Dries Vanthoor secured BMW M Team RLL's first pole position for the 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona, setting a fastest lap of 1m33.895 in challenging cold conditions. This marks Vanthoor's first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole and the BMW M Hybrid V8's first GTP pole.

The qualifying session featured dramatic moments, including a red flag caused by Sheldon van der Linde's No. 25 BMW stopping during out laps. The final six-minute sprint saw Nick Yelloly's No. 93 Acura claim second place with 1m34.186s, while Felipe Nasr's No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 secured third.

Key qualifying results by class:

GTP:

• 1st: Dries Vanthoor (BMW M Team RLL) - 1m33.895s
• 2nd: Nick Yelloly (Acura) - 1m34.186s
• 3rd: Felipe Nasr (Porsche) - Time not specified

LMP2:

• 1st: Daniel Goldburg (United Autosports USA) - 1m38.690s
• 2nd: Ben Keating (PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports) - 1m39.000s
• 3rd: Nick Boulle (United Autosports)

GTD PRO:

• 1st: Mike Rockenfeller (Ford Mustang GT3) - 1m45.523s
• 2nd: Frederic Vervisch (Ford Mustang GT3) - 1m45.855s
• 3rd: Dan Harper (BMW M4 GT3 EVO) - 1m46.005s

GTD:

• 1st: Elliott Skeer (Wright Motorsports Porsche) - 1m46.634s
• 2nd: Philip Ellis (Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG) - 1m46.652s
• 3rd: Trent Hindman (Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini) - 1m46.658s

Notable achievements include Ford Multimatic Motorsports' 1-2 finish in GTD PRO and the incredibly close GTD qualifying, where the top three were separated by just 0.024 seconds.

Related Articles

Previous Articles