Porsche Beats Cadillac in Daytona 24, Sounds Le Mans Warning
Road to Le Mans: Porsche Starts 2024 on a Daytona 24 Hour High
Porsche Penske Motorsport won the 62nd Daytona 24 Hours in an epic duel to the flag with Cadillac on Sunday. The #7 Penske Porsche 963 shared by Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr, Matt Campbell, and Josef Newgarden emerged on top of a straight fight with the reigning champion #31 Action Express Cadillac V-Series.R to steal Porsche’s 20th overall win on top of four more as an engine supplier. It was Penske’s first Daytona win in 55 years since the team’s Lola T70 victory in 1969.
’24 Daytona 24 Came Down to a Straight Fight
Porsche quartet, Cameron, Campbell, Newgarden and Nasr fought the Cadillac crew of Pipo Derani, Jack Aitken and Tom Blomqvist and the rest throughout the race, but it came down to a straight fight between the two of them. Blomqvist took the lead in an epic pass in a three-wide move around a GTD Ferrari with two hours left to race.
Despite Nasr fighting a serious tire vibration, he took advantage of the Cadillac passing his teammate Porsche 963 to close the gap. Then a late yellow period allowed the Porsche to capitalize and even further close the gap. The race however came down to the final refuel when the Porsche needed less time in the pit to come out ahead.
The lingering safety car allowed Nasr to heat its tires and overcome the Porsche’s cold rubber disadvantage to allow him to defend when the yellow period ended. Still the gap was down to half a second with five minutes to go, but the Porsche held on to take a delighted 0.2 second win for Penske after a full day and dight of racing.
Cadillac Came up Just Short of a Daytona 24 Win
Behind them, Louis Deletraz, Jordan Taylor, Colton Herta and Jenson Button overcame a 90-pound penalty to come home a remarkable podium third. The Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06s were forced to carry the burden due to a rival Acura team gaining a fuel flow advantage last year. Leading on Sunday morning, the second #6 Penske Porsche likewise overcame a series of raceday powertrain penalties and an off to rescue fourth.
Privateer Porsche teams, Proton and JDC Miller came home fifth and sixth ahead of the two BMWs. The Bavarian squad’s Daytona charge faltered following a series of late race issues, while Chip Ganassi’s Cadillac and the second Acura both hit trouble and dropped well down the order. Era Motorsport took a wild second division LMP2 race win from Crowdstrike, Inter Europol, Riley and Tower Motorsports, with the five similar ORECA Gibsons covered by just 20 seconds at the flag.
Ferrari started its endurance season on the front foot with the 2024 Daytona 24 GT win. 2023 Le Mans 24 Hour Hypercar winners Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado, sharing with Daniel Serra and Davide Rigon, powered the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 to victory. They beat Laurin Heinrich, Sebastien Priaulx and Michael Christensen’s AO Racing Porsche 911 by a lap with Winward Racing’s #51 Mercedes AMG GT3 and the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 in pursuit.
Ferrari took Daytona 24 GT Honors
Russell Ward, Philip Ellis, Indy Dontje and Daniel Morad took GT Pro-Am victory in their #57 Winward Mercedes-AMG GT3 from the #21 AF Ferrari 296 after the second placed Lexus suffered a fire with just 50 minutes to go.
Daytona is an important victory for Porsche in the lead up to the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hour, where it faces significantly tougher opposition. Not least from last year’s rivals, World Champions Gazoo Toyota, 2023 winners Ferrari, Cadillac, and Peugeot, but also from new rivals, BMW, Lamborghini, and Alpine Renault. Diarize the 15-16 June Le Mans 24 Hour now!
Images: IMSA