DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship bought underway Friday on a crisp winter day at Daytona Int’l Speedway.
Sixty-one rivals took to the three.56-mile highway course beneath sunny skies for the primary of three days of Roar Earlier than the Rolex 24 testing within the lead-up to the 63rd working of the Rolex 24 At Daytona subsequent weekend.
BMW M Crew RLL had loads to have fun on the finish of the primary day of the brand new marketing campaign. Dries Vanthoor set the day’s benchmark time within the early phases of the two-hour afternoon session, clocking 1 minute, 35.424 seconds (134.306 mph) within the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8, with Sheldon van der Linde working fourth within the equivalent No. 25 entry at 1:36.093 (132.936 mph).
“It’s a disgrace it’s not Sunday night in a single week’s time,” joked the youthful Vanthoor brother (older brother Laurens is within the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963), referring to the end of the upcoming 24-hour race.
“This isn’t crucial session of the weekend or the race, however it’s good to know that it’s trying good and the steps we’ve executed since final 12 months and the evolution we’ve got been engaged on since we began the venture is trying higher.
“The fellows again on the manufacturing facility have been working flat out because the end of the final season,” he added. “We’re nonetheless removed from being there, however it’s because of them that it’s all bettering. We’ve been testing rather a lot a making an attempt to enhance our points, so let’s see subsequent week in the event that they repay or not. That may present if all of the work we did was for nothing, or for victory, possibly.”
Tom Blomqvist marked his full-time return to IMSA by setting the quickest time within the 75-minute opening session within the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 with a lap of 1:35.827 (133.741 mph). The BMWs have been spectacular from the soar, with the No. 25 and 24 vehicles rating second and fourth respectively within the morning.
“I believe the primary session the monitor was fairly inexperienced, fairly soiled, so grip was not the best,” Vanthoor stated. “I believe we are going to actually really feel the grip constructing as much as the race subsequent week. It’s all the time cool to return on the banking originally of the 12 months, so it was fairly enjoyable.”
A pair of GTP groups encountered points that affected their day. The No. 63 Automobili Lamborghini Squadra Corse Lamborghini SC63 accomplished solely 5 laps within the morning session, whereas the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 stopped on monitor lower than 10 minutes into the afternoon apply with a hybrid system abnormality and was returned to the storage on a flatbed truck.
Lamborghini rebounded within the afternoon, with Romain Grosjean setting the third greatest time at 1:36.041 (133.433 mph).
The No. 43 Inter Europol Competitors ORECA LMP2 07 competing within the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class additionally prompted a quick crimson flag late within the afternoon session when Bijoy Garg stalled on the course. Malthe Jakobsen (No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA LMP2 07) was quickest general Friday in LMP2, clocking 1:38.673 (129.883 mph) in Session 1.
The brand new relationship between Lamborghini and Pfaff Motorsports bought off to a quick begin as Andrea Caldarelli topped the Grand Touring Daytona Professional (GTD PRO) class. Caldarelli’s 1:47.626 (119.079 mph) lap early within the morning session within the No. 9 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 was 0.149 second faster than the very best effort within the afternoon, set by defending GTD PRO champion Laurin Heinrich managed within the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992).
Pfaff fielded a Porsche to win the 2022 IMSA GTD PRO championship earlier than campaigning a McLaren in 2024.
“This was for positive a late program, to come back collectively, however the guys actually did a extremely superb job,” stated Caldarelli, a Lamborghini manufacturing facility driver. “These usually are not simply phrases I’m saying. I understand how onerous it’s to place collectively a automotive, and that is in all probability not the best automotive to work on originally. We didn’t have any main points, and I used to be actually positively impressed. That is positively a very good begin to the 12 months.”
Rahel Frey, within the No. 83 Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), was quickest among the many 22 GTD class rivals, circulating Daytona in 1:48.084 in Session 1.
The IMSA Michelin Pilot Problem additionally staged a pair of check classes Friday. Ford Mustang GT4s set the Grand Sport (GS) class tempo in every, with Marco Signoretti (No. 60 KOHR Motorsports) clocking the very best lap of the day within the morning at 1:53.191 (113.224 mph) and Jenson Altzman (No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing with AEROSPORT) quickest within the afternoon. The No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 TCR led each classes in Touring Automobile (TCR), with Karl Wittmer driving within the morning and LP Montour within the afternoon.
