RNW Staff

The first 24 Hours of Daytona (USA) proved to be a tough test for the BMW M Motorsport teams and the new BMW M4 GT3. After a race full of challenges, BMW M Team RLL’s two MOTUL BMW M4 GT3s crossed the finish line in seventh and ninth places in the GTD-PRO class. Both cars suffered issues with their underbodies early in the race. Work had to be carried out on the rear diffusor multiple times which cost a lot of time and saw both cars drop well down the field. Turner Motorsport made an impressive fightback in the GTD class and was running in the top five until they were forced to retire after an incident in the night.

The 60th edition of the Daytona 24 Hours went down to the wire with the Ferrari of Risi Competizione second in the GTD-Pro class and a 4th place finish in GTD for AF Corse. The first round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, run in perfect weather conditions but with very cold temperatures, provided a thrilling spectacle from green flag to chequered flag, although there were also phases of Full Course Yellow. The Ferraris competing in Florida, after a less-than-perfect qualifying session in last weekend’s Roar before 24, proved themselves up to the challenge of this iconic endurance marathon.

Aston Martin recorded its best-ever finish in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, on Sunday, thanks to a brilliant performance by new-for-2022 IMSA team partner Magnus Racing, which charged through the field to second place in the highly-contested GTD class of the US endurance classic.

Porsche customer teams have left an indelible mark on the 24 Hours of Daytona. The 911 GT3 R fielded by Pfaff Motorsports won the new GTD-Pro class after a gripping duel with KCMG. In a big showdown, the works drivers Mathieu Jaminet from France, Matt Campbell from Australia and Felipe Nasr from Brazil beat the crew of the customer squad from Hong Kong. In the GTD category, Wright Motorsports clinched victory with the 500+ PS GT3 car from Weissach. Works driver Richard Lietz (Austria) shared the No. 16 vehicle with Jan Heylen from Belgium, Zacharie Robichon from Canada and American Ryan Hardwick. With these results, another great chapter has been added to Porsche’s history as the most successful manufacturer at the endurance classic in Florida: 18 overall wins as a constructor and four as an engine partner, and now 80 class wins round off the Daytona statistics for the sports car manufacturer from Stuttgart.

Whelen Engineering drivers Pipo Derani (Brazil), Tristan Nunez (Boynton Beach, Fla.) and Mike Conway (Great Britain) are third at the 18-hour mark of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Rolex 24 At Daytona.

WeatherTech Racing has two cars still circulating with five hours remaining in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Rolex 24 At Daytona.

WeatherTech Racing’s three entries continue to circulate at the halfway point of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Whelen Engineering drivers Pipo Derani (Brazil), Tristan Nunez (Boynton Beach, Fla.) and Mike Conway (Great Britain) are running seventh halfway through the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Ally Cadillac drivers Jimmie Johnson (El Cajon, Calif.), Kamui Kobayashi (Japan), Mike Rockenfeller (Germany), and José María López (Argentina) are currently fifth at the halfway point in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian bounced back from an early setback without missing a beat, running in the lead for 42 laps in the 60th Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Ford Mustang, the iconic sports car that created the pony car segment, will lead Ford’s return to global sports car racing as Ford Performance prepares a new GT3 race car for competition in 2024.

Ryan Suhle will join Earl Bamber Motorsport (EBM) for the 2022 Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship.

D’Station Racing, ABSSA and CarGuy Racing will contest Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS’s new Japan Cup this season.

T3 Motorsport will be participating in the DTM Trophy with two Audi R8 LMSs in the 2022 season. Thus, the team from Dresden is further expanding its involvement on the DTM platform. 20-year-old American John Paul Southern Jr. has already been confirmed as the first driver. The talent pool DTM Trophy, run with production-based GT sports cars, is getting its new season of seven race weekends underway at DEKRA Lausitzring Turn 1 from 20-22 May.

Audi Sport and Ferrari go head-to-head for the Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli manufacturers’ title next weekend (February 3-5) when the globetrotting GT3 series makes its final stop of the season at the Joburg Kyalami 9 Hour.

The action heats up this weekend at Daytona International Speedway as NTE/SSR prepares for racing debut of the team’s new No. 42 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo in Saturday’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. Returning for another season in the GTD class, the new collaboration between NTE Sport and Star Spangled Racing will see the No. 42 Lamborghini driven by Don Yount, Benjamin Hates, Jaden Conwright, and Markus Paltaala.

Starting with the 2023 season, the new LMDh prototype from Porsche will fight for overall victory in the world’s greatest endurance races including Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring. The vehicle will be fielded in the FIA WEC World Endurance Championship and the North American IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under the team name Porsche Penske Motorsport. Now, the intensive test programme to prepare for the race debut in January 2023 has started. This premiere will take place at the traditional opening round of the IMSA series – the 24 Hours of Daytona. In selecting the combustion engine to complement the standard hybrid elements, as stipulated by the regulations, Porsche opted for a large-capacity twin-turbo V8 unit. The powerful engine is designed to run on renewable fuels, which means a significant reduction in CO2 emissions. In the race, the system output of the hybrid drive reaches around 500 kW (680 PS).

Young drivers take advantage of the chance to gain valuable knowledge from veteran teammates, including four-time winner João Barbosa.

Porsche customer teams head to the opening round of the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with big ambitions. A total of seven Porsche 911 GT3 R will line up on the grid to contest the tradition-steeped 24 Hours of Daytona. At the official test runs, the so-called “Roar Before the 24” last weekend, the teams and Porsche engineers came up with a good setup and achieved promising grid positions for the 500+PS vehicles. Consequently, expectations are high for the endurance classic in the US state of Florida.

For BMW M Motorsport and BMW of North America, this weekend’s Rolex 24 At Daytona (USA) represents one of the highlights of the season, even this early in the year. The new BMW M4 GT3 is set to make its debut at the endurance classic in Florida. BMW M Team RLL and Turner Motorsport were in action last weekend at the test and qualifying event, Roar Before the 24, where they secured their start positions for the 24-hour race. The big race is the perfect stage on which to mark the 50-year anniversary of BMW M GmbH, which will celebrate the occasion with a top-class programme both on and off the track.