” McLaughlin continued, “what’s Italy got? What’s Spain got? That’s what’s so cool and that’s what I love about sports car racing, you definitely get that world championship feel like Formula 1.”
Perhaps one of the brightest signs of this race field is that the diversity is hardly surprising. Decades of drawing the top international talent provides so much intrigue to every Rolex 24 – the world’s best from all racing genres have made a point to participate in the ultimate endurance test for car and driver.
“It’s at such a level of diversity in terms of nationalities of the drivers, that it (international grid) almost isn’t a thing because it doesn’t feel like I am an outsider coming into IMSA,” explained British driver Alexander Sims, who will steer the GTD PRO class No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R with Spanish drivers and past Rolex 24 winners Antonio Garcia and Daniel Juncadella.
“Although it’s the American sports car championship, it’s such an international series in terms of those participating so it doesn’t feel strange.”
Sims added, “When hopefully we do well, you recognize the class of drivers in the field and it’s really second to none. It’s the biggest you can get and that makes it really cool.”
One of the compelling draws of competing in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, many drivers insist, is the singular chance for so many international drivers to race against some of the NASCAR drivers they admire, but also on the same hallowed ground. The 3.56-mile Daytona road course includes three of the four high-banked turns the stock cars will navigate in the Daytona 500 only three weeks later.
“The speedway incline is way steeper than anything you imagine,” said Estonia’s Ralf Aron, his country’s lone representative, who will drive the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GTD class.
“When I did a track walk this December, I was like, ‘oh my gosh, this is way steeper than I thought.’
“My first question is when it rains and we are behind the safety car do we slide down?” he added, laughing. “It’s cool and it’s special. The way the track is, is what makes the racing so interesting.
“One of my ‘list items’ for sure was to race in the Daytona 24. It’s such a huge event, very prestigious and you can feel that. It’s nice to see a lot of familiar faces in the paddock. Anyone who is anyone in the racing world is here.”
Jules Gounon, a 2023 Rolex 24 At Daytona GTD PRO class winner, grins when asked about the broad international feel to the event, in part because he represents two countries.
Born in France, Gounon lives in the tiny municipality of Andorra, located in the Pyrenees Mountains on the border between Spain and France and wears the Andorran flag on his firesuit. The municipality – which has a population of around 80,000 – is an especially popular homebase among athletes eager to take advantage of the climate and mountainous terrain in their training regimens.
“I made the bold decision to just change and drive with another flag, but I am still French and very proud of my country,” said Gounon, who will drive the No. 75 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the Rolex 24.
And with two countries poised to celebrate Gounon’s work, he is especially eager to renew his bid to become a multi-time Rolex 24 winner.
“I love the banking, the sun of Florida… the watch,” Gounon said a wink and a nod. “I’ve been lucky to win the big races, but the flavor of winning Daytona when you are standing there and the extra trophy (watch) that is something you cannot buy, the only way to get it is to win and it makes it even more special.”
When the annual full-field photograph is taken later this week it will include drivers representing 31 countries, with those flags of the drivers entered on display at the International Horseshoe (Turn 3).
The United States leads all countries with 57 drivers entered, but seven countries (USA, Great Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Canada and Denmark) have at least 12 drivers. Six countries (USA, Great Britain, Denmark, Brazil, Australia and the Netherlands) have at least one driver in each of the four classes. Interestingly, Americans are most represented among countries in the LMP2, GTD Pro and GTD classes, however Great Britain has the most drivers in the GTP prototype ranks.
“I think it’s amazing and shows the depth of drivers from all over the world,” McLaughlin said. “This is truly one of the world’s ‘blue-chip’ races and I’m super excited to be a part of it.”
Adds Aron of his Rolex 24 debut at a world-renowned facility on a grid full of international talent, “I am going to enjoy this.”
63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona Driver Nationality Breakdown
- USA, 57
- Great Britain, 27
- Italy, 19
- France, 16
- Germany, 14
- Canada, 12
- Denmark, 12
- Brazil, 8
- Australia, 7
- Switzerland, 7
- Austria, 6
- Belgium, 6
- Netherlands, 6
- New Zealand, 6
- Spain, 6
- Japan, 3
- South Africa, 3
- Argentina, 2
- Ireland, 2
- Monaco, 2
- Portugal, 2
- Sweden, 2
- Turkey, 2
- Chile, 1
- Colombia, 1
- Costa Rica, 1
- Estonia, 1
- Finland, 1
- Mexico, 1
- Norway, 1
- Russia, 1