Motorsport Week explored what it was like for Era Motorsport when they were the only team who took on these key back-to-back endurance races.

Determination. Teamwork. Coordination. These fundamental traits run at the heart of every team competing in the illustrious yet gruelling discipline of endurance racing.

IMSA LMP2 and historic racing outfit Era Motorsport are no exception to this as the only team to run this year’s 24 Hours of Dubai, 6 Hours of Abu Dhabi and the 24 Hours of Daytona – all of which took place on consecutive weekends in January.

Take a deep dive into the stresses, heartbreaks and challenges endured during these major sportscar events by Era Motorsport.

Relive the insightful accounts from two of Era Motorsport’s most prominent racing drivers, team owner Kyle Tilley and team regular Ryan Dalziel.

Era Motorsport had three separate cars to race with two sets of crews, including two new engineers, for the Middle Eastern races and the United States-based affair.

They had two distinct racing entries for these events – the #81 Ferrari 296 GT3 and the #18 Oreca 07 LMP2 – with Kyle primarily managing the new Ferrari programme whilst his wife and team co-ordinator Sarah Tilley principally oversees their LMP2 programme.

The first two of seven 24H Series 2025 races run with the Creventic rules and regulations whilst Daytona is part of IMSA and their SportsCar Championship mixing prototype and Grand Touring machinery.

24H Dubai: A rough end to a smooth start for Era’s Ferrari programme

The 20th running of the Dubai 24 Hours was a major anniversary for the race and marked the beginning of Era Motorsport’s racing chapter with their Ferrari 296 GT3 programme, one of the newest GT3 cars customer teams can purchase.

Most notably, it marked the GT racing debut of reigning British Touring Car champion Jake Hill, whose partnership with Era Motorsport pre-existed in racing some of their historic cars in the past year as Tilley made his GT3 comeback.

Another team regular Dwight Merriman and Oliver Bryant joined and Tilley Dalziel as a five-driver line-up in the #81 Ferrari 296 Pro-Am GT3 class entrant for the race on 11-12 January.

“We were bringing in containers from different countries,” said Dalziel on the two separate Ferraris they had.

“We had the two cars were in different places for the Ferraris at one point, with [mechanical] parts in different parts of the world.

“It was definitely madness [in] the first couple of days.

“And you try your best to lend a hand but at the same time, [it’s] probably better the drivers don’t get involved in that stuff.

“At least my part of it, I try to make coffees for everybody and make sure everybody’s happy and I’m usually the class clown that motivates but from my side, it wasn’t overly difficult.

“I actually went to Dubai early, said the Scotsman who lives in Orlando, USA, “I wanted to make sure I got in the time zone.”

Dalziel on how he ‘led’ the drivers

Era Motorsport qualified 24th in a GT3 category mixed with Pro, Pro-Am, and Am entries, of which the #81 Ferrari belonged to the middle classification.

As with the majority of 24-hour races, qualifying played all but a small part in achieving a successful outcome for Era Motorsport.

“There’s a lot of new things, new elements to it, but not new to me.

“So I had done a season of the [Ferrari] 296, I’d also done a little bit of Creventic in the past and I’ve done a lot of GT3 racing.

“Nobody else in the car with me had done any of it.

“Dwight, it was new to him – he’d only done LMP2 racing.

“Jake Hill had never sat in a GT3 car, let alone do an endurance race, so on that programme I felt like I had to lead the drivers a little bit.”

Hill drew the eyes of many following the BTCC as Tilley gave praise to the 31-year-old.

“Jake’s massively talented. In my opinion, he’s slightly wasted just doing British Touring Cars.

“… So to be able to give him the step up into the GT3 car was something that’s been on my mind for a bit and he’s doing a great job.

“He had to learn his biggest hurdle that he’s never had to share a car before… that’s been a bit of a learning curve for him.”

An tough truth to process for Era Motorsport

At the Dubai 24 Hours, GT3 was the fastest class out of five for the ‘multi-class’ sportscar race.

Immediately after the race start, Era Motorsport suffered a leaky tyre which prompted an early pit stop.

Era Motorsport climbed back up and contended for a podium finish up until Merriman incurred a low speed impact with three-and-a-half hours remaining.

They were forced to retire despite the team’s best efforts and work to optimise strategy throughout the race.

No team out of the 65 entries which took on Dubai wants to be amongst the retirements and Era Motorsport unfortunately – though painfully close to the end.

“We like to say it’s the racing gods that decide the outcome of some of these things,” said Dalziel.

“And for me, I never bring my [emotional] baggage home.”

Tilley added his reflection: “The fact that we were there and in podium contention on the first time out shows what a good job both Ferrari and Oreca have done with the car, but also how well our engineering department got their heads around the car as soon as possible.”

The next stop for the Era Motorsport team was on the next weekend’s Abu Dhabi race on Sunday 19 January.

6H Abu Dhabi: Repeating GT3 podium contention

The second half of Creventic’s Middle East Trophy was at the Yas Marina Circuit, home to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Dalziel mentioned a late, preferential decision by the team to bring him back to the USA for the Roar Before the 24 pre-event test weekend rather than competing in the Abu Dhabi race on Sunday 19 January.

“Honestly, had it been the European Le Mans Series, I wouldn’t have got back in the car because that’s far more intense than I really want to do right now,” Tilley quipped having driven with Merriman and Hill.

“But certainly with Creventic, it’s a lot of fun.

“It’s a chance to share a car with two good friends and the car’s a joy to drive.

“So it’s been really enjoyable getting back in a modern car again.

“I think the biggest thing I’ve had to, to readapt to is learning a modern tyre versus like an older cross-ply tyre, which a lot of the historic cars run.”

The GT3 field contained some of the most renowned teams in sportscar racing such as IMSA GTD champions Winward Racing, WRT and Garage 59 to name a few.

With Dalziel back on the US soil, Hill, Merriman and Tilley took on the race as a trio.

They repeated podium contention but were unable to translate their potential into a top result, having finished P25 in the GT3 field and P11 in the Pro-Am sub-category.

24H Daytona: A flawless run towards podium denial

The 63rd running of the Daytona 24 Hours marked Dalziel’s 20th consecutive start at the race hosted at the iconic Daytona International Speedway Road Course.

Era Motorsport were reigning LMP2 class winners having attained their second ‘Rolex 24’ victory in 2024.

A mostly different line-up for this year underlined many unknowns for their pursuit for victory again, but the team were as determined as ever to not go down without trying.

Alpine Hypercar driver Paul-Loup Chatin joined Dalziel and two prominent technology businessmen, David Heinemeier Hansson and Tobias Lutke.

Lutke is CEO of the Shopify e-commerce outlet which was incidentally built on Hansson’s Ruby on Rails platform.

Hansson has far more experience and success in sportscar racing as Bronze-graded driver Lutke faced the thrills of IMSA multi-class racing at Daytona.

A baptism of fire for Lutke

“I think that we threw him into shark-infested waters and then we dumped a bucket of blood on his head repeatedly,” Dalziel understated.

“He was unable to do the official test in November due to Shopify conflicts.

“So then we tried to get him in some other stuff. We got him in the Historic Sportscar Racing [series].

“It’s just not the same, you don’t have the same pressure, but the first time that he was around 60 other IMSA cars, different speeds, faster [or] slower, was the Roar.

“Up until the Roar, he had actually never done any kind of simulated pit stops or driver changes in anger.

“He had a little bit of LMP3 experience, but in VP Challenge where the rules are not the same as WeatherTech.

“So he had never really understood how to enter and exit a pit box.

“It’s not until you realise how inexperienced he is that you’d appreciate how good of a job he did.

“… I’ve worked with a lot of the tech guys and the tech guys are very data-driven, analytic.

“So he’s one of those guys and he’s constantly looking for more information.

“… he never put a foot wrong and I said to him at the start of the race, we’re going to be just fine if we don’t make mistakes,” which Era Motorsport followed through with their lack of penalties incurred at Daytona.

A different approach between the two 24-hour races

At the 24 Hours of Daytona, hosted by IMSA, a primary focus for all LMP2 teams is to ensure they meet the minimum driver time for their Bronze-graded drivers, which was 4-hours and 30-minutes.

IMSA’s caution periods enabled the top LMP2 runners – including Era Motorsport – to stay on their class-lead lap, as Dalziel described.

“The strategy in Dubai is not driver rotation or drive-time.

“It’s purely the strategic way you can use the fuel pumps… you have to use regular petrol pumps.

“The top teams have people stationed there the whole time and you have a fairly large window of how long you’re allowed to go per the rules and how short you can go without hurting yourself strategically.

“So we were pretty different in how we approached Dubai because in Dubai, there was no benefit to running the bronze heavy in the first half of the race.

“You didn’t gain anything by [that], there’s no way to catch up.

“Whereas in IMSA, you see that everybody tries to go heavy on their bronze drivers and their silver drivers, and then they try and keep their professionals for the end.”

Fighting for the win to the end

Chatin spent the most amount time on the track in comparison to his co-drivers.

During a triple stint to the end, Chatin kept on the lead lap as AO Racing by TF Sport’s #14 Oreca encountered issues at the front.

In the final hour, where the fatigue and tension infused the atmosphere of all the teams, Chatin was hit by Mathias Beche’s #52 PR1 Mathiasen Oreca at Turn 1.

Chatin continued albeit without the victory contention, let alone podium contention, Era Motorsport earned over the 764 laps they completed at the checkered flag.

“From a team stand point, Daytona was a faultless race for us – no penalties, no issues in the pit stops… And, you know, we were there for the win at the end until we got taken off which was hugely disappointing, hugely frustrating.

“But it happens. That would have been a fairy tale debut for Tobi, obviously.

“… We’ve been very fortunate now that we’ve won Daytona twice, but an opportunity to win Daytona doesn’t come up every year.

“So to be in the position to have done an absolutely faultless race from everybody – and then have it taken away with 20 minutes to go – was a very bitter pill to swallow.”

After Tower Motorsports’ post-race penalty, Era Motorsport ended fourth after a tough race concluding the team’s back-to-back triple of endurance racing weekends.

READ MORE: ‘Kaku’ Ohta joins Era Motorsport at 12H Sebring and Road America

The post INSIGHT: How Era Motorsport took on these three consecutive endurance races appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Motorsport Week has selected five of the key storylines from the 63rd edition of the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s 24 Hours of Daytona.

The 2025 sportscar racing season kicked off with one of the most prominent 24-hour endurance races on the calendar situated in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Sixty-one cars across the IMSA SportsCar’s four categories took on the challenge hosted at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, a venue steeped in history as the ‘World Center of Racing’ and the home of NASCAR’s iconic Daytona 500 event.

Daytona’s 24-hour race took place on 25-26 January, preceded by three free practice sessions including qualifying recommencing on a Thursday for the first time in four years, and the Roar Before the 24 test on the prior weekend.

The main event incorporated a phenomenal mixture of action, drama, and controversy for over 200 drivers across 31 nationalities who participated.

Motorsport Week has picked through five storylines which stood out from the action-packed race, having covered the event trackside.

SEE MORE – Gallery: The 63rd running of the 24 Hours of Daytona in pictures

Lamborghini’s GTP disappointment

Much excitement rested on Lamborghini finally debuting its SC63 LMDh machine at the 24 Hours of Daytona.

Last year, the marque was unable to participate because it was in the process of homologating its car which uses a chassis developed by Ligier.

Its 24-hour race debut came at the 24 Hours of Le Mans which respectably resulted in 10th and 13th-placed finishes without any major reliability issues.

Since then, the LMDh project changed technical support partners from Iron Lynx to Riley in addition to downsizing the programme to just one entrant in the five-round IMSA Endurance Cup calendar.

With total focus on the IMSA-governed championship and not the FIA-ACO World Endurance Championship – which includes the Le Mans 24 Hours – pressure stood on Lamborghini’s only 24-hour race event with itsLMDh car.

Reigning DTM champion Mirko Bortolotti pitted the #63 Lamborghini SC63 after just 33 laps, or 1 hour and 30 minutes, ‘behind the wall’ and towards its garage with no visual indication of mechanical issue.

A powertrain problem subsequently ended Lamborghini’s Daytona event debut and halted another opportunity to further understand the competitive potential of the SC63.

Corvette hindered by a lapped BMW

Detroit-based manufacturers Chevrolet and Ford rivalled one another throughout the race with two of the newest GT3 cars.

It was, however, the presence of BMW and Paul Miller Racing which cost Corvette a chance with two Z06 GT3.Rs on the podium, something Ford Multimatic achieved at the chequered flag after qualifying 1-2.

As anticipated beforehand in our ‘Five new stories to follow in the 2025 IMSA season‘ piece, BMW/Paul Miller Racing elevated its presence towards the front of the field with a second BMW – of the updated M4 GT3 EVO – thus enabling more BMW factory drivers to participate in IMSA.

The #1 BMW qualified an impressive third place owing to IMSA debutant Dan Harper yet it was the #48 BMW which also had a key role to play during the penultimate hour, albeit not positively.

To set the scene, the 2016 GTLM-class Daytona winner Tommy Milner ensued in a tense fight for the GTD Pro class lead against Connor de Phillippi behind him.

The Road Course’s blend of technical infield corners and sweeping speedway bends encouraged great racing in the GTD categories and so the pair kept together with the side-draft and slipstream.

The pair came across a lapped GT3 car, the #48, which was 57 laps down and had BMW long-timer Augusto Farfus at the wheel.

Race control penalised Farfus for constantly blocking Milner and providing an unfair advantage to the team-mate #1 BMW, which could have been originally prompted by the team rather than Farfus himself.

Milner’s #4 Corvette then had rear-left bodywork hanging after contact with de Phillippi at Turn 3, amidst their perpetuating fight.

This dashed Corvette’s double podium chances and the #3 finished in second place and the #4 in seventh.

Hectic final two hours in LMP2 and post-race drama

As demonstrated at Daytona, and even back at last year’s Canadian Tire Motorsport Park sprint race, IMSA’s LMP2 category houses great competition with emphasis on the skills of the drivers in the Oreca 07 machinery.

Pole-sitter Nick Boulle spun at the first corner on the race start and reversed out of the way – not a moment too soon – for the approaching 37 GT3 cars.

PR1 Mathiasen’s Ben Keating took over the lead and established a lengthy seven-second gap, though unsurprising for one of the most regarded FIA Bronze-graded drivers.

Then Keating was caught out at the Western Horseshoe by a tailwind, causing him to go slightly off-track twice consecutively and handed the lead to AO Racing’s PJ Hyett of the #99 Oreca.

As the Corvette-BMW GT battle concluded, only two of the 11 LMP2s had officially retired with five on the same lap for the lead.

Heartbreak struck for Matthieu Vaxiviere in the #88 AF Corse which stopped suddenly at Turn 3. Vaxiviere’s body language unsurprisingly suggested a feeling of anguish.

Jonny Edgar inherited the lead in the #99 AO Racing ‘Spike the Dragon’ Oreca. Christian Rasmussen, #99 driver, pitted from the lead as the AO Racing mechanics removed the rear bodywork. The #99 would not restart due to a possible alternator issue.

Tower Motorsports’ Sebastien Bourdais took the win in the #8 Oreca but after the post-race inspections on the class-winning cars were carried out, the #8 team was stripped of its win.

United Autosports inherited victory just seven months after winning at Le Mans though two pointers could be raised; the penalty was possibly too harsh on the #8 given the likely unintended infringement or that Tower Motorsports evidently broke the rules to earn the punishment.

A first-ever in motorsport history by Nick Tandy

One particular name at this year’s 24 Hours of Daytona made history at the chequered flag amongst over 200 drivers from various racing backgrounds and disciplines.

Nick Tandy already had at least one class victory in each of the four major 24-hour races: Daytona 24 Hours, Nurburgring 24 Hours, Le Mans 24 Hours and Spa 24 Hours.

No racing driver, until now, has ever accomplished overall victories across each event with Le Mans and Spa having hit their 100-year anniversary recently, a milestone for those two historic events.

READ MORE: Nick Tandy on ‘unbelievable’ Grand Slam after Daytona 24H win

The 40-year-old British driver has an established affiliation with Porsche as a factory driver since the 2013 Daytona 24 Hours, after becoming the best private Porsche racing driver in the Supercup series.

Over the course of nine years, Tandy claimed various prestigious class victories in Porsche GT3 and GTLM machinery across these premier 24-hour races.

His previous overall win was at the Spa 24 Hours in 2020 and so four years later, he would finally secure what was an important win at the 24 Hours of Daytona with one of the drivers who joined him at Spa, Laurens Vanthoor.

Tandy’s victory marked a significant moment in the history of motorsport, let alone sportscar racing, which highlighted his distinguished achievements on top of his existing race victories.

BMW RLL allows win to slip away

Porsche Penske led 66% of the total lap count (781) at this year’s 24 Hours of Daytona and was consistently at the sharp end of the order.

BMW demonstrated promising long-run pace during free practice and #24 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 driver Dries Vanthoor earned the first pole position in the Bavarian manufacturer’s LMDh programme.

Throughout the entirety of the race, the #24 BMW was just as consistent as the #6 and #7 Porsche Penske GTPs though it was the latter team which ran a controlled and reserved form after dark.

A battle for lead within the final two hours saw Porsche Penske unleash its untapped potential that hadn’t been showcased in the first 22 hours of racing.

BMW was unable to match Porsche’s pace and so its grasp at a Daytona 24 Hours victory well and truly slipped way during these final hours.

On the more positive side, the #24 driver crew – particularly IMSA returnee Kevin Magnussen – fought with great enthusiasm for the overall win against the likes of Mathieu Jaminet and Vanthoor.

‘K-Mag’ spoke to media including Motorsport Week before the race entailing his anticipation to compete in “real racing” in comparison to Formula 1.

Needless to say, even if BMW let the win slip away, Magnussen gave an encouraging performance to suit IMSA’s frequent wheel-to-wheel racing spectacles.

Until the 73rd edition of the 12 Hours of Sebring on 15 March, BMW and Rahal Letterman Lanigan will avidly prepare its bounce back at Porsche Penske.

READ MORE: Porsche’s Tandy, Nasr and L. Vanthoor win 24 Hours of Daytona

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The 63rd running of the IMSA 24 Hours of Daytona hosted plenty of action and drama as we picked through some of our favourite images.

Our IndyCar editor, Kevin Dejewski, captured the twice-around-the-clock event once again trackside through his faithful camera.

The race narrative incorporated thrilling battles at the iconic Daytona International Speedway across the GTP, LMP2 and GT3 platforms racing simultaneously.

Motorsport Week explored the highlights from the eye of the lens and narrowed down from hundreds of finalised photographs with great difficulty.

The post Gallery: The 63rd running of the 24 Hours of Daytona in pictures appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Nick Tandy became the first-ever driver to win overall across motorsport’s four major 24-hour races following the recent 24 Hours of Daytona.

In the post-race press conference after winning the IMSA SportsCar Championship opener on 25-26 January, he said:

“To be the first person to do ever to do something is, I mean, it’s quite unbelievable really.

“I think first of all, you’ve got to be proud that you’ve been put in a position to be able to compete in those sort of races and then be in a car that can compete for the win.

“But yeah, it never really dawned on me about these sort of records and stuff like this until, well it was with Laurens [Vanthoor], we won the Spa [24 Hours].

“And you know, somebody said, ‘Well you’ve got class wins and all the four majors now’.

“And then you kind of look into it and you see other people, you know, legendary names on these lists who won various things but never overall in all four class winners.

“It’s something that since that day, probably [in] 2020, it’s something that I’ve definitely wanted to check off the list.

“Winning Daytona is a massive thing anyway, as a standalone event – don’t get me wrong.

“So I’m very proud to be sat here again obviously, as an overall winner, is special.

“But yeah, to get the big four 24-hour wins, I mean, one would be just an incredible career.

“So to be able to get four and a few Sebrings [12 Hours] and a few Petits [Le Mans] is a dream come true.”

A unique achievement earned over nine years

Tandy earned his first major 24-hour race win at the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans in Porsche’s LMP1 project, although he won the Daytona 24 Hours in the GTLM category for the Weissach manufacturer in the previous year.

Then at the 2018 running of the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring, Tandy was victorious in the #912 Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R with teammates Frederic Makowiecki, Patrick Pilet and Richard Lietz.

Two years later, Tandy claimed his first win at the historic 24 Hours of Spa which also runs the GT3 formula specification of race car.

Incidentally, one of Tandy’s two co-drivers for the 73rd running was fellow Daytona co-winner and reigning WEC Hypercar Drivers’ champion Laurens Vanthoor.

Almost five years separated Tandy to last Sunday’s overall 24 Hours of Daytona win for Porsche Penske in the #7 Porsche 963 GTP entrant.

All four of the key 24-hour races are considered historic not only within the sportscar racing discipline but also across motorsport with Spa and Le Mans recently celebrating their Centenary editions.

His attention will be on the next round of the 2025 IMSA season which is the 73rd running of the 12 Hours of Sebring where he has two GTLM class wins from 2018 and 2019.

READ MORE: Tower Motorsports penalised, United Autosports inherit maiden LMP2 win at Daytona

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Sebastien Bourdais referred to the ‘cruel’ reality of racing after Tower Motorsports‘ were stripped of their 24 Hours of Daytona LMP2 class win.

Tower Motorsports finished first at the checkered flag on Sunday 26 January at the 63rd running of the Daytona 24 Hours.

IMSA performed the usual post-race technical inspections on each of the class-winning entrants including Tower’s #8 Oreca 07 LMP2.

They exceeded the maximum 5 millimetre wear on the skid block underneath the car and so lost their first Daytona win.

In a statement on Instagram, Bourdais said: “Racing can be cruel but governing bodies can be far worse.

“Tower Motorsports won the Rolex 24 LMP2 class. The third rear damper that controls ride height failed allowing the rear to come down too much subsequently over-wearing the rear skid [block].

“In recent memory, IMSA always used common sense when enforcing rules that were breached by technical failure. Unfortunately, not today.

“I want to thank everyone in the team for their flawless execution and dedication.

“Making them look like cheaters makes me sick as they always operate by the book.

“I sure hope we get a chance to win more races in the future. Thank you all for your support.”

United Autosports USA were promoted to victory after Tower Motorsports were penalised and moved to the back of the 12-car class.

The Anglo-American team secured their first 24 Hours of Daytona victory with the #22 Oreca 07 just seven months after their second at the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Within a press release statement by United Autosports, CEO Richard Dean commented: “… It’s never nice getting handed the win a couple of days after, but that’s part of it, you’ve got to pass all the necessary tests.”

READ MORE: Petit Le Mans winner Sebastien Bourdais joins Tower Motorsports

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Tower Motorsports have lost their LMP2 win at the 24 Hours of Daytona due to a technical infraction thus gifting it to United Autosports USA.

The LMP2 team won the 63rd running of the Daytona 24 Hours on 25-26 January last weekend owing to drivers Job van Uitert, Sebastien Bourdais, Sebastian Alvarez and John Farano.

Tower Motorsports took victory at the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship season-opener but have now lost that win following a post-race technical inspection, which they perform on all first-placed cars in each class.

Their #8 Oreca 07 LMP2 entry exceeded the maximum allowable wear to the regulated area of the skid block on the underside of the car which is a maximum of 5 millimetres, according to FIA Technical Regulation 3.5.6 regarding skid blocks.

Tower Motorsports appealed against the decision to remove their victory which demoted them to 12th place – last in the all-Oreca 07 LMP2 category.

Unfortunately for them, their protest was denied and so the #22 United Autosports USA team inherited their first ever win at the 24 Hours of Daytona having won their second Le Mans 24 Hours last year.

As the other class entries are promoted, co-drivers Rasmus Lindh, James Allen, Paul di Resta and Dan Goldburg are the unofficial 2025 Daytona 24 Hours winners in the LMP2 class.

It marked the team’s second IMSA win after the Road America sprint round last year.

See here for the updated provisional race results following this development.

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Corvette’s Tommy Milner was displeased with BMW’s Augusto Farfus, who blocked him in his fight to retain the lead with the #1 BMW late at Daytona.

Speaking after he completed his stint, Milner said: “That’s not what IMSA is about, sports car racing is about.

“First and foremost, the driver should be embarrassed, the team should be embarrassed… with that kind of racing.

“It is team racing here but not like that.

“They have a car that’s laps down out of the race whose only job is basically only to help the teammate, and not like that.

“Lap after lap, blocking, blocking, blocking, waiting for me … It’s disappointing.

GTD Pro class leader in the 22nd racing hour of the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s 24 Hours of Daytona, Milner, fended off the #1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO driven by Connor de Phillippi.

De Phillippi tried to pass the #4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R having used the side-draft and head-on slipstream to keep within distance of the yellow machine.

The pair came across the #48 BMW of Farfus, who was 57 laps down due to earlier misfortune in the race.

Blue flags notified Farfus of the pair behind although he was not obligated to surrender his track position with immediacy as per IMSA etiquette.

Given the existing challenge for a GT driver to overtake another GT car under racing circumstances, race control noted and penalised Farfus with a drive-through penalty for blocking Milner for providing an advantage to their #1 team-mate car.

Milner on the repercussions of his clash

“I don’t have an issue with #1 car. Those guys are in their own race. It’s just the sister car that’s out there just to be a nuisance.

“Poor sportsmanship, poor driving, just embarrassing on their part.

“… In the end what hurt us the most was to continue to stay out after they had a blocking penalty to block more.

“Whoever was in the #48 really slowed me up in (Turn) Three and got me a little bit crossed up and put me into the #1.

“The car isn’t totally right for sure,” he alluded to the rear-end damage to his #4 Corvette, “There’s lasting damage from all of that for sure, not to mention the problems we had with the bumper.

“… It’s a shame for us to work that hard to put us into contention to have a good result and for it to be spoiled like that was pretty pathetic.”

BMW’s statement from Augusto Farfus added: “The situation with the Corvette and our sister car was very difficult.

“My intention was to support my teammate in the sister car in the fight for victory.

“I was aware that it was hard racing.

“The situation that led to the collision between the Corvette and Connor De Phillippi behind me was very unfortunate – but I had nothing to do with it directly.

“I stayed on my inside line.”

Milner and his co-drivers Nico Varrone and Nicky Catsburg finished in seventh place by the end with the sibling #3 Corvette on the GTD Pro podium, splitting the two Mustangs.

READ MORE: Ford’s Dennis Olsen wins against Corvette for victory at Daytona 24H

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Daytona 24 Hours GTD Pro winner Frederic Vervisch spoke about a ‘historical’ triumph for Ford over Chevrolet as Detroit-based manufacturers.

“I think it’s quite historical, the battle between the Ford and Chevrolet,” he told Motorsport Week in a post-race press conference.

“So yesterday we met Jim Farley [Ford CEO] and he said, ‘Yeah, whatever you do, you have to be in front of Chevrolet’ as a joke, of course.

“We were aware of this [Corvette] and I think they’re extremely strong, and I think they hide their A Game till the end, because suddenly they were going a lot faster than yesterday [Saturday].

“And yeah, super proud that we could stay ahead and maybe out-strategise them or not say too much, but we did some very ‘ballsy’ calls, I would say – and the team.

“So big congrats to the team as well for that and it was exciting for me, and Chris [Mies] to be on the sidewall for him of course but I think it was for us even worse.”

Corvette Racing have run their GT endurance sportscar programme since 1999 with four 24 Hours of Daytona wins.

Even though Ford and Multimatic previously ran in sportscars with the Ford GTLM programme in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship, in partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing, Ford were up against Chevrolet’s Corvette brand in the GTD Pro category.

The Mustang, like their Z06 GT3.R, is two years old and two of the newest generation of GT cars along with Ferrari’s 296 GT3.

All throughout the 24 hours, since Ford took 1-2 in qualifying, Ford and Corvette fought regularly as GTD Pro protagonists – though Corvette clashed with BMW.

Ford made the most of the subsequent battles with two Mustang GT3s on the GTD Pro podium by the end.

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Sebastien Bourdais took victory for the #8 Tower Motorsports Oreca team in the LMP2 class of the 2025 Daytona 24 Hours with the help of team-mates Job Van Uiter, Sebastian Alvarez, and John Farano.

The Frenchman was in the car for the final stint, and converted a strong performance into a call win. The #99 AO Racing entry looked set to win with an hour remaining, but fell down the order after late mechanical problems.

Ben Keating in the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Oreca led from pole position, but dropped to third after some errors, having the ascendancy to Rasmus Lindh in the #22 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson, with teammate Garnet Patterson second in the sister #2 car. The #99 AO Racing Oreca, with PJ Hyett at the wheel, moved into third shortly afterwards.

LMP2 was to cause the first full caution yellow flag period, due to Hunter McElrea of the #11 TDS Racing Oreca 07 underestimating the T5 horseshoe, with the action not stopping there.

David Heinemeier Hansson’s #18 Era Motorsport Oreca 07 made contact with James Roe’s Pratt Miller #73 Oreca at the exit of T1, but despite the innocuous nature of the incident, the Oreca was to earn a drive-through for incident responsibility for his troubles.

The #99 AO Racing Oreca took the lead, now with Dane Cameron driving, and pulled out a 46 second gap on Nick Boulle’s #2 United Autosports and Luis Perez’s #88 AF Corse. Cameron retained the lead into the sixth hour, and the car continued to do so when Britain’s Jonny Edgar took over as darkness began to descend.

‘Spike’ was able to stay in contention and remained on the lead lap, despite Edgar having to take a drive through plus 10 second penalty. This handed the lead to the #04 CrowdStrike Racing Oreca of Toby Sowery.

Deletraz accident throws up chaos

Around the halfway point, the #2 United Autosports Oreca, driven by Nick Boulle, collected the #40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series of Louis Deletraz which bounced back onto the circuit after crashing on cold tyres.

This handed the lead back to the #22 Oreca, with Lindh back onboard, with Tom Dillmann second in the #43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca. Cameron kept the #99 AO Racing in the hunt.

The #8 Tower Motorsports of J. van Uitert took the lead under the rising sun, with Sowery and Colton Herta keeping the #4 CrowdStrike in the mix, but the IndyCar driver sent it tumbling down the order after a crash took off its rear wing. Car #99 was now back in the lead, with Cameron back behind the wheel.

The #88 AF Corse was in contention also, but with Matthieu Vaxiviere at the wheel, the car stopped on-track, bringing out the full course caution.

This handed #99 back the lead, with Edgar driving, followed by the #22 United Autosports USA Oreca driven by Paul di Resta. Van Uitert was back in the #22 and back in the lead, with Ryan Dalziel’s #18 Era Motorsport Oreca in close pursuit.

It looked as if the #99 AO Racing would come through its previous strife to take victory, but with Rasmussen at the wheel, the car was forced to pit due to a potential alternator issue.

The #8 was back in the lead, and with Sebastian Bourdais at the wheel, it pulled a gap, and duly took the class victory, ahead of di Resta in #22 and the #74 Riley of Felipe Braga in third. Rasmussen was able to get going again, and took sixth place, but scant consolation for a gutting end to its running.

Editor’s Note:

The #22 United Autosports USA Oreca 07 LMP2 inherited the win after the #8 Tower Motorsports entrant failed its post-race inspection.

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Ford Multimatic’s Dennis Olsen won against Corvette in GTD Pro after a race-long fight during the 63rd running of the 24 Hours of Daytona.

A combined grid of 37 GT cars fought intensely for victory at the 63rd running of the IMSA SportsCar Championship season opener, specifically defining a fierce rivalry which spanned the entire 24-hours between Corvette and Ford.

Ford made headlines during qualifying when they secured a 1-2 for the first time in the Mustang GT3 programme, one year after its debut.

It was, however, an assertion of one-lap pace compared to a twice round-the-clock endurance race.

At the race start, #48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO driver and IMSA debutant Dan Harper showcased immediate enthusiasm for the lead after he started in P3.

Speaking of which Andrea Caldarelli of the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 jumped from fifth to third, before taking the lead from Harper.

Meanwhile GTD class pole-sitter Eilliott Skeer kept his lead owing a strong getaway from pole, marking the first race when each class started separately.

Fighting behind saw the rise and climb of two key GTD rivals: The #78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Franck Perera and the reigning GTD champions and Daytona winners #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, Philip Ellis.

The former driver climbed from fifth to second place, whilst Ellis went otherwise from second to fifth.

At the first pit stop cycle for the GTD class, the #57 took the lead whilst in GTD Pro, the Fords held third and fifth places.

For the GTD Pro lead battle, Alex Sims of the #3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R fought side-by-side with Dan Harper‘s #48 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, with the IMSA debutant making a promising first impression behind the wheel.

Corvette vs Ford in the GTD Pro class

A fight ensued between two iconic manufacturers in the GTD Pro competition.

The Fords held the ground at the front but the Corvettes kept within sight, fuelled by a desire to beat them.

PMR’s #48 BMW driver Augusto Farfus chased down Sebastien Priaulx’s #64 Ford Mustang to split the 1-2 formation held by the Detroit make.

The #57 Winward GTD Mercedes encountered a ‘sticky throttle pedal’ which was the causation of a broken pedal spring. The team went behind the wall and fell down seven laps whilst the mechanics attended the issue, thus gifting the lead to the #78 Forte Racing Lamborghini driver Misha Goihkberg who kept it safe and confident – unchallenged by the GTDs behind.

Most impressively, the #57’s chances at a back-to-back win were not completely outed owing to a sublime comeback through the gruelling night-time phase to have made up the lost ground.

A major multi-car incident took place in the eighth hour which was triggered by Louis Deletraz, driver of the #40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R, and a mistake.

Concerning the GT classes, the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini driven by Jordan Pepper was taken out of the running as AO Racing’s ‘Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3.R of Laurin Heinrich was involved but emerged without race-ending damage.

AO Racing showcase form against Corvette and Ford

The reigning GTD Pro champions, AO Racing, recovered in their own respect from the major incident to keep on the lead lap.

Klaus Bachler was the key pilot to put ‘Rexy’ back at the front as they fought for the GTD Pro victory during much of the night phase.

The #57 which got back into the class lead lost it due to a drive-through penalty – handing the lead to the pole-sitting #120 Porsche of Skeer.

The gaps were settled and apart during the night, but this did not negate the challenge with surviving through the darkness.

With five hours remaining, Neil Verhagen of the #1 BMW fantastically defended his lead on the #65 Ford of Dennis Olsen.

Despite their penalty, the #57 – once again – fought their way back to the lead with patience and determination.

Blocking and drama in GTD Pro

The #48 BMW ended up 57 laps down, owing to previous misfortune in the race, when the sibling #1 BMW and the #4 Corvette’s fought for the GTD Pro race lead.

The #1 was driven by Connor de Phillippi and was chased by Tommy Milner’s #4, with the pair at the centre of attention.

Milner increased pressure on the #1 driver but with the #48 of Augusto Farfus in the way, his positioning impeded the battle as race control awarded him a drive-through penalty for blocking.

Furthermore, Milner ended up with rear-left bodywork hanging after contact with #1 at T3, which was taped up twice at pit stops – the latter of which was instigated by a mechanical black flag.

After the 13th caution period, into the penultimate hour, the top-seven of the GTD Pro class were not only on the same lap but together in close proximity at the restart.

Kelvin van der Linde’s #1 led the way ahead of #65’s Chris Mies, the #4 of Nico Varrone, the #77 of Laurin Heinrich, and the #91 Trackhouse by TF Sport Corvette of Connor Zilisch – who quickly wrestled his way past Fabian Schiller’s #69 Getspeed Mercedes-AMG.

Zilisch waisted little time his opponent ahead, Heinrich, who held off P4 as the reigning drivers’ champion in the GTD Pro class

Down to the end between both Detroit makes

As the race distance ticked down in minutes, rather than hours, the Ford vs. Corvette fight only ensued.

Dennis Olsen narrowly led #77 Heinrich on the restart of the 14th caution period, though it was misfortune for ‘Rexy’ when making light contact within the fights around him.

As Alex Sims (#3 Corvette) put Olsen up towards the Speedway 1 wall, Heinrich eventually lost his front bumper.

After keeping in the fight for so long, this was a heartbreaking moment as the #77 Porsche’s bodywork continued rubbing against its tyres.

Olsen, Sims, and K van der Linde fought door-to-door out of T6 onto Speedway 1 as #1 gave up their position by braking early into the Le Mans Chicane.

Nico Varrone (#4 Corvette) ended up hitting van der Linde into T1 but the #1 BMW driver continued, all with 10 mins remaining.

A drive-through for responsibility ended the possibility of both factory Corvettes running a strong, collective end result.

723 laps in 24 hours

After 723 gripping laps of the 2025 running, Ford claimed their first GTD Pro victory with their #65 Mustang GT3 crew Dennis Olsen, Frederic Vervisch and Chris Mies; it was also the 20th for the Ford Mustang.

In second place was the #3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R drivers Alexander Sims and his co-drivers Daniel Juncadella and Antonio Garcia.

Not only did Ford win, they secured a double-podium finish after a battle which came down to the end with the #64 crew Sebastien Priaulx, Austin Cindric and Mike Rockenfeller.

In GTD, Matt Bell held a masterful defence on Mattia Drudi (#27 Aston Martin) in the final minutes to a winning drive in the #13 AWA Corvette alongside co-drivers Marvin Kirkchhofer, Lars Kern and Orey Fidani.

Wright Motorsports’ #120 Porsche co-drivers took third: Ayhancan Guven, Tom Sargent, Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson.

Heart of Racing claimed third place with their #27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO owing to the efforts of Mattia Drudi, Zach Rubichon, Casper Stevenson and Tom Gamble.

See here for the unofficial classification of the 24 Hours of Daytona, 25-26 January 2025.

READ MORE:

• Full race report: Porsche’s Tandy, Nasr and L. Vanthoor win at Daytona
• Sebastien Bourdais takes LMP2 victory for Tower Motorsports in Daytona thriller

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