German Marque Completes Dominant Test Weekend ahead of 64th Rolex 24
By John Oreovicz and Holly Cain
Session 6 Results
Session 7 Results
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The form guide for the 64th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona International Speedway isn’t too much clearer after three days of Roar Before the Rolex 24 testing than it was prior to the start.
Still, there was no denying Porsche’s consistent presence at the front of the overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class field during each of the test days to start the new 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.
Porsche cars and drivers paced four of the first six sessions at the Roar, running 1-2-3 in two sessions and 1-2 in another. And it’s not just the upgraded-for-2026 factory No. 6 and No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport entries that are showing speed.
The No. 85 Porsche 963 fielded by JDC-Miller MotorSports, running in 2025 specification, ranked in the top two three times this weekend. Rising 21-year-old star Nico Pino was fastest overall Sunday morning in Session 6, lapping the 3.56-mile Daytona road course in 1 minute 37.099 seconds for an average speed of 131.989 mph in the yellow JDC-Miller GTP. A final test session open only to Bronze-rated drivers in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) classes was set for the afternoon.
The JDC-Miller driver lineup is the youngest in the 11-car GTP field, with Pino joined for the full season by 21-year-old Tijmen van der Helm and 23-year-old American Kaylen Frederick for Daytona and the other IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds.
“Nico does an exceptional job and has some experience in the factory cars, which helps us get an opinion as to where we are,” said JDC-Miller MotorSports team principal John Church. “He helps with development and sets a good benchmark, so that’s been really positive.”
Porsche ran 1-2-3 in GTP on Sunday morning, with the factory cars driven by Kevin Estre (No. 6) and Felipe Nasr (No. 7) placing second and third. They were followed by the No. 10 and No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.Rs (driven respectively by brothers Ricky Taylor and Jordan Taylor) and both BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8s (piloted by Kevin Magnussen and Rene Rast). The top seven GTP entries were covered by just 0.474 seconds.
Ben Hanley again led the LMP2 class in Session 6 in the No. 2 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07, lapping in 1:40.101 (128.030 mph). The No. 2 car paced LMP2 in four of the first six Roar sessions, three while in the hands of Hanley.
In Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), the No. 75 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 led the class for a fourth time, this one in the hands of team owner Kenny Habul at 1:47.530 (119.185 mph), the best lap turned by any GTD PRO car yet this weekend. The No. 75 is serving as an unofficial Australian All-Star car, with Habul joined by reigning Supercars champion Chaz Mostert and two-time IndyCar champion Will Power, who is making his WeatherTech Championship debut. Mercedes-AMG factory driver Maro Engel rounds out the No. 75 lineup.
Ford factory driver Joey Hand was slightly quicker than Habul in Gradient Racing’s GTD class No. 66 Ford Mustang GT3 at 1:47.421 (119.306 mph). The Mustang was the dominant GTD car over the weekend, with the No. 66 Gradient and No. 16 Myers Riley Motorsports entries leading five of the six sessions.
Leaders in the Sunday afternoon session for Bronze drivers were PJ Hyett (No. 99 AO Racing ORECA) in LMP2 and Brendan Iribe (No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO) in GTD.
Unannounced Livestream of Roar Session Draws Lots of Eyeballs
Saturday night’s Roar session once again proved a big draw with fans, those at track and those watching from home. IMSA streamed the two-hour practice live on its YouTube channel – including commentary but no graphics – and earned more than 105,000 live views, who shared more than 11,000 chat messages during the session. Since conclusion, the video has attracted more than 75,000 additional views.
IMSA President John Doonan was pleased with the response, particularly since the livestream happened spontaneously with no pre-promotion. It was even tagged “Surprise, you asked, here you go” on IMSA’s Official YouTube channel.
“It was really special,” Doonan said. “A bit of a surprise and a delight.”
2012 Rolex 24 Winner, NASCAR Star Allmendinger Happy to Be Back on Grid
It’s been five years since 2012 Rolex 24 At Daytona overall winner A.J. Allmendinger last competed in the marquee season opener, but the NASCAR Cup Series regular is excited to be back on the star-filled grid this year. He’s paired with Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun and Scott Dixon in the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 in the GTP class.
Allmendinger, who’ll make his 16th Rolex 24 start on January 24, conceded with a grin, “it’s been a lot of work” getting up to speed with the new prototype. A longtime friend with Rolex 24 car team co-owner Michael Shank, the IndyCar and NASCAR race winner doesn’t just compete to fill his impressive resume, he wants to help his team earn a new Rolex watch.
Allmendinger conceded he had to be nudged – just a bit – to rejoin the team for the 24-hour race.
“In a way, he had to talk me into it,’’ Allmendinger said of Shank. “More than anything, the last thing I want to do in life is let that guy down.
“I knew this car was very sophisticated even compared to five years ago, the last time I drove DPi. It’s been a lot of work and the team has been amazing working with me and kind of bringing me up to speed as quick as they could. I put a lot of effort into studying everything.”
The opportunity was particularly attractive considering Allmendinger was going to be paired with a decorated A-list of co-drivers.
“These guys are world-class,” he said. “And part of the stress-slash-fun is being up to speed to be with them. I don’t expect to be the fastest one out of all of them, but I do expect to be fast enough to do my job and my portion of the race and hand the car off to the guys with a shot to win.
“And at the end of the day, I think it’s shown me how much I missed being around the group, the camaraderie. You have teammates in NASCAR, but you’re not sharing the car. So that’s been a lot of fun.”