Ah yes. I knew I would be writing another editorial. What's the topic? The provisional entry list for the 62nd renewal of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. A bit bummed as I don't believe I will be able to make it to Daytona Beach again this year. That being said, shooting for another IMSA race later in the season, as every race is slated to have large entries and right now, sports car racing and especially the WeatherTech Championship, is booming. Okie dokie then, let's get to the heart of the story, and the actual list itself. We begin, talking about the top class on this capacity grid, the fabulous, marvelous, revolutionary Grand Touring Prototypes, entering their second full season of competition. We shall see a total of ten GTP racers on the Rolex 24 grid.
We begin with Chip Ganassi Racing and the first of the two factory Cadillac V Series R's. They have an unchanged lineup from last year and the #01 entry will feature the trio of Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais, Dutchman Renger van der Zande, and New Zealand's king of IndyCar, Scott Dixon. A trio of Porsche 963's comes next starting with the surprising JDC-Miller Motorsports entry who are based in my home state of Minnesota. Their driver lineup both for the Rolex 24 and perhaps for the entirety of the 2024 season has been totally revamped. Tijmen van der Helm, who is still a GTP rookie after a number of years competing in LMP2, is the lead driver, sharing with another LMP2 standout of recent time, Phil Hanson, who is making his debut in a top-class prototype and coming over from Europe where he has been a mainstay in LMP2 in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The Porsche juggernaut continues with who else but Porsche Penske Motorsport, who, once again, have stacked the deck for their factory duo of Porsche 963's. Car #6 and car #7 each contain relatively unchanged driver lineups save for the fact that some of the WEC drivers are also included on the teams for both entries. #6 is to be driven by Nick Tandy, Matthieu Jaminet, Kevin Estre, and Laurens Vanthoor. The sister #7 has a predictable lineup as well with Matt Campbell, Felipe Nasr, IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden (who made his IMSA debut at Petit Le Mans), and Fred Makowiecki who comes across along with Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor, from the sister FIA WEC Porsche Penske 963 program. Penske does have a large driver pool.
Wayne Taylor Racing and Acura, this year, with the omission of Meyer Shank Racing from IMSA for the time being, they have become the de facto Acura/Honda factory team. They will have two Acura ARX-06's on the grid. The first is the familiar #10 car to be driven by Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque, who are joined concurrently for the Rolex 24 by Toyota FIA WEC Hypercar driver Brendon Hartley and by IndyCar star Marcus Ericsson who is a new hire at Andretti Global who are associated with Wayne Taylor Racing for this IMSA effort.
BMW Team RLL have another major two-car effort as Bavarian Motorwerks enters their second GTP season in the modern era and we all know BMW's illustrious history in sports car racing that really dates back to the time of the magnificent CSL coupes of the 1970s, and also a presence in the first GTP era in the 1980s. So, BMW Rahal Letterman Lanigan have maintained parts of their lineup from a year ago but there are new faces in the team as well. Car #24 is expected to be shared by Finland's Jesse Krohn, Brazilian Augusto Farfus, and new recruit, Belgian, Dries Vanthoor, brother of Laurens Vanthoor who races for Porsche. So, we will likely see a rivalry between the Vanthoor brothers since both are racing for the two top German brands in GTP.
The sister #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 will have 2/3rds of it's existing lineup from last year with Connor De Philippi and Nick Yelloly returning to the cockpit being joined by Belgian GT3 ace Maxime Martin who I believe is getting his first run in a prototype. There are fourth driver slots on both cars, at this moment, listed as TBA. We could see them add fourth drivers to the #24 and #25 entries. Watch this space to find out before January. Now we move to a team that is near and dear to my heart. My buddies at Action Express Racing with the second Cadillac V Series R on the grid. There are some changes for our team this year that have been well documented. Pipo Derani, our lead driver, who is so solid, he is joined full-time in 2024 by Jack Aitken.
We have seen what Jack offers our team and his talent is phenomenal, especially with the victory this year at the 12 Hours of Sebring where he put in a yeoman drive towards the end of the motor race before we took a well-earned victory. The new recruit is a former rival turned partner for our team in the form of Englishman Tom Blomqvist. This was a massive surprise when I found out and got confirmation from AXR chef d'equipe, and my good friend, Bob Johnson, that Tom Blomqvist was signed on to our effort just before the Indianapolis sprint race back in September. I believe, with Blomqvist now in our camp for the endurance events, since he (very much like Pipo and Jack, both), is A. a solid talent, and B. knows how to get everything out of a car in an endurance race, Tom Blomqvist will be another valued player on our team.
I feel that our 2023 Sebring victory and the championship we earned, these are no flukes. We will give everything we've got since we're the defending champions and the other teams mentioned here in GTP will be gunning for us. That said, we are ready to go, and we are going to race hard, clean, and fair, and add more victories to our tally, more trophies, in 2024. As I always say, if you see a red Cadillac in your mirrors, beware that we are there to race you, cleanly and fairly, but also, wanting a bite of the cherry at every opportunity.
Alright. Another newcomer is that aforementioned second Wayne Taylor Racing Acura. This is the #40 entry. With the departure of Meyer Shank Racing this left a slot open for WTR to take on another Acura and to become the de facto Honda factory effort in GTP as we said before. Another car stacked with talent, Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor's brother, who has been a GM driver for a number of years, is joining the fold. He will be joined in the second Acura by the team's existing driver Louis Deletraz, and showing the connection with Andretti Autosport, Colton Herta, moves over from BMW to Acura to join for the Rolex 24. The team has also secured the services for the Rolex 24 of 2009 Formula 1 World Champion and standout sports car racer, Jenson Button.
We have seen Button this year. He raced the Hendrick Motorsports Garage 56 NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and competed at the Petit Le Mans in the JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963. However, he has now landed with the WTR Andretti organization aboard their second car at least for Daytona and could have other endurance races as part of the program. That, we don't know yet. Porsche are also stacking the deck. We've talked about the two Penske cars. We've talked about the JDC-Miller car. There is a fourth 963 in the mix as well. No, Jota Sport are not racing in IMSA. They said so that they will only focus, I believe on the FIA WEC even though rumors persisted that the British team would come stateside as well.
Instead, Proton Competition are upping the ante. After doing a partial schedule in 2023 in both IMSA and the WEC, they have confirmed an IMSA effort for 2024. Right now, Gianmaria Bruni of Italy and Neel Jani of Switzerland are the two confirmed pilots for that WeatherTech sponsored Porsche 963. However, we may hear more about who their partners will be for the Rolex 24 in due time. Chapter one, on GTP is complete. Read more to find out about LMP2, and the two GT Daytona classes, Pro, and regular.
There will be a dozen LMP2 cars on the grid and with the elimination of LMP3 and its demotion to the VP Sports Car Challenge, this will be the hotly contested lower tier prototype division. Let's start with the Anglo American United Autosports team. They are slated to be running two cars at Daytona. The first is the #2 entry. This car will have a fascinating trio as Ben Keating, the Texas car dealer turned racing driver, he comes over from one of the other LMP2 efforts he has raced for in years past and joins United alongside Englishman Ben Hanley and the talented Chilean driver Nico Pino. CrowdStrike Racing by APR are back for another go in LMP2. Currently, their regular season duo of George Kurtz and Colin Braun, who also have found much success in SRO GT3 competition in the past, are the only two drivers in the team's lineup. Watch this space, for developments.
TDS Racing and car #11 are back with the same duo from last year, American Steven Thomas and Dane Mikkel Jensen, concurrently racing for Peugeot's factory WEC Hypercar team, who will be joined by newcomer and feeder series open wheel racing standout Hunter McElrea, and their fourth driver will be WEC LMP2 racer Charles Milesi. Era Motorsports and their venerable #18 car return with both drivers who have been the backbone of their operation for a good while now. American Dwight Merriman teaming with veteran Scotsman Ryan Dalziel. Two more drivers are expected to join the team and we'll know who they are, soon. High Class Racing have teamed up with MDK Motorsports for LMP2 in IMSA in 2024. They will have a duo of the Dane Dennis Andersen, and prototype newcomer Seth Lucas, who impressed massively this year in SRO competition for this team in a GT3 class Porsche. Now, he gets his shot at big league prototype racing for the first time. LMP3 and LMP2 standout Lorents Horr will also be on that team.
Who will the other drivers be? Stay tuned to find out. A second United Autosports entry? Why, yes. United who have raced for many moons in Europe, it seems they are truly focusing on stateside competition in the WeatherTech Championship for 2024 and have brought over their #22 LMP2 Oreca as well as the aforementioned #2. Former F1 and DTM turned prototype driver, Scotsman Paul di Resta, who has also raced in Hypercar for Peugeot before, he will be lead the effort in the second car alongside Dan Goldburg who has had experience in both LMP3 and LMP2 before. Two more drivers will be announced to join them.
With the demise of LMP3 from WTSC, Sean Creech Motorsports step up to LMP2 with the sole Ligier chassis in a sea of Oreca's. Their existing LMP3 drivers will spearhead the effort. Dr. Lance Willsey joined by the Portuguese endurance racing veteran, Joao Barbosa. Two more drivers will be joining them and they will again be announced at a later date. PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports will be teaming up with the Polish bakers, Inter Europol Competition, this year's LMP2 class winners at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Jakub "Kuba" Smiechowski, the Polish driver, and son of the boss of Inter Europol, thus far he is the only confirmed driver. Who else will join him? Wait and see. Riley Motorsports step up to LMP2 with their #74 entry, an Oreca 07 set to be driven by their trio who raced LMP3 in the last handful of seasons. Gar Robinson, joined by Brazilian Felipe Fraga and Australian Josh Burdon.
AF Corse come to LMP2 here stateside after a number of years running LMP2 in European Le Mans Series and FIA WEC and of course, they also have the Ferrari WEC Hypercar effort that won Le Mans. However, it is doubtful the Ferrari 499P Hypercar may be allowed to race in IMSA GTP despite several rumors stating that would be so. The AF Corse LMP2 effort is spearheaded by Luis Perez Companc of Argentina with Ferrari factory drivers Nicklas Nielsen of Denmark, and successful young French driver Lilou Wadoux on the driver's strength. We have seen Lilou Wadoux in GT class Ferrari's as of late and so she is stepping back up to the prototype ranks.
AO Racing also step up to LMP2 along with what may be a sole entry in the GT Daytona ranks, I believe in GTD Pro. Read on to find out more. P.J. Hyett, AO Racing team principal, he will be joined by French LMP2 veteran Paul Loup Chatin, and two more yet to be named drivers. So, this wraps up the LMP2 field. Now, we move on to the production car classes, the GT3 cars that are a part of both GT Daytona Pro and GT Daytona regular, with no changes between those sets of cars save for the ratings of the drivers chosen to pilot them.
There will be a grand total of 38 cars across both GTD classes. In GT Daytona Pro, there's a baker's dozen of 13. Let's start with the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3. With their GTD successes, they are now boosted up to the GTD Pro ranks. Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow, their dynamic driving duo, will be joined for the Rolex 24 at Daytona by BMW factory driver Neil Verhagen, who has had success aboard the M4 GT3 in several championships between such disciplines as SRO America and Europe, and NLS, the Nurburgring Langstrecken Series. South African BMW factory driver Sheldon van der Linde is the fourth driver on the team. A venerable quartet sure to be in contention in the category.
Corvette Racing once again, for the first time in a wee while, have a two-car effort with two new GT3 spec Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R's for Corvette Racing by Pratt & Miller Motorsports. This is the new team name. Keep in mind, in GT3 racing, only customer cars are allowed. There are no factory GT3 teams. The rules stipulate that the cars must be built to be campaigned by customers, hence the complete restructuring of Corvette Racing under the GM umbrella. The cars will be run not just in IMSA but in other championships around the world. GT3 is becoming a global formula. There are plenty of new or returning drivers to the Corvette fold and there are more than just the Pratt & Miller cars on the grid.
Car #3 for Pratt & Miller has veteran Antonio "The King of Spain" Garcia as lead driver, sharing with returning driver Alexander Sims, after a single year at the wheel of a Cadillac GTP car. Sims and Garcia are to be joined by new recruit, another Spanish standout, Dani Juncadella, who is a former Mercedes-AMG driver now switching camps over to General Motors. The sister #4 Pratt & Miller Corvette Z06 GT3.R is set to be driven by Tommy Milner, Dutchman Nicky "The Cat" Catsburg, and another new driver for Corvette, former Cadillac prototype driver, Earl Bamber, from New Zealand. Again, there are more Corvette's to talk about.
Pfaff Motorsports, the Canadian team that owns a successful Canadian car dealership franchise, have done a total 180, ending their association with Porsche and their fabled plaid lumberjack livery. Because of their franchising, they now are fully aligned with the famed orange of McLaren cars from England. The #9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 will be shared by Oliver Jarvis (a new recruit who has been in the prototype ranks now for a number of years), Canadian IndyCar turned sports car racer and sometimes race broadcaster, James Hinchcliffe, Gernan driver Marvin Kirchhofer, who has been for a number of years, a McLaren factory GT3 driver, and their current IndyCar driver, one time Indianapolis 500 winner, in 2016, Alexander Rossi.
Vasser Sullivan Lexus return with their #14 Lexus RC F GT3, now the oldest GT3 car in the field, with two cars. Their Pro rated entry is car #14, and they have their returning trio from 2023 of Englishmen Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth, the Yorkshireman, alongside IndyCar star, Floridian, Kyle Kirkwood. Iron Lynx are back. Their delayed Lamborghini LMDh effort (which is hopefully going to get off the ground at round two, the 12 Hours of Sebring), means that they will stick with GTD Pro and the #19 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2. Italian drivers Mirko Bortolotti and Andrea Caldarelli, joined by South African Jordan Pepper, and Frenchman Franck Perera, in a relatively unchanged lineup.
Heart of Racing Aston Martin, they are back with the usual #23 GTD Pro ranked Aston Martin, while they are also the team spearheading the new Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar that will finally come online in 2025 and be racing on both sides of the Atlantic in IMSA and WEC. In the meantime, Heart of Racing will feature Spaniard Alex Riberas, and Englishman Ross Gunn, and their new recruit, is former HPD GT3 driver Mario Farnbacher who moves over to the British Racing Green team from Gaydon, Warwickshire, England. Risi Competizione return once again to the championship with the sole Pro class Ferrari 296 GT3 in the second year of the mid-engined GT3 racer.
Italian Davide Rigon is the lead driver, sharing with countryman Alessandro Pier Guidi, who is one of the winners of this year's centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Ferrari 499P Hypercar program in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and they will be joined by rapid Brazilian racer, Daniel Serra, the son of former Formula 1 driver, Chico Serra, to complete the lineup. For the first time in five years, since the end of the ultra-successful GT program, Ford Motor Company returns to big league sports car racing with the new GT3 specification Mustang to celebrate the car's 60th anniversary, the Mustang having been introduced to the world on April 17th, 1964, and maintaining a sterling racing pedigree in several guises with several teams through the years.
The Mustang is making it's return to top level sports car racing after also competing for a number of years worldwide in GT4 competition. The GT4 program with the new generation Mustang will continue apace, and be joined by this factory GT3 effort from Multimatic Motorsports in Canada. Multimatic are the same folks who ran the Ford GT program as well as the short-lived Mazda program in the old Daytona Prototype International division, the precursor to the new GTP. Ford are currently continuing to add to their driver lineup, but they have some heavy hitters already signed up for the new two-car Multimatic Mustang program. These new Mustang's will also be run by privateer teams globally in a myriad of championships, much like the new Corvette.
Former Audi, Porsche, and GM driver Mike Rockenfeller is a new Ford signing. "Rocky" will share the #64 Ford Mustang GT3 with Harry Tincknell, a recent driver for the Mazda Multimatic program, a Multimatic factory driver, who loaned his services to some customer Porsche teams in recent years. We shall see who the third drivers are in both of these cars. The sister #65 car (#65 was used for years in the old GTO class by Jack Roush who ran the first Mustang program im IMSA in the 1980s), will have two stalwarts from the Ford GT program coming back into the fold, with Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller. Hand has driven in GT4 and done a lot of NASCAR testing and driving for Ford and did so I believe on their version of the now current Generation 7 NASCAR Cup car, because of it's similarities to a GT car in construction and independent suspension setup.
A sole Mercedes-AMG GT3 is set to race in GTD Pro at the Rolex 24 for SunEnergy1 Racing in the hands of Australian businessman and solar energy tycoon, Kenny Habul, who also happens to be a winner of the Bathurst 12 Hour endurance race at Mount Panorama in Australia. We do not yet know the full extent of their driver lineup. We'll see. AO Racing will carry the #77 on their upgraded GTD Pro Porsche 992 911 GT3R this year. We don't know if the car will return with it's famous tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaur livery yet.
Sebastian Priaulx of England, son of famed touring car and GT racer Andy Priaulx teams up with German Porsche GT3 stalwart Laurin Heinrich and as for the rest of the driver's strength, again, stay tuned. Ditto for the #92 Kellymoss with Riley Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R 992 model. That car has no confirmed drivers as of yet. Now we move to the final class, GT Daytona. Again, GT3 cars abound throughout, but with Pro-Am driver lineups and instead of red number symbols and panels, the GTD cars use green. Vasser Sullivan's second Lexus RC F GT3 starts off the class roster, with the returning trio of drivers from 2023 including Frankie Montecalvo, Parker Thompson, and Aaron Telitz, with an as yet unnamed fourth driver for the Rolex 24.
AWA move from the defunct LMP3 category to GTD with two customer Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R's. These are the other customer Corvette's I was speaking about. A good chunk of their existing driver lineup has been maintained, with some new additions to the crew for GT3. Orey Fidani, Matt Bell, and Lars Kern will pilot lucky #13 while the sister #17 Corvette GT3 has returning drivers Anthony Mantella and Nico Varrone at the wheel of it (Varrone raced for Corvette in GTE Am in FIA WEC all this year), and new recruits for the team, Thomas Merrill, and former Aston Martin GT driver in IMSA and WEC, Irishman Charlie Eastwood. The customer Corvette lineups between Pratt & Miller in GTD Pro and AWA in GTD are formidable.
The second Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 is registered in GTD regular this year as always, to team with their aforementioned Pro car, #23. Roman De Angelis, Marco Sorensen, and Ian James, have secured the services of former Porsche driver, Zacharie Robichon. So, #27 will have a half Canadian lineup at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Aston Martin will also be represented by Magnus Racing in the #44 Aston Martin Vantage GT3, we believe, with the Flex Box (or Flexi Box as I tend to call it), livery on the car. #44 is set to be driven by their regular American trio that have driven with this team through several manufacturer switches over the last four, maybe five or six years. John Potter sharing with Andy Lally and Spencer Pumpelly.
Ferrari are set to have stout GT Daytona entries to go along with the Risi Competizione GTD Pro car. There are four more Ferrari 296 GT3's in GTD. AF Corse have car #21 to be shared by three veterans of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Kei Cozzolino of Japan, England's Simon Mann, and Frenchman Francois Heriau, who has seen success in LMP2 in recent years. Triarsi Competizione have a single 296 GT3 entered for team boss and lead driver Onofrio Triarsi, GT and LMP2 racer Alessio Rovera, Charlie Scardina (moving with Triarsi to IMSA, over from SRO competition), and a driver I am only hearing the name of for the first time, Ricky Agostini. Agostini, the only instance where I have heard his name, he won the 2020 edition of the 6 Hours of Rome at Vallelunga near Rome, Italy, racing for Audi Sport Team Italia alongside Lorenzo Ferrari and Sean Hudspeth. So, this is a big opportunity for Agostini to put his name back on the map in GT racing. Conquest Racing will also have a Ferrari 296 GT3 running the #34.
Conquest moves over to IMSA from SRO competition much like a few of the other teams mentioned, or about to be mentioned here, in the GTD Pro/GTD classes. Manny Franco and Alessandro Balzan who made up the duo for Conquest in SRO GT World Challenge America in 2023, will be joined by Monegasque Cedric Sbirrazuoli for the Rolex 24. Will the fourth slot in their driver lineup be filled? Once again, we'll find out. Cetilar Racing, the Italian team, fill out the roster of Ferrari 296 GT3's in the GT Daytona division. Car #47 is back with the Italian duo of Giorgio Sernagiotto and Roberto Lacorte, being joined by Eddie Cheever III. and possibly a fourth driver.
Mercedes Benz has three cars in GTD, joining the SunEnergy1 GTD Pro entry. One each from Korthoff Preston Motorsports, Winward Racing, and Lone Star Racing. Korthoff Preston retains their full driver lineup I believe, from this year's Rolex 24 and it is unchanged led by Americans Mike Skeen and Kenton Koch, alongside Canadian Mikael Grenier, and veteran German Mercedes GT3 campaigner Maximilian Gotz. Russell Ward and Canada's Daniel Morad are the two drivers currently confirmed at Winward and we shall see who else will join them. Lone Star Racing's lineup for the #80 Mercedes-AMG GT3 also is to be announced yet, for all four drivers.
Porsche has five representatives in GT Daytona. Andretti Motorsports have switched to the German marque from Stuttgart after racing with Aston Martin, last year. Jarett Andretti and Gabby Chaves return to the team joined by Canadian driver Scott Hargrove, who has raced for Porsche before I believe in SRO and IMSA and is making a return to driving after a handful of years away. There is a fourth slot on their team yet to be confirmed. Wright Motorsports continue in GT Daytona after splitting their program between this class in IMSA and SRO competition using a handful of different numbers. #16 and #77 in IMSA and #120 in SRO. This year, #16 and #77 are both gone especially after the retirement of driver Alan Brynjolfsson who figured prominently in their IMSA effort especially last year.
No drivers listed yet for the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche. The same is true for other Porsche efforts in GTD, the #53 MDK Motorsports car and the #91 car for Kellymoss with Riley, which is the sister car to their GTD Pro effort #92. Speaking of MDK Motorsports, they do have a second car entered, car #86, which has made some traction with a driver lineup or at least half of one at this stage. Currently, the second MDK entry has Kerong Li and Anders Fjordbach confirmed. Fjordbach, remember, is now part of this team because of their partnership with High Class Racing running in LMP2 which he has been a part of both in IMSA and in WEC before.
There is another Ford Mustang GT3 entered in GTD regular. This is the new Proton Competition entry. Proton Competition, again, have moved to The Blue Oval and are, I believe, fielding cars not only in IMSA but likely in FIA World Endurance too. No drivers currently listed for the #55 Ford Mustang GT3 as of yet. This is the sole GTD class Mustang while the Multimatic factory entries are of course in GTD Pro. Lamborghini are back in a big way. "The Raging Bulls" being represented by four cars from three different teams.
Wayne Taylor Racing will have one car, to support their new two-car Acura GTP effort, running with Lamborghini. The #45 car has Canadian Kyle Marcelli and Costa Rican driver Danny Formal on the books, with two more drivers for the Rolex 24 yet to be named. Lamborghini are supposed to debut their new SC63 LMDh/GTP racer. But the car has been delayed. They were of course supposed to race at Daytona but will make the worldwide debut with the car at the FIA WEC season opener in Qatar in March and make their IMSA debut a few weeks later at the 72nd running of the 12 Hours of Sebring.
In the meantime, Iron Lynx/Iron Dames (Iron Dames also being the new champions in the FIA World Endurance Championship's recently defunct GTE Am class), they have two cars. One each for Iron Lynx in yellow and Iron Dames in pink. Car #60 will be shared by Italian's Claudio Schiavoni and Matteo Cressoni, with two more drivers set to join them soon. Iron Dames is the trio of the three ladies we know so well from their recent championship and their successes in Europe over the years, Michelle Gatting from Denmark, Rahel Frey from Germany, and Sarah Bovy from Belgium. I wonder who their fourth driver will be, or will they just go with three? Forte Racing are the other Lamborghini GTD outfit with car #78. Canadian Misha Goikhberg and Italian Loris Spinelli, are confirmed to drive as they did this year. Who will join them at Daytona? Again, your guess is as good as mine at this moment.
Acura will have a sole representative in the GTD class this year with Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport expanding to their two-car GTP effort. The sole Acura NSX GT3 on the grid is the #66 Gradient Racing car slated to be driven once again this year by Katherine Legge and Sheena Monk. It is likely we shall know their co-drivers for their Rolex 24 effort, soon. Turner Motorsports and BMW will have a single car on the GT Daytona grid this year, opting not to renew a second car as they had for selected races in 2023. The quartet of drivers at Turner Motorsports has been determined. American drivers Robby Foley, Michael Dinan, and Patrick Gallagher will team up for the Rolex 24 with German BMW GT driver Jens Klingman.
Like Pfaff Motorsports in GTD Pro, McLaren will have a sole representative in the GT Daytona class, regular. Inception Racing are back with their #70 McLaren 720S GT3 with a full lineup that is slightly revised. American Brendon Iribe is joined by Danish driver Fredrik Schandorff alongside British drivers Ollie Milroy and Tom Gamble. Gamble, a former driver in LMP2 in the FIA WEC, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series, I believe, he is making his debut as a McLaren driver. So, there you have it. That covers everyone, I think, in the entire list of entries as they stand (at least provisionally) for the 62nd Rolex 24 coming up in January.
Should anything change, you will hear about it ASAP. That's a wrap for this editorial report. I think all classes will be very, very competitive. Lots and lots of things to look out for. GTP will continue being bonkers. LMP2 will have stiff competition. Both flavors of GT Daytona classes are stacked with talent and with fabulous GT3 cars. This is going to be a truly exciting prospect as we head for the Rolex 24 in January. Wish I could be there to see it! Might try to make it to another race later in the year, since the grids for both the enduros and the sprints, are expected to be absolutely massive. Thanks for reading, everybody. Enjoy the rest of your day and/or night. So long, for now.
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